25 Adorable Vintage Valentine’s
Today I’m sharing some vintage Valentine cards that I purchased at the World’s Largest Garage Sale in Warrensburg (NY) at the end of September.
I paid a whopping $10.00 for a bag filled with greeting cards, including vintage Christmas cards I used for this project, and the Valentine’s cards I’ll show you below, dating from the 1920’s to 1940’s.
It’s been so much fun sorting through them all. [I know you can relate!]
This large, 6 1/2″ valentine has a tab (on the right) that when lifted, moves the cupid at the top of the heart.
This card, which opens with a greeting inside, is less appealing than the more interesting die cut cards, like the one above (more below). It’s likely worth no more than a dollar. SOLD: $2.75
Because of the soda parlor theme, this example might be worth a bit more, perhaps $3.00. SOLD: $2.75
The graphics inside are fun.
This Superman card sold on eBay a couple of weeks ago. A tab in the back moves the “book” to reveal the image of a young girl. SOLD: $16.99
I offered this cute trio for sale on eBay for $8.99, but they haven’t sold yet.
This large Valentine sold on eBay this past week. Pulling the heart tab on the left makes the girl’s eyes move, and bending the cut-out tab on the bottom, allows the card to stand for display. SOLD: $5.76
Another cute trio that will be listed on eBay shortly.
Another larger Valentine with moving parts (tab in back moves phone up and down). SOLD: $5.74
Another trio that’s headed to eBay soon. The one on the far left reads, “Oh Valentine, I’m in a ‘stew.’ I’m simply ‘goofy’ over you.” Not sure why those words are in quotes, but I realize it photographed a little blurry.
These vintage cards are just over-flowing with silly puns, aren’t they? SOLD: $5.49
Are you cringing from all the puns? Or do you find them adorable, like me?
Despite the edgy-looking balloon, I like the sentiment on this card: “I’m floating on air.” Open the card and it finishes, “When you’re around.” SOLD: $2.75
Two more cuties, including another phone-themed one–so fun in our post-telephone age.
Tucked inside the pile of commercial Valentines, I discovered this homemade one. Made by Dorothy and Nancy for Mary, it displays the very odd sentiment, “If you’re fat, that’s alright with me, if I’m your Valentine.”
Inside it reads, “As long as a monkey has a tail, my love for you will never fail. To my Dear Valentine.” Strange but true.
This little Valentine with the die cut bear, folds in half to allow it to stand on its own.
This frog-themed card is one of my favorites. The sentiment, “You’re the BIG SPLASH in my PUDDLE, baby” makes me smile. The tail of the frog’s coat pulls out to read, “I’ll be back for your answer.” So gentlemanly to give her time to consider his Valentine’s offer.
I hope you enjoyed taking a gander at this little collection of Valentines. As I mentioned, I’ve had a ball sorting through them and have been pleased that they are selling on eBay. I believe they would likely sit in my booth for quite a while before selling, and for lower prices.
It’s always interesting to observe how items sell with varying success rates from different venues. Once we all get the formulas figured out, we’ll be millionaires, right?!!
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Love these valentines! What a great find for $10! – Karen
Really cute Valentines cards…..which reminds me of the pile I have somewhere from when I purchased 2 huge boxes of letters and greeting cards from a yard sale. They are all addressed to the same lady and cover the 1930’s and 1940’s with a lot of military letters. I just LOVE paper!
Ooh, you’re going to have fun when you get your hands on those boxes, Elaine!
Thanks Karen–yes, they were a great deal!!
These are wonderful! When my parents died and we were going thru their things, there was a valentine I gave to my dad when I was 6 (I wrote my age on it, like he would not know how old I was-1961) It was similar to those above. I have it framed for Valentine’s day this year.
What a wonderful idea! It’s so precious that he hung onto it all those years, and now you can enjoy it every Valentine’s Day 🙂
Some really cute ones here. I bought a bunch of 1920s-30s valentines this past summer. I just sold a bunch on ebay, one fetching $51!!
Fantastic Melissa! I’d love to see the one that sold for $51. Did you include it in a post?
