V for Valentine

Baby Lulu's cold is going away, but slowly. She has to be hooked up to a nebulizer several times a day, which makes her cry and is the saddest thing ever. We also have to stay indoors as long as her cough persists and I've had to get creative to think of activities to keep us from going stir crazy. Today we got crafty, and made Valentines out of old Victory Mail forms I found in an antique store a few years ago and have been saving ever since for a special occasion.


V-Mail was issued by the U.S. government during WWII for sending letters to servicemen and women overseas. Letters were written on the V-mail sheets, which were photographed onto reels of microfilm. The reels were sent to Europe or Africa or the Pacific, where they were printed out and sent onward. The microfilm process allowed a larger number of letters to be transported at once, and made it so soldiers, sailors, and airmen could get word from folks at home more quickly than they would have otherwise.

With a little tweaking in the form of paint, markers, and paraphrased wartime slogans, V-Mail also make fun, vintage, modern-day Valentines.


The red borders and lettering are so festive to me! But the paper is frail (it's close to 70 years old!) so we had to use a light touch to keep ink and paint from bleeding through to the other side. All in all, I think they turned out well, and I love the idea of sending a sweet little history lesson to our family and friends, sealed with a kiss.

You can buy authentic V-mail online (on ebay or sites for reenactors). The authentic V-Mail forms can be pricey--as much as $5 per sheet! But there's a free, printable reproduction available at the National Postal Museum at this link. (Be sure to use first-class postage if you're sending them by mail.)

Of course we listened to some old 1940s love songs while making them, to get us in the mood. Here's one of my all-time faves: