Valentine's Day is right around the corner. Have you picked up your roses? Mailed out your cards? Asked that special someone to be yours truly? You've still got a few days to cover your bases--but in case you run out of time, PHS has got you covered. We've put together a handful of Valentine's Day e-cards using photos from our archives that you are welcome to download and send to your Valentine! Below you'll find seven greeting card options to choose from. Each comes with a download link underneath it, as well as information on the image and the chance to see the original in the society's digital collections repository, Pearl. We hope you have a happy weekend celebrating the one thing more powerful than hate: LOVE.
Download "Hats off to you, Valentine!"
This 1950 photo shows the first and second place winners of a fancy-hat-contest put on by the Women's Christian Temperance Union. First prize went to the woman on the left, whose headpiece caricatured the whole liquor industry. On the right is the second-place winner, whose headpiece design consists of a miniature "hot dog" stand and grocery store. View the original photo in Pearl.
Download "You're SODA-licious, Valentine!"
Snapped in 1953, the title of this image is "SODA-SHOP EVANGELISM." The two young folks facing the camera were enlisted as evangelists in a Protestant Youth Mission. The Mission, aimed at reaching the "unchurched" youngsters of Wilmington, Delaware, and the surrounding New Castle County, was planned by the director of youth evangelism for the National Council of Churches. The evangelists discussed church affiliation with youngsters in schools, clubs, at athletic clubs, and in ice cream parlors. View the original photo in Pearl.
Download "You're sweet as cake, Valentine!"
Sister Mary Marka of St. Mary's Mercy Hospital (say that five times fast!) is seen here affixing a cross atop a miniature chapel she made out of cake and frosting. The baked good marks the golden jubilee of two other nuns at the hospital and was crafted for their celebration in 1950. The Sister made sure that the surrounding setting was complete, down to green-tinted coconut "grass" and lamp-posts made of frosted dough. View the original photo in Pearl.
Download "You light me up, Valentine!"
Introducing "Sunnydale Sam," the square-faced robot sitting atop the piano in this 1953 photograph. Sam the robot works on the principle of an applause meter (on piano), has radio tubes for eyes, electric light bulbs for ears, and a red tongue. As the singing increases, the bulbs light up and the tongue flicks back and forth. When Sunday school is dismissed, Sam says, with the aid of a hidden recording device: "Goodbye, I'll see you next Sunday, boys and girls." View the original photo in Pearl.
Download "You make my heart soar, Valentine!"
At the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, four students walk onto the field at Wood Dale Airport, ready for their practice flight. They are part of a class of 25 students who are enrolled in a four-year missionary flying course in order to become "sky pilots." Besides piloting, the men are taught to "repair planes, set up a complete radio station and preach the Gospel." The Rev. Paul Robinson, a former minister and World War II pilot, is the school's founder and director. Since 1946 when the school was started with three men and one plane, it has grown to its present size of 25 men and 12 planes. The year before this photograph was taken in 1954 the Institute purchased all 82 acres of the Wood Dale Airport, where they had been leasing space and runways. View the original photo in Pearl.
Download "You toot my horn, Valentine!"
Colonel "Bob" Munro, a trumpet-playing evangelist, was photographed during his 1950 "tour of Ontario prisons and reformatories at the request of the Ontario government. He conducts evangelistic services in the hope of reforming some of the inmates—a new type of crime prevention." View the original photo in Pearl.
Download "You've felled me, Valentine!"
The Rev. Reed, the clergyman in charge of Presbyterian lumber camp parishes in the Northeast area of New York state, stops two sweat-stained lumberjacks to chat with them about the topics of the day. This photograph having been taken in 1949, we wonder what they spoke about. In order to reach the camps dotted along the Adirondack mountain region, Rev. Reed uses plane, car, "and shank's mare to reach inaccessible camps." View the original photo in Pearl.
You may freely reuse and distribute this article in its entirety for non-commercial purposes in any medium. Please include author attribution, photography credits, and a link to the original article. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDeratives 4.0 International License.
