MCNY Blog: New York Stories
Iconic photos of a changing city, and commentary on our Collections & Exhibitions from the crew at MCNY.org
The digital team reflects on Valentine’s Day
We here in the digital lab have conflicted feelings about today’s holiday. So we’ve pulled images from our collection that express a variety of viewpoints about romance and Valentine’s Day. Valentine’s cards in the mid-19th century and Stanley Kubrick’s images of teenagers canoodling on a fire escape in the 1940’s show that New York is the place to be in love. (But just in case you don’t agree with that last sentence, we have images for you too.)
Our collection of vintage Valentine’s Day cards runs the gamut from the sweetly violent….
Comic Valentine card. ca. 1920. Museum of the City of New York. 03.49.1
to the quad-lingual (what a lucky girl Miss Louise Horn was)…..
Valentine: Eternal Love. 1847. Museum of the City of New York. 31.18.19.
to the faintly seductive.
Greeting card. ca. 1880. Museum of the City of New York. 38.8.262.
Moving beyond greeting cards to real people, here are some more images of love, from Bohemians to Bobby Soxers.
Jessie Tarbox Beals. Couple standing near fountain in Greenwich Village. ca. 1915. Museum of the City of New York. 94.104.862
Stanley Kubrick (1928-1999). Park Benches - Love is Everywhere.1946. Museum of the City of New York. X2011.4.10347.11.
And if you don’t find anything to love about Valentine’s Day, these could be more your speed.
Advice to Girls About to Marry - get used to this language when you tell him you want a new hat. ca. 1905. Museum of the City of New York. X2011.34.582.
James Henderson (Firm). Single One, Married One - "Lucky Dog". ca. 1895. Museum of the City of New York. X2011.34.560.
Currier & Ives. "No One to Love Me." 1880. Museum of the City of New York. 56.300.603.
About Susannah Broyles
Great fun! I especially like “Advice to Girls About to Marry.’
Ah, an image is worth a thousand words! These are well-chosen expressions of Valentine’s Day emotions that still ring true today. Well done!