Smoking or Non-Smoking: Some Fishy Valentines and Other Ocean Creatures

Don't be an old CRAB. Let's be Valentines.

4" x 1 1/2"
circa 1950s, 1960s
   Flat
    marked: made in U.S.A.
no other publisher's marks

My Valentine I feel like a FISH out of water When I'm away from YOU.

3" x 5 1/2"
1930s
Mechanical Flat
made in USA

Valentine ~ It may sound FISHY but I'm in the SWIM to win you.

3 1/2" x 4 1/8"
Made in USA
Mechanical Flat
circa 1930s, 1940s

Please don't BAIT me Valentine!
To LAND me you won't need a hook, line or sinker - All I want is affection - Start usin' your thinker!

3" x 4 1/8"
circa 1940s
made in USA

We could have a WHALE of fun together Valentine!

Figure Rides a Whale
Flat
circa 1950s

Just Fishing for a valentine!

A Kitten Watches a Goldfish in a Fishbowl
flat 
circa 1960s

Native American/American Indian Themed

Vintage Valentines depicting Native Americans

Like portrayals of African-Americans, images of Native Americans on valentines and other ephemera reflected the racial attitudes of the time in which they were created. Some cards on this page may be uncomfortable to view, but we feel it is important to remember how recent and pervasive the use of racist and ethnic caricatures were in mundane, daily entertainment.  It normalized negative stereotypes in a way that made overt institutionalized racism such as the residential schools for Native American children possible. That's not to say we don't still see such imagery around today - we do - and while there is plenty of room for improvement, we have come a long way in that it is not as common, not as ordinary, not as accepted in mainstream society without any real challenge as it was, in our (not all that distant) past. 

CANOE be Valentine?

4 7/8" x 2 3/8"
circa 1940s, 1950s
Flat
marked: made in U.S.A.
no other publisher's marks

HONEST INJUN Valentine! If you ever get outta my SIGHT It'll be an-ARROW escape!

3" x 3 1/2"
circa 1940s, 1950s
Flat
marked: made in U.S.A.
no other publisher's marks

Don't be so CHILLY Sweetheart.

4 5/8" x 5"
circa 1920s/1930s
2 layers
no publisher's marks
likely by J G Scott

HOW 'bout us be-um Valentines Me not Squaw-k. Be-um mine.

5 1/2" x 3"
circa 1960s 
   Flat
   marked: 757/9
 made in USA

Honest Injun I like you Heap lot.

4 3/8" x 2"
circa 1960s
 Flat
made in USA

Honest Injun ...I want you for my Valentine!

5 1/2" x 6 1/2"
dated 1957
Flat
marked SV R-5 60-4

I'm no Indian Giver. I wampum you Valentine!

3" x 4"
circa 1950s, 1960s
Flat

I'm huntin' for you! Be mine?

2" x 4 1/4"
1950s, 1960s
Flat
made in USA
by Doubl-Glo
marked: 5/5

Me go on WAR PATH "Til get um Valentine

2 3/4" x 4"
circa 1950s, 1960s
Flat
made in USA

I'm sending a sign Be My Valentine!

2 1/2" x 4 1/4"
1950s
Flat
made in USA
marked: 8/5 400

I'll not be con-TENT Honest Injun.

7 1/8" x 4 1/4" flat
circa 1920s, 1930s
Standing Fold-Out

My heart beats like a tom-tom When I think of you, Dear Valentine.

5" x 7"
dated 1940
Mechanical Flat
marked: made in USA

I'm sending this ARROW CHIEFLY to say Let me be your BEAU My Valentine.

5 1/2" x 5 3/4"
Made in USA
circa 1930s, 1940s
Fold-Out 

 You've kindled a spark of love in my heart my Valentine

4 1/8" x 2 7/8"
circa 1930s
Moving/Mechanical Card

With Valentine Greetings

3" x 3 3/8"
circa 1940s
made in USA

 I want to be the CHIEF Interest in your Life

circa 1940s/1950s
Standing Fold-Out

I'd never SQUAWk if you'd be My Valentine!

