10 unusual vintage Valentine’s Day cards
Published on 13 February 2014 by The BNA
The tradition of sending and receiving Valentine’s Day cards is well documented in The British Newspaper Archive, but not all were as sentimental as you might expect.
We’ve found a number of references in our historical newspapers to the unusual Valentines that were exchanged. Here’s a selection of the best for you to enjoy.
1) I saw you kiss the office boy
This little rhyme about an office romance was included in the Nottingham Evening Post in 1903:
2) With coals at the price they are
The Yorkshire Evening Post reported that one Victorian took the opportunity to complain about the cost of heating:
3) Dirty, fat, and greasy
The Dundee Courier printed this delightful caricature and rhyme about Butchers on Valentine’s Day in 1916:
4) My Heart’s at your feet
The Gloucester Citizen scoffed at a card featuring this terrible football pun in 1925:
5) I’ll sweep the mat and feed the catThe Dundee Courier included this Valentine’s rhyme, which they suggested ‘should please even practical Miss 1930’:
6) One for the Minister of Transport
This Valentine’s Day card ‘for the Minister of Transport’ was included in the Aberdeen Press and Journal in 1936:
7) If plough and cart can please your heart
This rhyme entitled ‘from a Farmer to his Valentine’ was printed in the Dundee Courier in 1907:
8) I wanna grab you
The Derby Daily Telegraph reported that ‘the very newest American version’ of Valentine’s Day cards had been sent in 1929:
9) You are by nature a bird of prey
This delightful rhyme about a ‘husband hunter’ was included in the Dundee Courier in 1916:
10) I wish to rhyme a little maid
The final Valentine we’ve found is a charming note from a father to his one-year-old daughter, published in the Dundee Evening Telegraph in 1912:
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Published on Thu, 13 February 2014.