1822-1921
E
sther Howland got a Valentine's Day
card in 1847 from a friend of her
father's overseas and wondered if
she couldn't make a better one.
Until then, Valentine's Day
cards had not been a part of the
American holiday. For most of the
19th century, greeting cards had to be imported
from Europe at great cost.
Esther Howland, at the time a newly minted
Mount Holyoke College graduate, pitched the
homegrown business idea to her father. He owned
S.A. Howland & Sons, at the time the largest book
and stationery business in Worcester. She ordered
supplies from Britain and started a small assembly
line composed of women friends. ey worked from
a third-floor room in her Summer Street home,
where she would have them copy her card designs.
Others worked from their homes in a setup that
today we would call remote, in which they received
shipments of Valentine components they could
assemble and ship back as finished product.
Be mine, Valentine
Howland turned cards
into a holiday staple
Images | Courtesy of e Jones Library, Inc., Amherst, Massachusetts
An example of an early Valentine
Esther's cards,
intricately layered
and decorated with
satin and lace, set a
cultural standard at
the time, spreading
throughout New
England and
eventually acrs
the rest of the
United States.
22 W o r c e s t e r 3 0 0 : C i t y o f I n n o v a t o r s
