Vinegar Valentines

I am sure we all remember taking our Valentine cards to school or making them for our parents, but did you ever wish you could make a Valentine that was not so nice and send that to someone who pushed your buttons? In true Victorian fashion, that is exactly what they did.  

Now commonly known as “Vinegar” or “Sour” Valentines, the Victorian’s saw Valentines Day as a great opportunity to let someone know how they really felt, whether good or bad. These cards had a variety of uses and were not limited to romantic love. They often contained an unflattering illustration and a poem or rhyme that was tailored to specific situations.  

Valentine cards in general became commercially available and popular to send through the mail during the mid to late 1800s. In fact, they became so popular that there are accounts of overworked postal workers and delays in mail around Valentine’s Day due to the sheer volume of cards being sent.  

One postal worker recounted a fight that broke out between two women who received unkind Valentine cards. The women were both spinsters of a certain age and accused the other of sending the nasty cards. He recounts the verbal, and physical, fight and the “terrible disarrangement of bonnets, eye-glasses, and other feminine toggery”. (Adkins, Milton T. “In a Country Post-Office.” Godey’s Lady’s Book and Magazine 93 (1873):247-251.) I am sure that was quite the scandal at the time. It was at least scandalous enough to make it into an edition of Godey’s.  

Some examples of the nasty cards include:

Join us at our Victorian Galentine’s & Florals class with museum manager, Chelsea Stewart, as we explore the historical origins of Valentine’s Day traditions by creating your very own take-home floral arrangement and Victorian-inspired Valentine’s Day card… or maybe even a Vinegar Valentine!