Novelty Stand-Up Valentine

This is one of my favorite valentines, in spite of the damage to the figure's neck and the unfortunate scotch tape that someone put over his face in an attempted repair. He's quite large, about 9 inches tall, and actually stands up thanks to his bendable pipe cleaner legs. Totally cute and unique, he dates from the 1930s.

Antique Valentine Rebus Postcard

This is one of the most unusual antique postcard valentines I have. Dating from the early 1900s, it's essentially a rebus, and plays to the old adage that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach...

Creepy Cat Valentine

One of my vintage valentine collection subsets is "Creepy Valentines." It's really quite amazing how many weird and disturbing historical valentines exist out there. The creepiness usually comes from iconography that is no longer readily meaningful to us, as we'll see later on with some German postcards. But sometimes it's just strange design, like this:

  

In this spectacular example of a Creepy Valentine, a giant cat with real blown glass eyes and a moveable head (for extra horror) appears to be about to devour the small child who is obliviously offering him a sweetie...Made in Germany in the 1920s-30s.

Valentine Paper Doll

This amazing valentine was sent by an "Aunt Etta" to her niece 

back in the 1930s. 

When opened, it reveals an itty bitty paper doll   

with even ittier bittier outfits tucked in a tiny envelope. 

Thanks Aunt Etta, whoever you were!

 

Valentine Veggies

I love old postcards, vintage valentines, and anthropomorphic objects, so this fantastic item was a perfect find: a 1900s Raphael Tuck valentine postcard featuring "Mr. Carrot" and "Miss Bean". If you look closely, you'll see that the "fourteen carat gold" engagement ring is, in fact, made of carrot.