“Cupid and Co.” was most likely the firm of Joseph Mansell, a lace-paper and stationary company that manufactured large numbers of valentines between the 1840s and 1860s – and also just happened to ...

The red, white and blue bunting is down, the flags are furled and the last of the fireworks have been sent aloft. And for far too many of us, that surge of patriotic fervor and effort found around ...