Love Gone Wild: How Cupid came to the US through Worcester, MA
In 1849 Valentine's Day was recognized as an official US holiday, but no one captured the heart of the celebration quite like Esther Howland, with her luxurious, and much sought after greeting cards, setting the industry standard for the holiday we know today.
Esther Allen Howland (1828–1904) was born on 16 Summer in Worcester, MA to Southworth and Esther (Allen) Howland. Her father owned the largest book and stationary shop in the city.
Born into a prosperous family, Esther attended Mount Holyoke College and graduated in 1847, where she was a contemporary of Emily Dickinson who also, attended Mount Holyoke College briefly around this time. That year, Esther received a European made Valentine card from one of her father’s business associates. Intrigued, she asked her father to purchase for her all the imported materials necessary to create her own, one-of-a-kind paper confections.
She then convinced her brother to bring a dozen of her creations to pitch on a business trip, and when he returned he was empty-handed of the entire stock of cards—each and every one had sold. What’s more, he had $5,000 worth of orders for her to fill!
Calling upon her friends, Esther initially organized an assembly line on the third floor of her parents' home. The women sat at long tables creating layered, often intricate, collage-style tableaus utilizing imported European embossed papers, and delicately colored lithographs.
In addition to employing an assembly line production model years before Henry Ford, Esther was a design maverick, noted for her layering techniques, and utilizing a flap to reveal a Valentine's message underneath--both industry innovations.
Before long, profits soared to $100,000 annually!
Esther founded the New England Valentine Company, which she operated over the next 35 years in a building in Worcester.
Many of these coveted cards sold for as much as $5 to $10 (the most expensive costing $50!)—a king’s ransom by the day’s standards. During the last 15 years of her ownership she was physically disabled and conducted business confined to a wheelchair. She sold her business to the George C. Whitney Co., in 1881, and moved to Quincy, MA, to be near her brother. She lived there for the next 23 years until her death. She never married.
Today she is remembered as the namesake and inspiration of the "Esther Howland Award for a Greeting Card Visionary" established by the The Greeting Card Association in 2001, an award given out annually to a single individual.
Images: from the collection of the Worcester Historical Museum