Utah State Today press release: Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2009

‘Valentine Sampler’ Exhibit at USU’s Merrill-Cazier Library

A holiday-themed exhibit, Valentine Sampler, is currently on display at Utah State University’s Merrill-Cazier Library. Organized by the library’s Special Collections and Archives division, the exhibit is on display in the library’s foyer gallery through March 8 and was assembled by Rose Milovich, art and book arts curator.

Valentine’s Day has a very long, tradition-filled history. Although its origins are not entirely clear, the holiday is most likely rooted in pagan celebrations of spring, as ancient practice merged with the Christian observance of Saint Valentine.

“One of the most beloved traditions of Valentine’s Day is the exchange of small gifts or cards to express love or friendship felt for a special recipient,” Milovich said. “Fragile and ephemeral by nature, paper valentines are none-the-less cherished, sometimes so dearly that these delicate love tokens are kept for years, the mementos often passing from one family generation to the next.”

Valentine Sampler highlights three such collections that are held by Special Collections and Archives at USU.

Milovich selected the displayed valentines from gifts made by Marjorie Hatch, Edith Tippets Hayes and Mattie Webber, all current or former Cache Valley residents. Featured samples from the collections date from about 1882 to 1925, and include multi-layered, plain and gilt paper lace valentines, color printed embossed cards and valentine greetings designed for children. The formats include stand-up valentines with moveable parts, as well as miniatures and pop-up mechanical cards.

In addition to valentines from the library’s collection, the exhibition includes several valentines on loan; children’s penny valentines, sentimental postcards, as well as comic and “vinegar” valentines are on view. Several contemporary valentine posters and printed missives are also on loan.

To provide context for the valentines, copies of documents from the division’s folklore holdings present information about local customs associated with the valentine holiday, Milovich said. Photographs of early Cache Valley businesses that sold valentines are also on view, as are digital copies of historical newspaper articles, editorials and ads related to the holiday that can be found in Logan’s Historical Newspapers Collection of Merrill-Cazier Library’s Digital Library.

Source: Merrill-Cazier Library, Special Collections and Archives