Believing that birds began to mate on February 14, people in the Middle Ages started the card tradition by sending love letters on that day.        In the 15th century, singing and spoken valentines were slowly replaced by written letters in Europe. The first written valentine is credited to  Charles, the Duke of Orleans, who wrote love poems to his wife while he was in prison in 1415. By the beginning of the 16th century,  valentines were almost always written. Early valentines were hand-made on color1ed paper. Often they were tinted  with water color1s and inks.        The 1800s saw valentines made by factory workers. Black and white pictures were painted by the workers in the early part of the century. By the end of the 1800s, the cards were made by machines. These cards were elaborately decorated with gold leaf, satin, lace and flowers. In 1840, the first mass-produced valentine's cards were made in America. Esther Howland, who sold $5,000 worth of the cards in her first year, created them. What was the tradition of Valentine's Day before the 15th century?
Singing. Sending cards. Writing letters. Drawing pictures.