Modern Holiday
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Updated: January 12, 2011
Modern Holiday in the U.S.
The reinvention of Saint Valentine's Day in the 1840s has been traced by Leigh Eric Schmidt. The first mass-produced valentines of embossed paper lace were produced and sold shortly after 1847 by Esther Howland of Worcester, Massachusetts. Her father operated a large book and stationery store, and she took her inspiration from an English valentine she had received.
The reinvention of Saint Valentine's Day in the 1840s has been traced by Leigh Eric Schmidt. The first mass-produced valentines of embossed paper lace were produced and sold shortly after 1847 by Esther Howland of Worcester, Massachusetts. Her father operated a large book and stationery store, and she took her inspiration from an English valentine she had received.
