A new free exhibition at Dundee's design museum is re-telling the story of the city's iconic Valentines card factory - with the help of the company's former employees and bosses.
Between 1825 and 1994, Valentines was a flagship Dundee firm that started out in linen printing before moving into portrait photography, business stationery and, later, picture postcards and greetings cards. Thousands of people from all walks of life were employed by the firm in its various guises over the years before gift giant Hallmark, which had bought the company in the 1980s, pulled the shutters down on October 28, 1994.
The loss of the company was mourned briefly following its demise but Andrew Valentine, the great-great grandson of company founder James Valentine, believes the company's impact on the city has never been truly appreciated. In 2016, he and brother Malcolm approached V&A Dundee with an idea that has become Sincerely, Valentines - a new exhibition running until January 8, 2023.
Informed by contributions from over 40 families with connections to the factory, the exhibition features staff interviews, rare postcards and other memorabilia sourced from the University of St Andrews and private collections and giant 'postcards' emblazoned with new artworks inspired by the company's archives.
Andrew said: "Malcolm and I had spoken about how Valentines never really had the recognition it deserved - not for just the work it did in photography and printing, but as a major employer in the city as well. We had a very good record of employing families - grannies, mothers and daughters - and a very early good record in employing disabled people. We were quite progressive.
"We approached the V&A and they were on board right away. I wasn't sure of how they would react to the idea but we had an excellent meeting with two of the major executives who latched on straight away. Not just to the business story - this is the first truly local design exhibition that the V&A in Dundee has been able to do."
At its peak, Valentines employed 1,000 people locally as one of several companies pioneering the picture postcard in the early 1900s. It sold other parts of the company off in the 1920s to focus on printing postcards and greetings cards, printing as many as 100 million a year in the 1970s.
But following its acquisition by Waddington's and later Hallmark, it was one of several major employers to disappear from Dundee over a 20-year period. It shuttered just one year after Timex left the city and eight years before Levi's, which sat in the same industrial estate. However, Andrew believes the Valentines story is part of Dundee's fabric - and the exhibition a testament to the city's resilience despite several major blows.
Andrew, who served as sales director in the 1960s before starting up his own business, added: "We're a pretty resilient bunch in Dundee - we keep getting tested but the city always bounces back. I've been amazed by how many people have been in touch to say they worked there, bearing in mind that it closed some time ago.
"I think the exhibition is fantastic. I think the V&A has done a wonderful job and I'm thrilled with it."
Do you have memories of working at Valentines? Share your thoughts in the comments.
A special preview event was held on Friday for former Valentines workers who had contributed to the exhibition. Among them was former Lord Provost Bob Duncan, who was one of the last staff to leave after 32 years at the company. He joined as an apprentice in 1962 and was general manager when the doors closed in 1994.
He said: "I think the exhibition is fantastic. Valentines was a major employer and a major entity in the town and when it closed we didn't get the same attention as NCR or Timex - but it's great to see this exhibition.
"When you think about it, Dundee has always been a city of culture - Valentines was a cultural institution, always interested in the culture of photography and printing. It's good to see the city becoming a city of culture once again."
The V&A has plans for a programme of events to accompany the free exhibition, which is based in the Michelin Design Gallery on the museum's upper floor and has been funded with the help of People's Postcode Lottery. Museum boss Leonie Bell said: "The Valentines story, told beautifully in the exhibition, weaves together many stories from design and social history through to personal memories and nostalgia for the past."
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