February 1, 2011
Dear Friends and Lovers of All Things Romantic,
Welcome to another wonderful year at my Victorian
Treasury. Valentines and expressions of love are the centerpiece of my
site, where I focus on providing a unique resource for the collector,
historian, or craftsperson. I enjoy sharing my passion through my
personal collection of Valentines and Expressions of Love. Within the
broad range of Valentines, there is something to appeal to everyone.
Please visit my "Library", where I am always adding new articles for your reading pleasure or research.
My handmade Valentines, the original purpose of
this site, have expanded to every kind of greeting card, and they are
still custom made. Please do email me for any special orders and needs.
I have licensed card designs to Marian Heath Greeting Cards, and to
Gartner, for Target stores, as vintage ideas are finding a contemporary
audience.
This has been such a busy year, that I have not
added all the events and activities, and I hope you will enjoy reading
about them on this page.
I have posted helpful links, to enhance your romantic adventure through many interesting resources online.
As President of the National Valentine Collectors
Association, now in its thirty-fifth year, I continue to dedicate
myself to encouraging the preserving and collecting of Valentines. I
hope you will visit the website, www.valentinecollectors.com, and consider joining.
As Vice-President of the Ephemera Society of America, (www.ephemerasociety.org),
I encourage you to look at their comprehensive website. All manner of
paper collectibles receive serious attention from dealers, collectors,
and academia. My recent cover article for their Journal, on scrapbooks,
shows the incredible connections between all these marvelous treasures
we adore. Finding others to share your enthusiasm, and benefiting from
their annual conference and paper fair, are important advantages.
Each year, I am happy to add more articles to the
body of information about Valentines. I hope that you will join me in
these two wonderful organizations.
The National Valentine Collectors Association
members receive a full color, quarterly newsletter with a mail auction,
and wonderful articles written by experts in the field. In March, 2011,
the Association will officially participate in the conference of the
Ephemera Society of America, and present a display, discussions about
collecting, a dinner, and hologram and 3D expert, Frank DeFreitas, has
created a special photographic event, viewing Valentines is
three-dimension! Contact me for additional information and please
consider attending. The Fair will include the finest dealers in
Valentines from the US and England, and will be a great resource.
The History Channel provides a beautiful site
about Valentines and their ancient and modern history, from cherubs to
chocolate! I am delighted to still have my video included there, for
your enjoyment. You can search Valentine Cards or use the exact video
link: http://www.history.com/video.do?name=valentinesday&bcpid=6555685001&bclid=1672160848&bctid=8612163001
It has been my honor to provide Victorian ephemera for a wonderful book, The Real Alice in Wonderland,
by Cathy and Gabriella Rubin. Valentines were among the beautiful
ephemera, which helped to create an authentic background for the pages.
This is the story of Alice Liddell, the young girl who actually
inspired Lewis Carroll's famous story. My collection has moved the
authors to utilize the images for a charitable purpose. I hope you will
look at the lovely little video online:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAeD4521Dgs&feature=bf_prev&list=QL&index=1
A very special landmark event in my personal collecting history will be on February 6, 2011, in the pages of American Profile Magazine.
Distributed in ten million newspapers throughout America, Valentines
will be properly showcased! It was an honor to have been invited to
share my celebration of love and affection. To quote their mission,
American Profile is "dedicated to the positive and uplifting aspects of
American life".
Other major articles which I have written will appear in:
American Stamp Dealer and Collector Magazine, February, 2011 (six pages plus the cover),
"Adding Flight to the Wings of Cupid - Postal Delivery of the Valentine"
Article on scrapbooks to the mid-19th Century in Ephemera Journal, Volume XII
FirstCut, The American Guild of Papercutters, Spring, 2011,
"Papercuts-Scherenschnitte-Devotionals: Intimate Celebrations of Love Created by Heart and Hand"
BBC-Mundo and BBC-Brasil
-- the British Broadcasting Company's Spanish websites will have a
feature with images and the History of Valentines, which will be posted
in Spanish and Portuguese.
CBS Charles Osgood Sunday Morning, February 13, 2011 - video and article.
I wish you another year of love,
Nancy Rosin
President, National Valentine Collectors' Association (www.valentinecollectors.com)
Vice-President, The Ephemera Society of America (www.ephemerasociety.org)
Special thanks -- and love -- to my son, Matthew, for his unending contribution to the content and design of this website.
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