Thanks for sharing these Valentines! I love old greeting cards and postcards of all kinds and need to frame some that I have.
You’re welcome, Phyllis!!
I love vintage Valentine’s! You found some really great one’s! I have a few my Dad gave my Mom when they were first married, they are such treasures!
Oh my, such wonderful heirlooms. I’ve saved my husbands, so I guess my kids will have something similar to hang onto 🙂
What a great collection. I love bad puns; a lot of my classmates took 4 years of LATIN caz the teacher was a punster–1969! These would be lovely parading across a mantel, on a jute twine or clipped to framed chickenwire. I got V. vinyl clings on my front door today and they are already falling off. Pooh!
Love that idea for a Valentine bunting, Kathy. Sorry about your clings–I never had great luck with them myself 🙁
Such a great post, Diana, I think I remember a couple of those, the froggy especially. So cute!
Ha ha, this post is dating us all, Sandi!!
I love these vintage Valentines! And the silly puns are a symbol of the innocence we used to have. Just uncomplicated, untechnical fun!
Yes, they are, aren’t they, Anita?
Loved each and every one! Spent some time yesterday antiquing and most of that time I looked at a lot of old valentines. I use them instead of drug store, expensive cards. Fun to shop and find cards for your loved ones. The year my husband made our tall case clock, I gave him a vintage valentine that had a grandfather clock on it! I have my valentines from the mid sixties and have friends still in my life that gave me them! Remember the shoe boxes we would decorate and cut a slot in the top so our class mates could play postman! Thank You !
Yes! I absolutely remember the shoe boxes 🙂 I don’t have a single Valentine from those days–you are lucky to have them. I love that you found such a meaningful card for your sweet husband! Glad you enjoyed the post–
This is a wonderful find. I was smiling as I read this thinking about Valentine’s Day when we were kids.
Thanks Debra! Yes, Valentine’s Day was always fun as a kid 🙂
These are precious, Diana. I love the puns, too! I have a whole box of vintage Valentines that my mother saved and I brought home after she passed away. I haven’t gone through them and every Feb. I think I’m going to get them sorted and use some to decorate for Valentines Day. But then it comes and goes and I realize another year and I’ve not gotten them out. Your post is a good reminder to DO IT! My daughter and I are in the midst of sorting and purging anyway, so I might succeed this year!
I have to tell you about a nice surprise I got a couple of weeks ago. I tho’t of you when it happened. I often buy things from an on-line auction whose actual place of business is not far from my daughter who lives about an hour from me. She or her husband often pick up whatever I win and keep it until we see each other. When she came for our twins’ birthday party two weeks ago she brought the last things I had won and also something from an auction quite a while ago that had never been picked up and I had completely forgotten about. Now this might not seem special to anyone else but I know you will appreciate it. It was a bundle of FOUR vintage….drum roll….YARDSTICKS!!! One of them is bright green–perfect for a Christmas DIY. How exciting is that? I can’t wait to do something with them!
Thanks for the Valentine post! I’m gonna dig mine out for sure this year!
P.S.–By the way, how many yardsticks do I have to go until I match your highest count??
Did you get those Valentines out, Naomi?!! You’ve only got seven days to go to the big “V” Day 🙂
Ha ha! You’re right, I totally appreciate the acquisition of vintage yardsticks! I’m a little jealous of the bright green one. You’ll have fun crafting with that one. I think the most I’ve ever had at one time is just under a 100, but a bunch of them were more modern yellow ones. And now I’ve used up quite a lot of them for crafting. Many of those that remain are the older, unique ones that I can’t seem to part with even though they are just leaning against a shelf in my work room, LOL.
I love vintage Valentines and yours are adorable!! Thanks for sharing them.
Your welcome, Dana; I’m glad you enjoyed them!
Very sweet! They are corny but so endearing. Great fun to find a bag full.
I love pawing through bags or boxes of JUNK (and I suspect you do as well, AnnMarie)!
My dad would be about 110 years old and I have his valentines from when he was in school. I have a string and mini clothespins and this is strung across my cupboard and I clip his valentines to this. I always enjoy thinking about him and how it was so long ago. LOVE your valentines!
