Be My Valentine

Happy Valentine's Day from the Waterford Historical Museum and Cultural Center! We may say we don't really need a valentine, but you have to admit, they are a nice little surprise...so whether you're giving them out or receiving one today, here's a little something for you romantics.

Valentines weren't mass-produced for a while, although they’ve been around since the Middle Ages. The first written valentine predecessor to our modern day valentines, is attributed to Charles, Duke of Orleans and were written in 1415. He was imprisoned in the Tower of London after the Battle of Agincourt and, to pass the time, wrote to his wife back home in France love poems and notes. Who would have thought the first valentines would come from France? There are over 60 of his poems that are now part of the royal papers in the British Museum.

Paper valentines began to replace the usual valentine gifts or musical ballads in the 1500s, particularly in England. By the 17^th century, written valentines were a commonplace thing in Western countries.

In the 1700s, the “language of flowers”, a Persian poetical art, was introduced by Charles II of Sweden. It quickly caught on and as the red rose was believed to have been the favored flower of Venus, Roman Goddess of Love, it was universally accepted as the flower for Valentine’s Day. Not that the other flowers were rejected – holding secret conversations via bouquet was actually a thing so long as you knew what receiving a certain amount of lilies or lilacs meant.

There were “writers” that people could use to create their valentines. These were booklets filled with a variety of verses and messages that one might put on a gilt-edged paper or some kind of decorative sheet. Many valentines of the 18^th and early 19^th century were religious in nature, often depicting the “Sacred Heart”. It’s been thought that this might be how the tradition of a “Valentine Heart” gained momentum, with the angel that usually was also present in these drawings becoming “Cupid”.

You had to really commit to sending out your valentines. These were done by hand and probably would have taken a couple of days at least to get things just right. It wasn’t until the Victorian Era That printing made leaps in advances and Valentine cards were mass-produced around the 1850s. The modern postal service of the age also increased their popularity with their program of the “penny post”, which allowed more people to have an easier time mailing their valentines. Before, postage was so expensive people tended to hand-deliver their cards or notes and leave them on their sweetheart’s doorstep. These cards became known as “penny postcards” and were popular around 1890 to 1917. We have a few examples of such postcard valentines, with their one dollar stamp on the back.





The one with the couple is addressed to a Mrs. William Barker of Waterford, NY and roughly dates to around 1905. The second with the little girl and her cute bouquet of flowers is addressed to Mr. William Barker with the date February 14, 1908.

Did you awww? No? Well, keep reading then….

These valentines actually became collectible items, as it was considered “proper” to display ones collections and to even trade cards in the Victorian and Edwardian parlor. A party wasn’t complete unless the album came out. There was such a demand for them that photographers, studios, printers and businesses continually looked for new subjects and to make cards more innovative. The high-end card was the photographic postcard, which were actual photographs with a postcard-printed back. Photography studios would employ people to hand-tint and color the black-and-white images for valentine cards. Often the subject of the photo – or lithograph for those who couldn’t splurge on their valentine that year – would be women, children, flowers and couples, all arranged to portray the idealized virtues of the era. Many of the best cards came from Germany, like these ones at the museum which note “Made in Germany” next to the penny stamp on the back.

England was the site of the first commercial-type valentine, produced on embossed paper with was later perforated to make a lace-type design. In 1840, Esther A. Howland of Worcester, Massachusetts, mass-produced the first American commercial valentines.  But the majority of early Victorian valentines continued to be made by hand from honeycombed tissue, watercolors, colored inks, paper puffs, embossed paper hears and of course, lace.

This love note addressed to Newton Eddy, was clearly made by hand with special paper and ink; a wax seal added a finishing touch to the note. It reads:

“To Newton,

So when the water glideth ever gentle
Slideth by meadows that the(y) be greener
So listen to our own beloved river

And think of me.

Wander in forests where the small flower layeth
Its fairy gem beside the giant tree
Lies to the dim brook fining whilst sleepeth

And think of me.

And when the moon riseth as she was dreaming
And treadeath with white feet the lulled sea
So silent as a star beneath her beaming.

And think of me.”

Of course, there have always been those not in the mood to send a love note. But if you still want to let someone know that you’re thinking of them, probably not in a loving attitude, you could always send a “vinegar card”.

