The custom of exchanging cards, or valentines, on February 14th emerged in the United States in the 1840s, largely inspired by a similar custom in England. The American Antiquarian Society and the Smith College Department of Art have teamed up to create Victorian Valentines: Intimacy in the Industrial Age. One section of this virtual exhibit, Time is Money, highlights the earliest American commercial valentines, including those designed by Esther Holland and her "biggest rival," George Clarkson Whitney. One of Holland's valentines is actually a three-dimensional box adorned by images of flowers, two young girls, a windmill, and a hen surrounded by baby chicks. Visitors may also explore some impressive examples of handmade valentines in the Taking Love in Hand section. Finally, lest one idealizes Victorian-era American culture, the Love Bites section exhibits the less savory aspects of early valentines. "Vinegar valentines" were designed to mock and wound their intended recipient. These valentines, along with the more "traditional" sort, often use racist language and imagery. As the team behind this site notes, vinegar valentines "confirm simultaneously the ephemerality of nineteenth-century industrial print culture and the persistence of human cruelty."