Vintage Collectables-Old Fashioned Valentines

I still fondly  remember one my first vintage purchases many long years ago. I was probably 9 or 10 and my father and I stopped at an outdoor flea market where I bought with my allowance money a stack of vintage postcards from the 1930s and 30s.  

Not my post cards but an approximation.

The best thing about the cards was the notes on the back. A few were sent home to parents from college, others detailed vacations, but the one that stands in my mind all these years later was a love note.  It was written by a man who felt his sweetheart had forgotten him.  I remember my father saying how sad it was.  I knew it was special and displayed it on my bedroom wall. I wondered if the man and his sweetheart reconciled. Or if he found a new love. Sadly over the years my post card was lost, I'd give quite a bit to have it back because I think it was the seed that started my love of vintage and collecting.  It taught me that aquiring something with a history is almost always better then something new.  

Today, I have a collection of vintage valentines from the 1940s and 50s that I display every February.   They are the school yard kind and purchased from Etsy and eBay.  These are easy to comeby and make cute displays. 

If newer valentines are your thing or you are looking for inexpensive cards to give to friends then Amazon has a good book of vintage reproduction valentines

for sale for a mere five dollars.  They are not as good as the originals, but they make a close approximation and are super easy as they just punch right out of the book.  These would be perfect for a child to give out at school.