Valentine - Mechanical - cluster of lace paper, die cuts 1875

This ‘Mechanical Valentine’ was made by an anonymous artist with lace paper and die cuts. The Valentine is an object that speaks to broader transformations in 19th-century social life. As industrial processes made consumer goods cheaper and readily available, the middle classes grew in size and influence. The popular celebration of Valentine's day became entwined with the Victorian cult of love, courtship, and domesticity. Valentines were an ideal way for expressing affection in a socially acceptable manner. This Valentine is 'mechanical' meaning it probably had moving parts. These kinds of elaborate paper ephemera served as a medium for both the creation and maintenance of social bonds. They suggest the increased commercialization of feelings, and the blurring of the lines between public and private life that accompanied the growth of the middle class. Historians examine old trade publications and conduct social and economic research to better understand this history of emotion. The meaning of art objects is always contingent on social and institutional context.