DKL
02-13-2012, 04:50 PM
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Valentine’s Day, 1875
The writings of a local reporter:
The 14th of February, with regards to its correspondence, is one of the most remarkable days of the year. When the rates of postage were very much higher than at present, and when the post office had not yet become a national parcels delivery company, the interchange of letters between ardent friends or sighing lovers was comparatively small and the ‘billets doux’ were nearly uniform in shape and weight. But now the case is completely changed. Valentines are not the mere poetic or prose effusions in which love finds expression ; but frequently they are gifts of considerable value, packed in boxes of all sorts and all sizes than can be thrust through a post office window, quite irrespective of the inconvenience which they occasion to the letter sorter, as well as the letter carrier.
The anniversary of St. Valentine’s Day is, however the occasion of practices far more objectionable than that of the transmission of huge parcels in the name of letters through the post. It is the very carnival of practical joking; the period in which young men and maidens delight to punish in various ways the objects of their scorn or scoff. Attempts are every year made to transmit through the post office articles disgusting or loathsome, but when discovered such communications are suppressed by the authorities. If the parties who thus seek to castigate the objects of their dislike were to look inside the post office on the eve of St. Valentine’s Day, they would be a little startled at the diverse nature of some of the suppressed communications.
Whilst practical joking is confined to pen and paper or to valentines proper, however ludicrous they may be, no great mischief ensues; but the moment any attempt is made to use one of our greatest national institutions as the vehicle for the conveyance of personal insult and indignity by the transmission of filthy and repulsive articles, the authorities as far as possible step in to prevent it.
As far as can be ascertained the number of valentines delivered in Liverpool was about 92,000, and the number posted 119,000.
More... (http://danielklongman.tumblr.com/post/17555279110)
Valentine’s Day, 1875
The writings of a local reporter:
The 14th of February, with regards to its correspondence, is one of the most remarkable days of the year. When the rates of postage were very much higher than at present, and when the post office had not yet become a national parcels delivery company, the interchange of letters between ardent friends or sighing lovers was comparatively small and the ‘billets doux’ were nearly uniform in shape and weight. But now the case is completely changed. Valentines are not the mere poetic or prose effusions in which love finds expression ; but frequently they are gifts of considerable value, packed in boxes of all sorts and all sizes than can be thrust through a post office window, quite irrespective of the inconvenience which they occasion to the letter sorter, as well as the letter carrier.
The anniversary of St. Valentine’s Day is, however the occasion of practices far more objectionable than that of the transmission of huge parcels in the name of letters through the post. It is the very carnival of practical joking; the period in which young men and maidens delight to punish in various ways the objects of their scorn or scoff. Attempts are every year made to transmit through the post office articles disgusting or loathsome, but when discovered such communications are suppressed by the authorities. If the parties who thus seek to castigate the objects of their dislike were to look inside the post office on the eve of St. Valentine’s Day, they would be a little startled at the diverse nature of some of the suppressed communications.
Whilst practical joking is confined to pen and paper or to valentines proper, however ludicrous they may be, no great mischief ensues; but the moment any attempt is made to use one of our greatest national institutions as the vehicle for the conveyance of personal insult and indignity by the transmission of filthy and repulsive articles, the authorities as far as possible step in to prevent it.
As far as can be ascertained the number of valentines delivered in Liverpool was about 92,000, and the number posted 119,000.
More... (http://danielklongman.tumblr.com/post/17555279110)