They usually were short teasing and/or mocking verses about the intended’s looks, personality, and occupation, accompanied by comic designs. They were made even more difficult to handle since it was the receiver, not the sender, who ended up paying for the postage on these cards until about 1840. You had to pay for the privilege of getting mocked. Needless to say, sometimes they weren’t received very well and fights broke out. They came under scrutiny by religious and postal service scrutiny – Chicago’s Post Office in the late 19^th century rejected 25,000 cards on the grounds that they were “not fit” to be carried through United States Mail. But, they persisted and up until the 1940s and 50s, the cost of such “vinegar valentines” were only 5 cents.


By the end of the 1800s, the majority of valentines were machine-made. Many card companies popped up to provide people with options of card choice. The Hallmark Company was founded in 1910 and owns a collection of rare antique rarities that are sometimes displayed for the public to marvel over. On average, in the United States, over 190 million valentines are given out on Valentine’s Day (not including all those given out by children). That’s one way to spread some love around.

Have A Happy Valentine’s Day!

"Tour Through Time"

The third installment of the Waterford Museum's Winter Lecture Series was another fantastic success thanks to our great presenter, Albany City Historian Anthony Opalka. There was a great crowd again, and once the technical difficulties were resolved - there was a show before the show- Tony took over with great stories on immigrations, urban development and the history of the area.

We started off with early Albany, with some great maps of the city in 1695 and moving through the years to see the progression of the edges of the city, and the outlines of features like the stockade and where development was planned out.

Albany 1695

Of course, you'll need to remember a key detail when reading such older maps of the area. Because this is just how we are in New York, maps aren't as expected - north is not at the top of the maps. Instead, as Tony pointed out, the Hudson River is always on the bottom of these older maps like the one shown here.


We saw a bit of the architecture of these buildings, including the residential as well as the industrial buildings. Tony had interesting photos of buildings that were part of Albany's industrial area. Although, often times as Tony explained with these images, the industry area was the same as the residential area, with some businesses actually moving into what had originally been designed to be a residential building.
Here's a sample of industries in Albany that he shared with us:

The image on the bottom left is one of those examples of a residential building becoming repurposed for business (sort of like the apartments that seem to be cropping up in old factories and mills, but in reverse!) The playful scene of children enjoying a day out on the local swing set has an additional layer to its story when you think about what Tony shared with us about the building in the background - one of those industries that was probably sharing more than just a block with that playground. Regulations on waste disposal wasn't quite the same as today....

As Tony explained throughout the lecture, the city developed in the ways it did for overlapping reasons as buildings were constructed or repurposed or, as we would see through more images of later Albany, areas were demolished to make way for a different set of plans. Tony explained the changing groups of immigrants to Albany - from the original Dutch and then English, the German and Irish immigrants, and the Italians and Eastern Europeans. Looking at this picture is a great example of seeing the change in immigrants through businesses - this one has a sign (not the Junk Shop although that would've had some interesting items in it...) that appears to read " Kinckel" , advertising ales and lager.

We were able to explore a little more of the community in these areas through some great photos of daily life like that of Green Street in the 1920s with another image of children playing in the street.

Tony took us through the South End with all sorts of buildings, pointing out the ones that were still standing. Others were of buildings still waiting for a new use like the old St. John's church Tony's mother used to attend. We were able to see the development of the city through images of before and after urban renewal projects or to adapt to changing transportation methods. These were some fantastic before and after scenes of Albany.

South Ferry Street at Dongan Avenue in the 1930s and today

Some of these changes were due to planned developments, but others like the one Tony is pointing to in this picture have a more amusing story. This building was once a church but when the roof was damaged, it was completely redone so that the pediment of this Greek revival building stayed missing along with the bell tower to make the front façade you see in the photo.

Here's a photo that is one of Tony's favorites based on the feature he's pointing to in the foreground. Some audience members gave a few good tries to identify it, which turned out to be one of the trolley poles that were along the streets when trolleys regularly made their way up and down the streets.

Hamilton Street in the 1930s - trolley pole and rails
Eagle Street in the 1980s

The street below is one of the areas that had work actively to preserve them for their historic value - a shift in the attitude from development actions of the mid 60s that led to the creation of the Empire State Plaza.


You can really notice the significant change in the layout of the city with some of these views of the South Mal area - notice the Capitol building in the background of the bottom image.