2 3/4" x 5 7/8"
circa 1950s
Mechanical Flat
made in USA

 Valentine Greetings

3 1/2" x 3 3/4"
circa 1920s
Likely a Charles Twelvetrees

 I'm a STRAIGHTSHOOTER Valentine.
May I be your BOW?

4 3/4" x 2 7/8"
circa 1930s
made in USA

 I'm HUNTING for you Valentine

4" x 4 5/8"
dated 1941
made in USA
Flat

 Ugh! Ugh! Give me your heart Valentine!
Ugh! Ugh! I'm an INDIAN GIVER it's time you should learn it for I won't give my Love unless you'll return it!

3 3/4" x 4 1/4" (3 3/4" x 8 1/2" opened)
circa early 1940s
made in USA
Single Fold

 You heap fine valentine and how!

2 1/8" x 3"
circa 1950s/1960s
made by Hallmark
Flat

I'd be UPSET if you said NO - CANOE be My Valentine?

3 7/8" x 3 1/4"
circa 1930s
Flat
marked: Made in U.S.A.
No other publisher's marks

 To my valentine.

6 3/4" x 4 1/4"
circa 1920s
by Charles Twelvetrees
Mechanical Flat
made in Germany

Click here to browse the museum store for Native American themed valentines.

Made in Germany

Pussy cat, tell me are you true? Always, dear doggie, when swinging with you.

7 3/4" x 5 3/8" flat
1920s
Standing Mechanical

Animals suggest it may be the work of  Charles Twelvetrees
made in Germany

Germany was home to the heart of the printing industry for several decades. Many of the most desirable valentines of the late 19th century and early 20th century were created there. WWI greatly impacted quite a few of the German printers, but they rebounded for the most part and regained their position at the top of the field for many years to come. 

Just between us ~~ don't you s'pouse we can figger this puzzle out together?

3 5/8" x 5 1/2"
circa 1930s
 Mechanical Flat
marked: printed in Germany
stand on back

WWII and the great devastation it brought changed this forever. It wasn't just the level of destruction wrought in Germany that brought this change, but was also caused by consumers in the Allied countries' reticence to purchase items marked as German made following the war. German products after World War I did not face the level of disdain from purchasers that they did after World War II. 

The country of origin marking can help to date cards. It was some time late in the 1800s that goods were required to bear the name of the country in which they were made somewhere on the goods or package in which they came. In the 1930s this was expanded to require more precise wording such as "made in..." or "printed in...". Card that bear just the word "Germany" would therefore date to prior to the early 1930s. Be aware that the phrase "printed in Germany" does also appear on some earlier cards too. It is just the appearance of the country name with no more wording than that which is significant for dating.

To My Valentine.

3 3/8" x 4 7/8"
circa 1900s, 1910s

Small figure in blue with large basket
Flat

A Token of Affection.

2 7/8" x 5 7/8"
circa 1920s

Girl in Pink Dress with Large Heart Tied in a Blue Ribbon
Flat
made in Germany

My heart is ready - waiting - Why are you hesitating.

6" x 8 1/4"
circa 1920s, 1930s
Mechanical Flat
made in Germany

A Token of Affection.

2 5/8" x 4 1/2"
circa 1920s, 1930s

Girl in Blue Coat and Hat with Basket of Hearts
Mechanical Flat with Easel Stand

Won't you be my Valentine.

2 5/8" x 3 3/4"
Made in Germany
circa 1920s

You see its written in my heart You're my Valentine.

made in Germany
circa 1920s, 1930s
Flat

To My Valentine.

3 5/8" x 3 7/8" flat
circa 1920s
Part of a Series of Rocking Cards
Boy and Girl on See-Saw
made in Germany
Folding Rocker

No Text.

Figure under Blooming Tree
with paper puff rosette
Made in Germany
circa 1910s