Jonathan King and the Business of Love

The Met’s collection contains hundreds of historical valentines as well as related studies, printing plates, advertisements, reference books, and “writers”—books providing sample texts for valentine givers seeking inspiration. As a Met volunteer and collector of valentines, I was recently struck by a particularly rare item in the collection: a large album, covered in faded brown cloth, which had been kept behind the closed doors of a cabinet since it came to the museum in 1984. The secret it keeps is the story of a major participant in the great valentine industry of the nineteenth century—the London-based Jonathan King (1836–1912), an influential entrepreneur and manufacturer of valentines. 

By the mid-nineteenth century, the celebration of St. Valentine’s Day had become an international phenomenon. In London, the number of valentines that were processed by the city’s general post office rose from approximately 60,000 before 1840 to 1.2 million in 1871 after the establishment of the Universal Postal System, which made sending mail easier and less costly. In addition, thanks to technological advancements in printing processes, the naïve, hand-crafted valentines of the early part of the century gave way to mass-produced versions. King took advantage of these improvements to the industry. Along with fellow Englishman Eugene Rimmel (1820–1887) and the American entrepreneur Esther Howland (1828–1904), he was one of the most successful producers of elaborate, trend-setting valentines in history.

The album from King’s company in The Met’s collection attests to the wide variety of its offerings, and King’s handwritten notations lend a personal connection to the man. Some items in the album were reproduced from valentines designed by other companies, while others represent King’s unique designs. 

A sample for an envelope containing a caricature provides an even deeper sense of the wide range of products available at the King company. Designed to contain a small card, the envelope was drawn in pen and ink by the popular artist Alfred Gray. Tiny vignettes present an army of women shooting arrows at a heart and a tall gent drawn in the style of the Aesthetic Movement.

Die-cut, stand up valentines made between 1880 and 1910 offered a modern choice for young lovers. Popular contemporary themes such as ships, automobiles, and even airplanes were imported from Germany, the center of chromolithography, and were added to the traditional selection of cupids and doves.

King retired and closed his business in 1905, the year his beloved wife Emily died. His legacy is preserved through large collections of his cards and albums at the Museum of London and the Hallmark Archives in Kansas City. Many of his valentines are also in private collections, as was The Met album before it was donated to our museum. In an interview late in his life, King stated that he was saddened that people no longer celebrated Valentine’s Day by sharing sentimental, lacy missives to the extent that they had in the past and blamed the introduction of comic valentines for the holiday’s demise, as their messages often devolved into vindictive and cruel ones. He added, “the custom of sending valentines was, after all, a pretty one, and it is a pity that it should die out, for what else can give the lover such an opportunity of declaring his love? I, for one, will not, in addition to my other sins, be guilty of the death of the valentine.”