Dennison’s “Cupid Mail Carrier No. V-240” is delivered to Framingham a Century Later

Written by: Researchers and FHC Volunteers Nancy Prince & Patricia Lavin

Dennison’s “Cupid Mail Carrier No. V-240” made his debut in 1924 in the Company’s Valentines Product Line when he first appeared in Dennison’s 1924 Gala Book:

“Holidays are gala days, and gala days are party days. A new edition of the Dennison Gala Book is published each year full of fresh suggestions to make the spring holiday successful by showing the hostess new and attractive ways to decorate and entertain.”

It was on the pages of this party publication that the Dennison Tag-Team of Pat Lavin and Nancy Prince first saw Cupid V-240. Dennison showed how Cupid V-240 could be creatively crafted into party favors and table decorations. This 3-3/4 inch tall Printed Cut-Out stood out as the

 likely creation of Mary Hays Huber, a freelance artist who designed many of the sweetest and most distinctive images of children for Dennison’s 1920s Holiday and Children’s Party Lines.

Cupid V-240 was such a standout in his day that Dennison displayed him in the Company’s History Room which had opened just two years earlier. Later he was stored in his iconic branded Dennison box along with other holiday merchandise in the History Room.   

Understanding the “science of business” and lessons from history, President Henry S. Dennison (1917-1952) established the History Room in 1922 and hired historians to document the Company’s history. The primary contents of the History Room were the Corporate Records/Company Archives, which included: financial and governing reports of the Board, Committees, Districts and Departments; product catalogues and other publications; scrapbooks filled with Dennison memorabilia, advertisements, publicity articles, promotional materials; thousands of photographs.  

Fast forward to 1990, when Dennison merged with Avery, the headquarters of Avery Dennison was centralized in California.  The contents of Dennison’s History Room were packed into boxes and shipped to California and so Dennison’s Cupid Mail Carrier V-240 was carried west. 

For the next 22 years, Dennison’s History Room boxes were forgotten and untouched in a California warehouse.  In 2012, Avery Dennison discovered the treasures and thankfully offered them to the Framingham History Center.

Thus began FHC’s significant work with the Dennison History Room over the next 13 years, including:

Sadly, however, Dennison’s Cupid Mail Carrier was not in the History Room boxes that returned to Framingham in 2012.  Almost no products were in those boxes, and so, it was believed that very few products were displayed, stored and saved for posterity in the original History Room.

Lo and behold, in the summer of 2024, twelve years after the return of the lost History Room boxes, Avery Dennison discovered more … 20 very large double-sized bankers boxes containing more Dennison treasures and shipped them to Framingham.  

The pages of Dennison’s Holiday publications came alive when Pat and Nancy opened the box that revealed the most beautiful Dennison Valentine and Halloween products from the 1920s!  Dennison’s Cupid Mail Carrier No. V-240 had made it home exactly one century after his creation! 

So excited about our Cupid’s return, we are putting V-240 back to work doing his Labors of Love … sending love and history to you, your sweethearts, family, and friends with these Dennison Retro Valentines Day cards, available to purchase for your special valentine!