Love Tokens - Exhibition at The Oxfordshire Museum, Woodstock - 9 January to 13 March 2016

Members may be interested in a new exhibition: Tokens of Love which opened at the Oxfordshire Museum in Woodstock on Saturday 9 January and continues until 13 March 2016.

The exhibition features objects from the Oxfordshire Museum’s collection which were used as love tokens including bobbins and corset stays to rings and photographs, via smocks and samplers and Valentine cards from Shell, who began sending Valentines greetings cards to their lady drivers in 1938. They were designed by artists of the day and carried witty jokes and rhymes on motoring and petrol themes. The tradition continued into the 50’s, 60’s and up until 1975. Shell extended their collection in 1964 when the company acquired 200 cards from the collection of the late Miss Jane Samuels, collector and founder of ‘The Valentine Shop in the Strand’, London.

This exhibition traces the history of the Valentine from early nineteenth century onwards; it has romance and gushing sincerity with the liberal use of lace, ribbon and guilt cupids!

Free entry