For the enemy in your life: The vicious Valentine cards that promised endless hate

By CHRIS HASTINGS


When the Valentine's Day post hits the mat this Tuesday, millions will be hoping for tender messages from loved ones or hints from secret admirers.
But in the 19th Century, some Valentine's cards contained a vicious sting – with sarcastic and obnoxious captions designed to upset and humiliate.
They were often swapped by estranged couples or simply posted to those who had somehow annoyed the sender.

A 1950s version of one of the insulting cards and right, an offending card from the 19th Century

They were sent anonymously and, prior to the introduction of the Penny Black stamp in 1840, it was the appalled recipient who had to pick up the cost of the postage. Several of the cards, which prompted complaints to the Post Office, are held by the British Postal Museum and Archive in North London.
One dated 1817, which would have been sent by a woman, shows a caricature of a man bent double and has the caption: 'Thy crescent back, like neddy jack, Hampers so fit to carry. That if all men were like thee – then I'd sooner die than marry.'

You know very well when your Mistress retires which is seldom not much after ten, and having assisted her as she requires you back to the kitchen again

Others believed to have been produced in the 1820s even suggested the recipient's partner had been up to no good. One which shows a businessman returning home only to catch sight of his wife embracing her lover states: 'To darling wife he hastens home. He thinks she sits and pines alone.'
Another casts doubt on the morals of a maidservant by implying that she waits for her mistress to retire to bed so she can entertain a male cousin in the kitchen. The card has a picture of a retiring mistress on the front and on the inside a picture of the maid and her cousin enjoying a meal.

The cards were usually send anonymously and prior to stamps it was the recipient who had to pick up the cost of postage

Another of the cards, which may have been sent by an ex-lover, casts doubt on a man's ability to love at all.
It shows a portly gentleman trying to pawn his heart in a shop run by Cupid, and reads: 'You cannot pawn your paltry heart. Though oft you've tried with wonderous art. It will not go for all your vaunts. Tis not the sort that Cupid wants.'
The practice of sending the cards seems to have lasted well into the 20th century and the Kirklees Museum and Galleries service in West Yorkshire has examples of cards from the Forties and Fifties.
One has the caption: 'You've had your day my dear, remember your age if you can, people can see without looking, you're mutton dressed as lamb.'

Such a fox in female guise, surely must excite surprise

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