Be Mine: The Myth Behind These Gorgeous Victorian Love Tokens

These handmade greetings expressed a sailor’s love and devotion but not necessarily his creativity

A typical sailor’s valentine of the 1800s (Source: penobscotmarinemuseum.org)

Maritime museums frequently have these relics in their collections. Usually, they are constructed within wooden octagonal boxes, filled with a variety of colorful, carefully chosen seashells arranged in a decorative pattern. Some have messages spelled out in shells such as “Home Again” or “Ever Thine.” As a result, they’veAs a result, they’ve come to be known as sailors’ valentines.

Sailors of old spent many long months, sometimes years away from home. The more romantic among us can imagine them collecting shells at ports of call and using them to craft valentines for their wives and sweethearts during those long months at sea. Imagine the joy when a sailor met his darling on the dock and handed her one of these treasures. Indeed a “Hallmark moment.”

A case of mistaken identity

18th-century American sailor (Source: maritimealoft.weebly.com)

Historians once believed sailors crafted these valentines themselves, but a chance discovery gave them a new perspective on their true origins…