For collector Billie Barb, it’s as much about the story behind a valentine as the gift itself.

Barb, a Mutiny Bay resident, has scoured antique shops and the Internet for 40 years searching for beautifully crafted antique Valentine’s cards.

And she’s been quite successful, accumulating enough valentines for two displays at the Coupeville and Freeland libraries, something she’s been doing for several years.

Barb’s displays will be up at both libraries for the month of February as her way of sharing her appreciation of the keepsakes with the public.

“They’re fun,” Barb said. “They’re just so beautiful. You can’t find them today.”

Her collection spans from 1880 to the mid-to-late 1940s. Most of the cards were made in Germany.

She found her first antique valentine about 40 years ago.

“I just ran across one that was so beautiful,” Barb said.

She used to find them in antique stores, but in recent years has moved to scouring the Internet.

“Rarely do you find them now, and they’re not in very good shape,” Barb said of finding cards in shops.

But online shopping can be just as tricky.

“They’ve become quite popular,” she said. “Bidding can get quite ferocious.”

The valentines closest to Barb’s heart are small, heart-shaped ones produced in the United States by the Whitney Company because those were the types of valentines she gave out as a child.

“Unfortunately, I don’t have a single one from my childhood,” she said.

Using her background as genealogist, Barb has tracked original card owners on several occasions.

“I love to get the ones that have a name on the back so I can research them,” Barb said. “When you have the history, it makes them that much more special.”

One time she acquired a valentine that was tracked back to a teacher who had a box of cards she’d been given by students over the years.

In another instance, Barb acquired a set of cards, separately, complete with envelopes that were sent to two siblings in the 1880s.

The cards were sent to Ella Walmer Reed, 10, and Edgar W. Reed, 7, who lived with their parents in Pottsville, Pa.

Using her genealogist skills and census information, she learned the children’s father William was the proprietor and manager of Pennsylvania Hall, a first-class hotel where the family lived.

The father died in 1885, at the age of 43, as a result of Civil War injuries. The family left the hotel.

Barb was able to contact descendants of the Reeds and learned Ella was nicknamed Toady by her father because of her blonde hair.

Ella was beautiful, but never married and spent her life caring for her mother and aunt until their deaths. She lived with various relatives until her death in 1963 at the age of 93, Bard said.

Barb said she is hoping the relative she contacted will send photos of the pair.

Over the years, Barb has been working to refine her collection and find examples that show how the valentines changed through each generation.

Some of the more extravagant pieces are called “honeycomb” valentines and feature crepe-paper fold outs. Others pull out to create three-dimensional displays.

It isn’t difficult for Barb to find a valentine she loves, but it is almost impossible to choose a favorite.

“I love the smaller ones and the 3-D ones,” she said. “I think I have a favorite and then I see another one.”

n For more information about antique valentines, contact Barb at 360-331-5715 or gardener@whidbey.com