Vintage Valentines: A Collection of Bizarre, Creepy, Cute Cards 1800s-1950s

You can't blame Hallmark for the tradition of card-swapping and gift-giving on Valentine's Day in America. It started way before Hallmark even existed as a company, with a woman named Esther Howland, a Massachusetts artist and business lady born in 1828.

Howland is dubbed, "The Mother of the American Valentine" and is credited with popularizing the tradition of sending Valentine's Day cards in America.

In honor of the tradition Howland started, here's a collection of vintage Valentine's Day cards from the 1800s to the 1950's.

Creepy Vintage Valentine's Day Cards

Is this red paint or blood? You decide.

Be my valentine, at gunpoint.

Is this a threat or a promise?

Here's a Valentine's Day greeting from your stalker.

This guy's ready in case you put up a fight.

 Vinegar Valentines Day Cards

The practice of sending Vinegar Valentines is one long-gone in America, where it was practiced as early as the mid-1800s.

Vinegar valentines were usually one-sided greeting cards with a sarcastic or insulting poem which were sent anonymously to the unlucky recipients.

Cute Vintage Valentines