Anthropomorphic Valentines

I love anthropomorphic toys and images (vintage Mr. Potato Heads are one of my favorite things to collect). Every January, I start trolling the local antique shops and online dealers looking for vintage valentines, and I'm always especially excited to find an anthropomorphic one. I don't know why they appeal to me so much; maybe because they just look so friendly, like little friends in unexpected places. Here's a sampling from my collection, mostly dating to the 1950s.

Fortune Teller Valentine

This large 1930s mechanical fortune teller valentine is
a really fun piece.

By moving the heart tab at the top of the card,

the scene in the crystal ball changes.  

"I see smooching in your future..."

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.