“The bachelors of the present day are…as respectable, agreeable, polite, attentive

“The bachelors of the present day are…as respectable, agreeable, polite, attentive and gallant a set of animals as ever existed.” -  Aurora & Pennsylvania Gazette (Philadelphia), February 20, 1829

The custom of celebrating St. Valentine’s Day came to America with English and German settlers. Though mass-produced valentine cards did not appear in the United States until the mid-19th century, handmade valentines were exchanged as early as the Revolutionary War. For a peek at how St. Valentine’s Day was celebrated in the early 19th century, as gleaned from American newspapers of the time, see: https://shannonselin.com/2016/02/valentines-day-early-19th-century-america/.