NEW CASTLE — Arts & Education at the Hoyt is celebrating the season of love with an exhibition of vintage Valentines at The Confluence, 214 E. Washington St., starting this week.
Vintage Valentines are not only beautiful but offer valuable insight into the values and fashions of bygone eras. While the Hoyt’s collection of printed love notes spans the late teens through the 1930s, the history of Valentine cards dates back to the Middle Ages. In fact, the first known Valentine was written by Charles Duke of Orleans to his wife while imprisoned in the Tower of London in 1415.
Several more centuries passed before the practice of exchanging cards on Feb. 14 reached America sometime after 1723. Small booklets of verses known as "writers" were imported from England to be hand-copied onto decorated sheets of paper. One popular writer contained not only the typical “Be My Valentine” type verses, but acceptances that a lady could return to her admirer. These early cards were often religious in nature containing illustrations of the Sacred Heart and angels, which are likely to have transitioned into today’s Valentine’s heart and cupid.