Glad you enjoyed the post, Sharon. I love the idea of clipping old Valentines to some string; I bet yours is darling 🙂
I love vintage valentines…brings back fun memories of passing out valentines to my classmates decorated boxes!
Thanks so much for sharing my post on your newsletter, Diana…you are the sweetest!
You’re welcome! I do enjoy spreading the “love” whenever I can 🙂
Aww, the puns are precious and so are the Valentine’s. You just don’t see ’em in the flesh like these anymore. That IS an odd one about “even though you’re fat…” whatever it said. Haha, I’m not sure I’d feel too flattered to get that Valentine, LOL. I wonder who sits around thinking up these puns! I’m sure these will sell if they haven’t already. I remember a few years ago I sold a whole set of vintage Valentines…not as old as these, but still vintage, and they were labeled “mean Valentines.” I didn’t realize it till I got them home. I wasn’t sure they would sell, but they all did.
Sometimes its the oddly weird stuff, like “mean Valentines” that really sells, right? I have more than made my $10.00 back on the 9 or 10 that I’ve sold already, so I’m happy 🙂
I look for vintage Valentine’s Day cards all year and have never found any. So I really enjoyed yours! I LOVED Valentine’s Day when I was in school – loved to make sure every single class mate received a card from me.
I absolutely loved the hand made card that said “If you’re fat, that’s alright with me.” It’s like an anti-bully card from sweet little thoughtful girls. They even spelled “you’re” correctly. I imagine Dorothy and Nancy saw Mary being bullied or made fun of because of her weight and they made this very special card for her.
And I’ve been to the World’s Largest Garage Sale in Warrensburg (NY)! But it was back in the day when I lived in the area – late 90s. If I only knew then what I know now, I’m sure I’d have at least a bigger Pyrex collection!
So sorry you didn’t find any Valentine’s this year 🙁 But I’m glad you could live vicariously through me and mine 🙂
Love your back-story on Dorothy, Nancy, and Mary 🙂
Such a small world that you know what the WLGS is and have been to it! Maybe someday you’ll get to go again and can add to your Pyrex collection, LOL.
Fabulous collection!
Thanks Amber!!
What a fabulous collection of valentines! The girl is the moving eyes is so cute. Have a wonderful Valentine’s Day!
Thank you, Laura, and you too!!
How fun it must have been sorting through all of these Valentine’s! What a lovely collection! Angelina @ Petite Haus
It was fun Angelina! So lovely to meet you on this blog hop 🙂
Back again to take a look at these gems in more detail. I am thinking the handmade one is a real find! I actually love all the corny sayings! They are so nostalgic, often reflecting a much simpler time before all the “political correctness.”
So glad you are having success on ebay selling them. That tells me that others appreciate them as much as we do.
Thank you for doing such a detailed post sharing how the cards work too. So fun!
Thanks for joining the hop! I hope you will link up some more posts in our link party too.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the number of sales I’ve made 🙂 You’re right, we’re not the only ones who enjoy them! Thanks so much, Amber, for organizing another successful blog hop–you’re the best–
Oh how I love vintage Valentines! The funny puns are my favorite thing about them. The images are super sweet too, of course! 🙂
hugs,
Jann
So glad you enjoyed your visit, Jann–lovely to “blog hop” with you 🙂
Diana
Love your Vintage Valentines, they make me smile and bring back fun memories. Such a fun Blog Hop!
Debby
Debbygoesshabby.blogspot.com
So glad I could put a smile on your face, Debby! Been fun blog hopping with you 🙂
Hi Diana, well, these are all just precious. LOVE that first one with the couple, looks like it could be from the 20’s or 30’s. Some of those verses on the Kiddie Valentines are just hilarious. I’d say you got a great deal on that bag with tons of vintage fun!
Yes, I would date it to about the same period. It’s a favorite of mine as well–so romantic 🙂 It’s been lovely blog hopping with you, Debra!
I so enjoyed seeing your collection of vintage Valentine’s!! They are all fantastic!! Thanks so much for sharing them with us and thanks for hosting!!
Hugs,
Deb