In the early nineteenth century, the cost of postage had to be paid by the person receiving the post.

Penny Post was not yet widely available, and the cost was based on both the distance travelled and the number of sheets posted. Some of the Valentines sent were less than flattering, and might be sent anonymously out of spite. Having to pay to receive a card like the one below must have been rather annoying!

The verse on the card (pictured below left) reads:

Oh charms like thine, are too divine,
Thou model of all grace!
For thee I sigh, I faint, I die,
To view thy love-formed face;
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.

Complaints

Unsurprisingly, people complained to the Post Office at having to pay to receive mischievous or malicious Valentines. Sir Francis Freeling wrote to the Postmaster General about the issue on a few occasions in the 1820s.

At that time, it had been decided that the Post Office should not refund postage. Discretion was used in particular cases, and postage reduced to single letter for Valentines sent in an envelope.

The letter (pictured below right) begins:

"My Lord, In February 1825 I brought the subject of Valentine day under the consideration of the then PMG (Postmaster General)…"

- Francis Freeling to the Postmaster General Lord Montague, 17 February 1827 (POST 42/115)

Illustrations

Comic Valentine, 1812

Letter from F. Freeling to the PMG