Through February, the museum will host a Valentine’s Day card exhibit from guest curator Denise Drill.

The exhibit features dozens of Valentine’s cards from 1910- 1920 and 1930 through the 1940s. Drill came across these decade-old cards only three weeks ago while rummaging through old family boxes.

Drill said she was going through some of her mother’s old stuff and found a box that belonged to her grandmother, Florence Vogel Sixel. Inside the box were Sixel’s diaries, items from her time as a seamstress and dozens of old Valentine’s cards.

In reading through the cards, most were sent back and forth between family members. Many were from siblings of Drill’s great-grandmother’s siblings. After finding the cards, Drill conducted some geneAfter finding the cards, alogical research to identify which family members sent the cards and what happen to them. She believes that many of the cards were sent back and forth between her grandmother’s and great-grandmother’s homesteads. The two family farms were located a mile apart near Centerville Wisconsin, close to Lake Michigan. Some of the Valentines could also be exchanged by the cousins while attending school.

The display case is filled with different cards from the 1910s through 1940s along with write-ups on the history of the cards.

The desire to share Valentine’s cards must run into the family. Before discovering her grandmother’s collection, Drill had been working with St. Paul’s church to mail Valentine’s cards to church members who were alone on the holiday.

Drill said she started doing this in 2020 at the start of the pandemic. Many seniors were at home alone and were unable to even attend church. She began sending holiday cards to those on St. Paul’s mailing list. She estimated making and sending around 80 Valentine’s cards each year. Then in an amazing coincidence, she found her grandmother’s collection of cards.

Drill was excited to stumble across Valentine’s cards from her grandmother and wanted to share the cards with the public. She believed the cards would liven up the space at the museum.

The exhibit also includes historical information on Valentine’s Day traditions. Drill presents various theories on how the holiday began and its eventual rise in popularity in the Victorian era. Hallmark began offering Valentine’s c

The Valentine’s exhibit will be on display through February. BCHS museum is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday.