Factory was real

Talk on history of card firm Valentines

IT had humble beginnings in the City of Discovery — but went on to become the biggest company of its kind in Europe producing 100 million greeting cards every year.

Now a university archivist wants to give people a fascinating insight into the meteoric rise of Valentines of Dundee and its role as one of Tayside’s largest employers for more than a century.

Valentine and Sons Ltd was founded in the city in 1851 by James Valentine, son of John, who had previously run the business focused on the engraving, printing and supply of business stationery.

James was a photography enthusiast who had studied at St Andrews University. He added portrait photography to his business, building one of the largest photographic glasshouses in Britain in 1855.

Landscape postcard photography was added to the firm’s output in 1860. This caught the eye of Queen Victoria, who commissioned a series of photographs, and James was appointed “Photographer to the Queen”, assisting the dramatic expansion of the company.

By the 1880s, the firm was a global market power.

The period was an age in which the public couldn’t simply take their own photographs – it wasn’t until 1888 that Kodak produced the first commercially successful camera for film.

Rachel Nordstrum, photographic collections manager at St Andrews University, will give a presentation to the Friends of Dundee City