WORCESTER, Mass., Feb. 14 (UPI) -- The U.S. commercial valentine industry, which estimates 190 million valentines are sent each year, was created by one woman, historians say.
Esther Howland born in 1828 in Worcester, Mass., and a Mount Holyoke alumna, is credited with having established the commercial valentine industry in the United States, a Mount Holyoke official said. Howland, who graduated from what was then the Mount Holyoke Female Seminary in 1847, was inspired to create elaborate renditions of an ornate valentine sent to her by a family friend in England.