An aerial view of Albany pre-urban renewal

This is such an interesting image. It's amazing to know that there hadn't been too much done to the overall layout of the city before the sweep of urban renewal. The shoreline had been affected now and then - such as when the ferry point was constructed and the changes that were made to accommodate the ships that traveled the Erie Canal.

One of the other interesting features of urban development that Tony shared with us is the cyclical nature of some of the projects. The earlier plans included removing the rows of houses to construct the large towers for people to live in those apartments. But it was quickly learned that this plan was not the best for housing the families that lived in the area they were built in, moving back towards constructing the row houses that he shared in some of the more recent photos of the area.

This photo shows one of the advantages of the many changes over time to the city. This is an image of Green Street again, in 1936, which is one of the last flood Albany experienced in that section of the city.

But with time, the history of the city was taken into consideration more when development was put into place thanks to the New York State Preservation Act of 1980. Tony shared his own trip to check out one of the excavations that occurred as construction was planned for where the 77 Prime Building stands, which was the site of discovery for the giant rum vats at the New York State Museum. The excavation of the old Fort Orange was a big draw for both tourist and native as they uncovered more of Albany's Dutch history that had been lost in earlier demolitions and constructions in the area.

Tony shared another of his memorable pictures with us - this time for more personal reasons. He and our board member Kevin Millington worked together in the Department of Housing and Urban Development and were familiar with this building.

Tony's mother attended this school where she learned English in kindergarten. Efforts were made to assess the property but the ceiling had decayed and ultimately the building was demolished. An open park area is what is on the site today, although Tony is sure that tree has to be more than 30 years old...some fun speculation  about incorporating living trees into your building design followed...

But some things will always be the same even as the buildings changed. Albanians will always find ways to have fun with each other - here's a few shots of Lincoln Park when it opened in the 1930s. Before the Empire State Plaza was built and the pools there were frozen over in the winter, Lincoln Park was flooded and ice skating was a treat during the winter!

Lincoln Park during the summer 1930s

Ice Skating on the frozen pool in Lincoln Park in the winter 1930s

The South End of Albany is definitely a melting pot of all the cultures that have - and continue - to make it their home. And its urban development projects are a piece of history as well, adding another piece to a fascinating discussion on Albany.

We had a lively question and answer section of our lecture as well! It's great to see so many people interested in exploring local history! We'll be making the trip back to Waterford with our final lecture on March 14 at the Van Schaick Island Country Club (check out one of the delicious options you can order while you're there).

Hope to see you all there for an awesome close to our lecture series!

Newsletter Peak

Here's a peak at what sort of articles you can read in the museum's newsletter:

Museum Events and Programs - the Waterford Historical Museum and Cultural Center has many great programs throughout the year, and you can catch up on the ones you missed like our Wine & Cheese Event in December and a couple of lectures in our Winter Lecture Series. You can also read about upcoming events and programs that you can still take part in. Read up on some of the projects that the museum has been involved with and send us an email about your own ideas!

Internships - the museum is always open to volunteers looking to gain some valuable museum setting experience with hands-on involvement in collections management, exhibit setup and research, program activities and acting as a docent during our museum season. We love to show off all our hard-working interns in our newsletter to keep you updated with the management of the museum's great collection

And speaking of the museum's collection "History Highlights" showcases a piece from the museum's collection for readers to enjoy. This week:

This painting by Irving R. Wiles, a painter from Utica, NY is NOT in our collection, even though it sure is beautiful. But, it does give a hint as to what item is highlighted this week in our newsletter.



It's titled Russian Tea, so it should narrow down what sorts of items you can think of for this week (hint: look on the table, you really can't miss it). The Waterford Historical Museum and Cultural Center has some items you might not think of at first when you think about the history of this area.

The Waterford area is known for being a spot with plenty of Dutch history and heritage, but there are other groups as well. Irish, Italian and French Canadians came to call Waterford home too, thanks to their involvement in the construction and work along the Erie, Champlain and later Barge Canal systems There was also a portion of those who made Waterford their home who had a more Eastern European or Slavic background too, which you can read about in Col. Sydney Hammersley's The History of Waterford NY.


So why not become a member and learn more about this and other fascinating items in our collection? Membership comes with other great benefits too, such as discounts at our events and invites and updates on special events.