{"id":648,"date":"2013-03-10T12:24:14","date_gmt":"2013-03-10T19:24:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/windowonyourpast.com\/site\/?page_id=648"},"modified":"2013-03-21T10:41:28","modified_gmt":"2013-03-21T17:41:28","slug":"648-2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/windowonyourpast.com\/site\/historic-interpretation\/648-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Esther Allen Howland, mother of the American valentine, Worcester, MA (1828-1904)"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/span><\/em><\/strong>\"\"<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Forget me not, I only ask <\/span><\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0This single boon of thee<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0And let it be an easy task<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Sometimes to think of me.<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span>New England Valentine Company, Teacher’s Guide<\/span><\/p>\n

For almost one hundred years, Worcester was the Valentine-making\u00a0capital\u00a0of the United States. \u00a0Esther was the first American to create and sell her own innovations, and was the first assembly-line producer of high quality lacy valentines.<\/p>\n

Esther Howland was born and lived at 16 Summer Street. \u00a0After her graduation from Mount Holyoke College in 1847, she received her first English valentine and became fascinated with the idea of making valentines in America. \u00a0Operating in her home with friends as her assembly-line labor force, she eventually grossed $100,000 annually.\u00a0She sold her business to the George C. Whit\u00a0Company when is retired in 1881.<\/p>\n

Resources:<\/p>\n

Connelly Cook, Lisa. “Esther Howland and the Business of Romance.” Worcester Review<\/em>. February 2003.\u00a0Available at\u00a0Worcester Historical Museum<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Dutton, Jane. “Romantic Lady: The Story of Esther Howland”. 1993. \u00a0Available at Worcester Historical Museum<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Emotions Greeting Card Museum.<\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/span> \u00a0“Esther Howland, 1828-1904”. (2003)<\/p>\n

Feingold, Norma. Woman’s Work: The Worcester Experience, 1830-1916<\/em>. Worcester Historical Museum, 1986.<\/p>\n

Lee, Ruth Webb.\u00a0A History of Valentines.\u00a0<\/em>Wellesley, MA: Lee Publications, 1952.<\/p>\n

“Made First Valentine in United States: Miss Esther Howland of Quincy Tells How She Built Up a Big Business–Oldest Valentine Known”.\u00a0Boston Daily Globe<\/em>\u00a014 Feb 1901:6.<\/p>\n

“Miss E. A. Howland Dies in Quincy”. Boston Daily Globe<\/em> 16 Mar 1904:6.<\/p>\n

“Pioneer Career Woman and her Valentines” Chapter I through “They Knew Her When” IV Chapter. Series of reprints at Worcester Historical Museum<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Rothman, Ellen K. Hearts and Hands: \u00a0A History of Courtship in America<\/em>.\u00a0 \u00a0New York: Basic Books, 1984.<\/p>\n

Staff, Frank. The Valentine and its Origins.<\/em> \u00a0New York: Praeger, 1969.<\/p>\n

Worcester’s Valentine-Making History:A Teacher’s Guide (grades 3-6).\u00a0Worcester Historical Museum<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Forget me not, I only ask \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0This single boon of thee […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":12,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/windowonyourpast.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/648"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/windowonyourpast.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/windowonyourpast.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/windowonyourpast.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/windowonyourpast.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=648"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"http:\/\/windowonyourpast.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/648\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":694,"href":"http:\/\/windowonyourpast.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/648\/revisions\/694"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/windowonyourpast.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/windowonyourpast.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=648"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}