Oldest known Valentine’s Day Card (c.1790)
The oldest Valentine in the the Postal Museum collection dates from about 1790. Called the Puzzle Purse Valentine, it is a single large sheet of paper folded to a smaller size. The puzzle is to unfold it in the right way to read the verses handwritten on the folds, and see the small illustrations. One of the verses on the card reads: My dear the heart which you behold/ Will break when you the same unfold/ Even so my heart with lovesick pain/ Sure wounded is and breaks in twain.
