SCHS: Photo of the Week / 2.14.25 — Valentine’s Day Postcards / Early 1900s

Valentine’s Day Postcards, Early 1900s. From the Holiday and Carleton Kelsey Postcard Collections of the Suffolk County Historical Society.

“I was caught kissing at Greenport, L.I., one of the sweetest girls you ever met” says one of the postcards (upper left). Sent in 1915 by Bill of Greenport to Miss Bessie Woodburn of Southampton, its personal message reads: “Dear Friend– How are things in Southampton? Expect to be over soon. — Bill”

While the history of Valentine’s Day is shrouded in mystery, Valentine greetings were popular as far back as the Middle Ages, though written Valentines didn’t begin to appear until after 1400. The oldest known Valentine still in existence today is a poem written in 1415 by Charles, Duke of Orleans, to his wife while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London.

In addition to the United States, Valentine’s Day is celebrated in Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, France, and Australia. By the middle of the eighteenth century, it was common for friends and lovers to exchange small tokens of affection or handwritten Valentines, and by 1900 printed cards and postcards began to replace the handwritten letters due to improvements in printing technology.

Also around this time, cheap postage rates contributed to an increase in the popularity of sending Valentine’s Day greetings.

by Wendy Polhemus-Annibell, Head Librarian

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