Valentines Day Cards

The tradition of giving Valentines Day cards to spouses and sweethearts on February 14 began in earnest over 200 years ago when a British publisher of assorted books and pamphlets promoted his booklet called The Young Man's Valentine Writer. Featuring numerous, romantic verses meant to assist shy young men who could not invent their own charming phrases to woo their sweethearts, this book helped propel the production of “mechanical” or mass-produced valentines.

Reduced postal rates during the 19th century also facilitated the growing popularity of sending Valentine cards to loved ones all over the greater London area. Eventually, this tradition spread to the countryside and soon, everyone in England was sending Valentines Day cards personalized with special romantic sayings or poems.

Valentines Day greeting cards were individually manufactured in factories in the late 1800s, hand-created using genuine ribbons and lace. It was during this time that the United States also began adopting the Valentine's Day craze in England, with card exchanging often accompanied by gifts of chocolates and/or roses

A few decades later, diamond jewelry became a popular gift to give with Valentines Day cards, a practice promoted by the jewelry industry. Certain celebrities who famously gave their wives or girlfriends expensive diamond gifts, such as Richard Burton's gift of the large, nine million dollar diamond to his then-wife Elizabeth Taylor further advanced the popularity of giving jewelry.

On this website, Clipartqueen.com, you will find lots of pages with Valentine cards and Valentine ideas. If you go to the main page Valentines Day Ideas you will find a list of the different Valentine pages and a review of what you may find on the different pages.

1st of 6 Valentines Day Cards

This card has the text:

"Happiness is having a best friend like You".

Having a very, very good friend is often at least as good as having a loved partner.

The size is 11,30 x 9 cm.

                      

 

 

Facts about Valentine Greeting Cards and Gifts

The long history of Valentines cards provides a host of interesting facts, such as:

• Nearly 200 million Valentines Day cards are mailed each year. This does not include the estimated 15 million of electronic valentines sent through email.
• The groups of people who receive the most Valentine cards are teachers, followed by kids, moms, spouses and sweethearts.
• Men purchase 75 percent of Valentine's Day flowers, which are predominantly red roses imported from South America. California grows nearly 50 percent of roses in the United States.
• Today the Italian city of Verona, famous for being the location of Shakespeare's play “Romeo and Juliet,” still receives around one thousand letters and Valentine's Day greeting cards addressed to “Juliet.”
• Archeologists claim that the oldest love poem ever discovered exists on a clay tablet created around 3500 BCE during the time of the Sumerians, who have been credited as the inventors of writing.
• Instead of Valentines Day cards, 17th century pilgrims who migrated to America from England sent homemade candy to sweethearts, such as sweetmeats, sugar wafers and sugar plums. These were considered extremely precious since sugar was a valuable commodity in the colonies.
• The story of where the iconic image of the heart that can be found decorating most Valentine greeting cards supposedly comes from an attempt to draw a human organ that had never before been seen.
• Pictures of lovebirds frequently grace Valentine cards. Lovebirds are small parrots indigenous to Africa and Madagascar that participate in ritualistic mating dances involving a tendency to sit close together for extended periods. Doves are also associated with Valentine's Day because they are monogamous and share parenting of babies.
• The famous greeting card company Hallmark produces about 1400 different Valentines Day cards each year.
• “Penny Dreadfuls” or "Vinegar Valentines” were distributed in the 19th century. These humorous cards featured comically drawn images by an American illustrator named Charles Howard
• Currently, the U.K., Canada, Mexico, U.S., France and Australia are the only countries recognizing February 14 as St. Valentine's Day by sending Valentine greeting cards and/or gifts.

2nd of 6 Valentines Day Cards

A simple Valentine card with a red rose and a vintage border with hearts.

The text says:

"Happy Valentine My Love".

The size is 11,3 x 9 cm.

                             

How Other Countries View Valentine's Day

While only a few countries traditionally celebrate Valentine's Day, other countries observe customs that are similar to the western Valentine traditions of giving candy, Valentines Day cards or gifts to loved ones.

Some Norwegians and Danes celebrate Valentinsdag by copying the American and British traditions of sending Valentines Day cards or taking a loved one out for a candlelit dinner. Tthe flower industry has been diligently trying to promote the idea of giving rose bouquets to sweethearts for the past few years.

Valentine's Day in Sweden is known as "All Hearts Day" or Alla hjärtans dag. Influenced by American culture as well, Sweden's February 14 has only been recognized by Swedes since the 1960s. Sales of flowers in Sweden during the Valentine season are exceeded only by one other holiday, that is Mother's Day.

Finland considers Valentine's Day to be Ystävänpäivä, or "Friend's Day." Finnish people view February 14 as more of a time to remember friends as well as spouses or sweethearts. As a result, Valentines Day cards in Finland carry both friendly and romantic sentiments.

