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THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2021
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An example of a sailors’ valentine from
the Cahoon Museum of American Art.
Valentine’s Day at sea
By JULIA TRIEZENBERG
For The Astorian
‘T
A ‘valentine
anchor’ from
The Magazine
Antiques.
is the season for sailors’ valentines. These
unique and time-consuming gifts are boxes dec-
orated with intricate patterns and made of hun-
dreds of seashells.
Typically, both sides of a valentine are connected by
a hinge. Opening
the box reveals
delicate patterns
of hearts, fl owers,
anchors and nauti-
cal symbols.
Designs may
take hundreds of
hours and require
dozens of shells
from
different
species.
They
range from just a
few inches wide
to almost 2 feet
across,
almost
always in round or
octagonal shapes.
Sailors’ val-
entines were popular in the late 18th- through early
20th-centuries but their peak popularity was from 1830
to 1880. Whalers and merchant seamen would give val-
entines as gifts to their loved ones, like souvenirs from
their time at sea.
A common misconception is that sailors would make
the valentines themselves while aboard their ships.
With a long list of chores to conquer every day and the
ship pitching and rolling in the waves, it’s unlikely that
anyone would have had the time or the patience to cre-
ate such intricate works of art.
As romantic as DIY art may sound, the majority of
mariners would stop by “curiosity shops” throughout
the West Indies (and particularly in Barbados) while
waiting for their ship to resupply or get repaired.
Like reaching the last stop of a long trip and realiz-
ing “Oh shoot, I never got Grandma anything,” stop-
ping by these shell-fi lled emporiums was a solution to a
similar panic. The valentines were last-minute gift shop
purchases.
Some of the oldest sailors’ valentines are made from
shells that are found in the tropics, which is another rea-
son scholars can trace these artworks to the West Indies
rather than the sailors themselves. Barbados keyhole
limpets, janthinas, and King Venus clams were some of
the more common shells.
Residents in Europe and the U.S. became fascinated
by the valentines as more ships began to travel around
the world. A fad known as “conchylomania” in the 18th
and 19th centuries strengthened their popularity as col-
lectors began searching for the rarest, most beautiful
shells across the globe.
As their trendiness shot upward, businessmen in
Europe and the U.S. set up businesses that mimicked
the curiosity shops of the West Indies.
One particular collector gave one of the largest oil
companies in the
world its start.
Marcus Samuel
ran an antique
store in England
where he sold
sailors’ valentines
that had been
shipped from the
Shell Co. curi-
osity shop in
Barbados.
After his death,
his sons, Mar-
cus Samuel Jr.
and Samuel Sam-
uel, took over the
business.
They
decided to take
the company in a different direction and invested in a
promising enterprise: fossil fuels. The end result was
the Shell Oil Co.
Making your own sailors’ valentines this season is a
simple, socially-distant activity that can keep February
festivities alive. Simply wander along the beach to col-
lect an array of shells, rocks and other natural debris.
Assembly after that is easy. Arrange your fi ndings
into various patterns on a small piece of wood or card-
board, then glue them to stick.
Julia Triezenberg is an educator at the Columbia
River Maritime Museum.
Julia Triezenberg
A DIY Valentine’s
Day gift created
during a Columbia
River Maritime
Museum education
program.