Valentines: Vintage Holiday Graphics

by Taschen, Jim Heimann (Editor), Steven Heller (Foreword)

While it may be true that our annual celebration of love began as a pagan feast of the flesh in third century Rome, that shouldn’t stop anyone from enjoying this charming collection of Valentine’s Day ephemera. From cards to candy boxes, party favors to ads and more, these classic graphics celebrate the holiday of love during the period of 1900 to the 1960s. You’ll find the pun quotient to be delightfully high, exemplified by such gems as a baker exclaiming, "You’re surely well ‘bread’" and a bullfighter vowing "Bullieve me—I love you!" To put the imagery in context, Steven Heller’s introductory essay traces the history of Valentine’s Day.

Genres: Design

191 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2005

About the author

'Taschen is an art book publisher founded in 1980 by Benedikt Taschen in Cologne, Germany. It began as Taschen Comics publishing Benedikt's extensive comic collection. Taschen has been a noteworthy force in making lesser-seen art available to mainstream bookstores, including some fetishistic imagery, queer art, historical erotica, pornography and adult magazines (including multiple books with Playboy magazine). Taschen has helped bring this art into broader public view, by publishing these potentially controversial volumes alongside its more mainstream books of comics reprints, art photography, painting, design, fashion, advertising history, film, and architecture.' - Wikipedia

Reviews

[Juli Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some of the pictures are great, but everything lacked useful captions or citations, and the front essay was insubstantial.