Until recently, people living in Slovenia have celebrated February 14 solely as a day to begin working in the fields and vineyards. An old proverbs states that "St. Valentine brings the keys to roots", which is a direct reference to planting and growing plentiful crops. Slovenians traditionally celebrate love and relationships on March 12, which is called "St. Gregory's Day." However, with the western influence of St. Valentine's Day encroaching on long-held customs, this event is now more often celebrated with the giving of flowers, candy and Valentines Day cards.

Dragobete is the traditionally holiday for romantically involved people in Romania, which occurs on February 24. As with other non-western countries, Romania is also beginning to celebrate Valentine's Day in the manner Americans do, but with the expressed disapproval of nationalist organizations who consider it another superficial and tasteless western practice destroying Romanian culture.

When Latvia and Lithuania gained their independence in 1990 from the Soviet Union, the citizens joined the western world in celebrating Valentine's Day by placing stickers on loved ones' clothes and faces, as well as sending each other Valentines Day greeting cards.

n the 15th day of Av (August), Jewish people celebrate the "festival of love." Thousands of years ago, Jewish girls would clothe themselves in beautiful white dresses and perform dances in vineyards, where young men would wait for them. Today, this "festival of love" is a popular time for Jewish men to propose marriage to sweethearts, as well as present gifts of flowers and cards similar to our Valentines Day cards.

In Japan and South Korea, it is the women who give chocolates to their male spouses or sweethearts on February 14, while men living in these countries present their female counterparts with candy not made from chocolate on a later date called "White Day" (March 14). On the other hand, South Koreans who did not get any chocolates or non-chocolates on either day are supposed to visit a restaurant and dine on black noodles. This represents the "mourning" of being single.

3rd of 6 Valentines Day Cards

 The text on this Valentine card is

"I am jumping of Love for You", with a kangaroo throwing red hearts all over and jumping of joy .

The size of this card is approx. 11,3 x 9 cm.               

                        

Printable Valentine Cards

With the development of the Internet, computers and laser-jet printers, people are now exploring the ability to create original Valentine greeting cards using a variety of card-making software programs. Although this technology has not reduced the number of Valentine cards purchased and sent via the postal service on February 14, it gives people the opportunity to make a unique card containing a particular message not found in the thousands of cards produced by Hallmark or other greeting card companies.

4th of 6 Valentines Day Cards

A Valentine card with the text:

"I've fallen in love so many times ........... always with you!"

The size is approx. 11,3 x 9, in 150 pix.

                           

 

Tips for printing your own Valentines Day cards include:

• If your card contains a photograph, use glossy card stock instead of regular card stock. The image will appear clearer and more vivid on gloss paper.
• Valentines Day greeting cards created with mostly text print better on matte card stock.
• Card stock can be purchased with feathered, scrolling or other fancy-cut bordering, enhancing the card with an old-fashioned elegance.
• Textured paper is also available for use in printing Valentine cards.
• Print your card on plain paper before using card stock to make sure placement of images, text and clipart are where you want them.
• Printer setting should be set on its highest quality level when printing cards. This prevents smudging from occurring, especially with bolded text or images containing a lot of pixels.
• Let one side of printed cards dry thoroughly before printing on the other side.
• Check ink levels before printing your Valentines Day cards.

5th of 6 Valentines Day Cards

"A hudred hearts would be too few to carry all may love for you" is the text on this beautiful Valentines Day card, size approx. 14 x 11,3 cm.

                    

 

Unique Valentine's Day Gifts

Don't want to give the usual Valentine's Day gifts to your sweetheart, close friend or parent? Here are some suggestions to complement the Valentine greeting cards you give to your loved ones:

• Items found on Personalcreations.com
• Lovebirds pillowcase set
• Cupid Elmo long-sleeve shirt
• Kiss me goodnight pillows
• Customized beveled glass paperweight
• Red Valentine long johns
• Love forever wall hanging

6th of 6 Valentines Day Cards

 This  vintage Valentine card is approx. 12 x 11,3 cm.

You can write a Valentine message, either in the red heart, or on the back of the Valentine card.           

          

Homemade Gift Baskets

Tuck your Valentines Day greeting cards into homemade wicker gift baskets that contain soaps, perfumes, bath oils, scented body lotions, loofahs and body sprays. For him, fill a Valentine's basket with his favorite cookies, free massage coupons, a bottle of aftershave, a new leather wallet or tickets to see his favorite sports team play.

Valentines Day cards represent only one way to celebrate deep feelings for a significant other on Valentine's Day, wherever or however you celebrate it. However, sometimes just saying "I care" is all that is necessary.