A history of Vinegar Valentines: Sour — Not Sweet — Nothings

Randall C. Hill

50plus Magazine

 

It may seem hard to believe, but about half of some of the earliest valentines contained grotesque caricatures of the intended recipient and mean-spirited, hurtful missives. Sadly, such negativity lives on to this day, but now in a much different form.

By the 1840s, people in both England and America were creating Valentine’s Day greetings featuring heartfelt poetry, often illustrated by elaborate flourishes, and mailed in quilted-paper cards bound in festive ribbons. Eventually, improvements in the printing process and paper production heralded a boom in the sale of mass-produced valentines.

Before long, however, an unexpected sea change began. What started as a quiet ripple gradually swelled into a tidal wave. Some pranksters had enjoyed mailing valentines that involved gentle teasing — a little joke here, a little poke there — meant to produce a smile. But, over time, the mood of such messages soured and slowly turned increasingly crass and, eventually, despicable. By being sent anonymously, such vitriol could easily sting with insults that would normally never be spoken to another’s face.

These became known as “vinegar valentines” and were the popular evil twin of the traditional, positive gesture. Printers, of course, were delighted with the extra revenue, as such one-penny-each products were easy to produce on cheap, flimsy sheets of paper that were then folded and sealed with a dab of wax.

In the mid-1800s, cards could be mailed without a stamp, which meant that someone receiving such cruelty would also have to pay the postage (also one penny) before reading the snarky contents. (Talk about adding insult to injury!)

Anybody, it seemed, was considered fair game — neighbors, relatives, employers, friends and colleagues, people from all walks and placement on the social hierarchy. Sometimes the senders targeted unwanted suitors, but many others made fun of one’s age, weight, looks, occupation or marital status — as well as any number of human foibles.

One often-maligned group was the suffragettes, who were attempting to secure voting rights for women. A suffragette might receive a vinegar valentine that claimed:

 

   Your vote from me you will not get

   I don’t want a preaching suffragette

But those who mailed the cards sometimes got their comeuppance. A popular retort (assuming the original sender could be identified) might simply be a terse but powerful threat:

   No vote, no kiss

   So, take that, fella!

In time, people tired of the relentless negativity, and vinegar valentines slowly disappeared, giving way to “normal” February 14th cards featuring positive messages.

Today, collectors of 19th century ephemera have little trouble locating traditional Valentine’s Day cards, but great difficulty finding surviving vinegar valentines. Not surprising, as recipients back then usually burned or trashed them right after they were read.

Regrettably, the modern-day equivalent of these valentines — messages of bullying, insults, even threats — flourishes today via any number of social media sites. And isn’t that a pity?

 

Randal C. Hill, fulfilling a dream of living on the Oregon coast, enjoys writing about old  rock ‘n’ roll hits and little-known ’60s trivia.