Well, it's February. That means Valentine's Day is just around the corner!
These vintage Valentine's, are from "boxed sets" which my mom purchased for me, back in the 1970's. Almost every year that I was in elementary school, I gave out Disney-themed Valentine's to my classmates. And I always ended up saving the extra ones, which weren't used:
It appears that someone left off Minnie's eyelashes on this next one. At least, I'm assuming that's Minnie.
I remember a few of the Valentines had very old-fashioned sayings on them. For example, this next one says, "You'll Be Sitting Pretty"....that phrase was outdated, even when I was a kid! I remember another Valentine featured Daisy Duck, knitting something from a ball of yarn and the caption said something like, "It's no yarn! I want you to be my Valentine." My mom had to explain some of the phrases to me!
I've saved all of these Valentines for decades, now. However, I only recently "reacquired" this one. After my dad passed away, I found this Valentine with some other cards he had been saving. Printed on the back is, "To Dad. Love,...." and then my name. I'm not sure how old I was when I gave it to him, but I'm guessing by the way I had printed my name, that it was some time between Kindergarten and 2nd grade.
The Valentines above were large and had to be folded, in order to fit into the provided envelopes. As the years went on, they made the Valentines smaller.
Note the "Dumbo" Valentine below, addressed to "Teacher." The boxed sets of Valentines usually included one special card, to give to the teacher.
And these Valentines were even smaller and required no folding at all. I believe these were from when I was in sixth grade, which was my last year of elementary school and also the last year of a classroom "Valentine exchange."
I found some boxes of Valentine's on ebay, which are very similar to the kind that I gave out. The cellophane wrapper around the boxes always had a clear area, where you could view some of the cards inside.
With this package, you can even see a portion of the "Goofy On Roller Skates" Valentine (as seen above), through the clear window.
In every grade throughout elementary school, my teachers always had us make a folder, to hold the Valentines we would be receiving from our classmates. We made the folders out of construction paper. (I wonder if they still do this in elementary schools today? I wonder if they even exchange Valentines today?) My mom saved every single folder that I ever made. Here is my Valentine folder, from when I was in Kindergarten:
Happy (early) Valentine's Day, everyone!
****Post Update!****
I decided to look for (and scan) some of the Valentine's that I received over the years, from fellow classmates. These span a period of seven years (Kindergarten through 6th grade).
First, we have a few more Disney Valentines:
These are two of my favorites, just because of the wonderful graphics. These were printed on heavier card stock and each card has two slits in it, which were used to hold a sucker.
Another one of my favorites, is the Valentine with the mummies. Now I'm wondering if they ever made sets of Valentines, entirely with monster graphics. I bet they did!
I'm a little surprised by the slightly adult text, "You Turn Me ON!" and "Let's Do Our THING Together!" But hey, we were kids. We were innocent. I think it just went over our heads!
Some of these are definitely, "of their time"....like the Valentine below, which claims, "You're GROOVY!"
Hallmark made these next four Valentines. These were larger in size and printed on a paper that was thicker than the "die-cut" Valentines (like the ones above). These could be folded over and actually "sealed" by placing the bottom edge of the card, into the three slits along the top edge.
I went to school with "Robbie," from first grade through twelfth grade. He was at our last high school reunion and won the award for, "having the most children"......NINE!!!
Hallmark also made this "puzzle" Valentine. I think this was a neat idea. You didn't know what the front of the Valentine looked like, or who had signed the back of it, until you put all of the pieces together.
Here's another Valentine with the, "YOU'RE GROOVY" sentiment. I wonder if in the eighties, these companies made Valentines which stated, "YOU'RE RADICAL!" or "YOU"RE TOTALLY TUBULAR!"?
I'm familiar with the Scottish use of the word "bonnie," but I just had to look it up for it's exact definition, which is "pleasing to the eye; handsome; pretty." So whoever was giving the Valentine on the far left, was asking the recipient (me) to be their pretty (or handsome) "luv!" Again, too adult, in my opinion! But it sure went past me, as a kid. And "HI, HOT STUFF!"???? Okay, I'm sure I'm just reading too much into these.
I think these Valentines are much tamer! ;-)
The back of the "caveman and cavewoman" Valentine below, was signed "From A Friend." And I found another Valentine which just had, "From Me," on the back. It appears that a couple of my classmates, were attempting to be wisenheimers!
I can't remember if I was able to figure out back then, who it was that didn't sign their Valentine. The person who gave me this, might have slipped it into my folder, along with another Valentine that they did actually sign, just to cover up their tracks. I wonder if they did this to other people in the class, or just me?
I still remember the little girl in Kindergarten, who gave me the "Teacher" Valentine, below. I also remember wondering why she gave it to me. I don't think I asked her. Maybe at that age, she wasn't able to read the word, "Teacher"?
These next three sets of Valentines (as well as some individual ones seen earlier in this post), appear to have used an older style of graphics. In a comment left below by Mike Cozart, he states, "I recall as a kid being aware that many of the designs seemed “old style” or reprinted designs."
I was also aware that some of the Valentines I was receiving as a kid, had an older style to their artwork. I'm assuming that some of the manufacturers, continued to print the same Valentines for many years, while other's updated their designs with a more "modern" look. If you look closely at the Disney Valentines in the first half of this post, you will notice a change, even in their style. The Disney Valentines had remained the same for many years, but by the time I was in 6th grade, they had completely changed their designs and style of artwork.
This Valentine reminds me of Knott's BERRY Farm and the old Knott's BEAR-Y Tales ride (which is actually making a return to Knott's this year, after a 34-year absence!) Whoever designed this Valentine, should have really completed the "double pun," by including a berry somewhere in the artwork!
The small bouquet of flowers in the basket (on the right), is inserted into a slot in the card and is actually removable.
My best friend in elementary school, gave me these Valentines in 5th and 6th grade. They originally had a bit of a 3-D aspect to them, but have been flattened from years of storage.
I hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day!