"On this day...
...in 1849, the first American-made valentines were sold in Worcester.
They were designed and made by Esther Howland, the daughter of a local
stationer. After graduating from Mt. Holyoke College, she returned to
Worcester and began making valentines modeled on a fancy one she had
received from an English friend. Her brother took the samples on a sales
trip and came home with an astonishing $5,000 worth of orders. Howland
began by hiring her friends to assemble the valentines; within a few
years, she built her business into a $100,000 a year enterprise, a
notable success for any entrepreneur but a truly remarkable
accomplishment for a nineteenth-century woman."
This the intro of the very fascinating tidbit of Massachusetts history from massmoments.org! Click here to read the entire interesting story about Esther Howland- "the mother of the American Valentine" & the New England Valentine Company !
Enjoy the read!
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