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*(CNN) — Esther Howland isn’t a family identify for many Individuals. However those that’ve studied the historical past behind the intricate, hand-crafted (Valentine’s Day) playing cards she began making some 175 years in the past argue that she needs to be.
“She was the Martha Stewart of her day. She would have killed it on Etsy,” says Vanessa Bumpus, exhibit coordinator on the Worcester Historic Museum in Massachusetts.
Howland lived in Worcester and constructed a enterprise within the central Massachusetts metropolis that introduced fame and fortune in her lifetime, and a nickname that lasted lengthy after her 1904 loss of life: “The mom of the American valentine.”
Howland didn’t invent valentines or convey them to the USA. However she’s credited with sparking the unfold of the ornate playing cards that turned a staple of Valentine’s Day celebrations right here and finally blossomed right into a multi-billion-dollar trade.
“She was a visionary. Quite a lot of what we take into consideration as valentines have been issues that she made,” says Nancy Rosin, president of the Nationwide Valentine Collectors Affiliation. “She popularized the valentine in America.”
And she or he did it with model.
“There have been many, many layers of lace and plenty of elaborate gildings,” Rosin says.
Tiny items of paper have been folded like accordions to make the layers of the cardboard pop up. Brightly-colored paper wafers positioned beneath lace accentuated the intricate designs. Increased-end playing cards included “ribbon trimmings, pages of creative illustrations, hidden doorways, and gilded lace,” in keeping with a publish describing Howland’s work on the Library of Congress web site.
Lots of Howland’s designs have been labeled with a trademark purple H. Rosin says she’s capable of acknowledge others which are doubtless Howland’s work however don’t have the markings.
“I don’t assume she signed them till she began getting competitors,” Rosin says.
And the message was all the time tucked away inside.
Rosin says it’s not simply the artistry of Howland’s valentines that captures the eye of collectors; it’s the story behind them.
“She was actually fairly the entrepreneur,” Rosin says in a video describing Howland’s work for the Huntington Library in suburban Los Angeles, which is residence to hundreds of valentines and ephemera Rosin donated, together with a whole lot of Howland’s playing cards.
The Valentine’s meeting line
Howland graduated from Mount Holyoke in 1847. Because the story goes, she was impressed by a valentine she acquired from England that 12 months.
“She thought, ‘I may do this,’” Bumpus says. And so Howland, whose father owned a stationery retailer, set about making valentines of her personal. She persuaded her father to order supplies and enlisted the assistance of different girls on the third flooring of her household’s residence.
“They sat in rows on both aspect of tables, simply actually passing the valentines down so every particular person may add their factor… She’s doing it earlier than Henry Ford. They’ve bought meeting strains going,” Bumpus says.
The method was extra environment friendly, however nonetheless performed by hand, resulting in some inconsistencies. No two playing cards have been alike, Bumpus says.
“She’s recent out of faculty, launching her personal enterprise. It’s type of phrase of mouth at first,” Bumpus says.
However as soon as Howland began promoting, the recognition of her valentines grew. Earlier than lengthy, they have been bought throughout the nation, in keeping with Rosin, who’s shared a historical past of Howland on her web site.
The achievement is much more notable given when it occurred. As a biography on Mt. Holyoke’s web site notes, Howland pioneered an trade “at a time when most ladies didn’t have the chance to be employed, not to mention lead.”
Ultimately, Howland partnered with Edward Taft, whose household had additionally been making valentines, to type the New England Valentine Firm.
The George C. Whitney Firm — additionally based mostly in Worcester — purchased that firm round 1880, and Howland left the valentine enterprise to take care of her ailing father.
She died in 1904 at age 75.
“She by no means marries, which we all the time discover ironic,” Bumpus says. “However her enterprise was a giant success.”
And town the place Howland began her firm was identified for years because the Valentine capital of the USA till paper shortages in World Battle II despatched enterprise grinding to a halt.
The ‘Queen of Valentine’s’ legacy stays
Whereas many Individuals may not be aware of Howland as we speak, it’s a special story in Worcester.
The room the place the Metropolis Council meets is even named after Howland, Bumpus says.
She isn’t the one well-known particular person to emerge from Worcester. The town was additionally as soon as residence to the daddy of contemporary rocketry and the inventor of the smiley face. However in February, Bumpus says, Howland is the star of the present. The town’s historical past museum presents free admission in her honor.
“Esther is basically type of our queen of valentines round right here. We put her up on a pedestal,” Bumpus says.
Adults meet up at a neighborhood brewery and on the museum for card-making workshops. And youngsters from native colleges design playing cards of their very own as they find out about Howland’s story. This 12 months they submitted a whole lot of designs to the forty fifth annual Valentine design contest sponsored by the museum and the library.
Some emulated Howland’s model. Others took a extra fashionable method.
“We have now some Pokemon. We have now some New England Patriots. This 12 months, we’ve got plenty of Minecraft,” Bumpus says. “It’s good to see how yearly the traits change.”
However one factor stays fixed: Delight in Howland’s legacy.
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