In the spirit of the holiday, today we have a batch of vintage Valentines for your pleasure. From the sickeningly sweet to the shockingly sassy, you can count on old cards to deliver something special.
And, my goodness, some of today’s are certainly unique.
Vintage Valentines usually share some pretty consistent imagery: you can expect hearts, the occasional flower, and even some flowery language. Some of them were definitely designed by people that really don’t like the holiday. Nothing beats the Victorians for weird, though.
Our first card is a little… it’s not the weirdest I’ve seen, it just makes me wonder if this guy is really okay.
I’m not sure this is romantic or anything—it comes off as a bit troublesome. Are you okay, dude? Do you need couples’ counseling, maybe a new partner?
This early 1900s card was sent to the sweetheart of a man named Ernest on October 22, so a bit early to be for Valentine’s Day, but it still fits the theme! His message? “Kindly answer as soon as possible. Yours in sincerity, Ernest.”
I wonder if he ever received a response?
The sweet little Valentine above is covered in Forget-Me-Nots. I adore this one because of the “doodle” artwork style! I liked the lady enough to cut her out from the card, as shown below.
What adventures will she have?
Some little clipart hearts. The first is the original, the other two were recoloured. You can accomplish this with overlays in Photoshop to get whatever look you desire.
A midcentury drummer boy Valentine, his arm moves and bangs the cymbal. One could edit that arm out of the graphic and he’d still look good.
Lastly, but certainly not least, this lady watering heart-flowers is from an antique Valentine card.
Thank you for joining me again this week. Stop by again soon for more free vintage graphics!
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