Entry #17: Vintage Valentines

As the 14th draws nearer, shops of all shapes and stripes deck themselves out in red and pink hearts, frills, roses, and sugary sweetness, and antique shops are no exception!

As you may well know, we have quite a few antique stores in our rolladex, and most of them put out seasonal decor/offerings as each holiday comes closer. Already, some of our more well-known shops are onto Easter and general Spring vibes, but others still hold Valentines' decor close, which is what we'd like to share with you!

Starting off strong, we found this sweet both with handmade puzzle piece decor at one of our staple stores; it's one we know that once we go in, we always come out with something - from taxidermy turkeys to ironstone, they have it all! They usually change these shelves with the holidays (Christmas does tend to stick around for a while) but we thought these were so precious!

The photos they used are vintage valentines! We believe the majority of the graphics

are from the 50s and 60s, but found some valentines were even older! I just love how this booth is repurposing and reusing the art that otherwise would've just sat on a shelf, or been tucked away in boxes of photographs and postcards.

We did actually end up taking the Ghost valentine home! My daugher is using it to decorate for what she calls 'Valloween'.

More vintage Valentines were to be had in a booth just around the corner, all safely closed in ziploc bags and plastic wrap! One we found - and thought was just stunning - wasn't a Valentines card at all, but a card from 1925 of well wishes and missing the receiver's presence.

How sweet! The intricate drawings, specially of the swallow, were just stunning!

In the next booth, we found forever flowers, doilies, and more Valentines cards, with one my daughter thought was particularly cute.

My daughter loved this Valentine card, as it looks like her first cat, Fluffy, when she was a kitten. Sadly, we didn't bring it home, but she thought long and hard about it.

After returning home, my daughter and I started talking about Valentines, particularly historical ones - namely Vinegar Valentines. If you've never heard of them, I highly suggest you look them up! Vinegar Valentines were sent around the late 1800s and early 1900s with the rise of mail carriers, and they're exactly what you think they are - instead of the sweet, gushy Valentines sent to one you love, these are bitter, (often funny) harshly worded cards sent to people you loathe. To your teacher, your milkman, your doctor, your neighbor, a friend, or a suitor who won't leave you alone, Vinegar Valentines were extremely popular, especially with the birth of the 'payment upon receipt' concept: the receiver would pay for the mail, so quite literally, people would pay to be insulted!

I've included some of our favorites that we've found while browsing - though we've never found any while out-and-about - but I highly encourage you to look them up! Max Miller has a very entertaining video about them, as well!