Valentine’s Day is here! And while the day is traditionally associated with flowers, chocolate, and perhaps a romantic evening, many sailors who were separated from their loved ones had to be a bit more creative. Here are just a few examples from the collection of the Los Angeles Maritime Museum. To view more of the historic photograph collection, be sure to visit www.lamaritimemuseum.org select “research” and then “Online Digital Collections”. The museum welcomes donations of photograph and artifacts that document the history of the Port of Los Angeles. Please contact the museum at info@lamaritimemuseum.org or call 310-548-7618 if you have items to donate.

Before the invention of television and the internet, publicity stills sold movies to filmgoing audiences during the heyday of classic movies from the 1920 through the 1950s. Film studios produced and distributed millions of free publicity images to magazines and newspapers to build awareness of upcoming movies or to promote promising or popular performers.