The Victorian Age (1837-1901) is often associated with expressions of love – reserved cards, poetry ads, and great dedication gestures. However, under this Romantic interface Setting less well -known tradition: “Valentine's Day”. Unlike the emotional and light messages that were exchanged on February 14, Valentine's Day is designed for vinegar for insult, insult and ridicule of its recipients.
These amazing mistakes have been transformed one day from love into one of the irony and social criticism-which explains that even the Victorians know how to achieve a well-timing burn.
What was Valentine's Day?
Valentine's Day by equivalent vinegar was in the nineteenth century for hate mail, and it is often printed on cheap postcard with mass production that includes harsh caricatures and biting verses. Unlike the traditional Valentine's Day cards, which celebrated love and admiration, these cards were aimed at wounding their recipients, making it an extraordinary but common part of the holiday. Think about them as the Victorian version of an aggressive negative email-with the exception of rhyme insults and doubtful artworks.
Publishers, such as John McLegelin, and then printed Rafael Tuk and the sons of thousands of these degrading gangs, which were widely sold in stationery stores. It was cheap and easy to get, and it can be sent unknown – giving people to express their contempt without fear of repercussions. Postal workers, who recognize their offensive nature, have sometimes refused to hand them over, but this has not been widely used to use them.
Nothing says “Happy Valentine's Day” like rejection by both secret fans and royal mail in one day!
Who received Valentine's Day?
These bad notes can target almost anyone, which reflects many social tensions at the time. It included some joint beneficiaries:
Unwanted Women who want to refuse continuous fans can send Valentine's Day for vinegar to humiliate them. The cards often depict desperate and embarrassing men and included verses that make fun of their emotions. It was a much more harsh alternative to say simply, “It is not you, it's me.”
Spinster and bachelor's women – Those who remained unmarried were repeated goals, mocked the failure of the husband. One of the common topics was the depiction of older single women as desperate or imaginary about their attractiveness – because it is clear that nothing says romance such as societal pressure and outdated gender roles. One example aims to read unmarried women:
“She caught a poor and rounded cat / but she could not start from a man, so we heard / she is the fate of the sad maid / to lose her on a companion / and eat tea-but S-SH! It is not a word.”
Playing rights and independent women When the Women's Rights Movement gained momentum, the poll became a favorite issue. Many Valentine's Day mocked women who sought independence, and imagined them as female or unwanted. The paradox? Many of these women might have better things to do with the interest of bad Valentine's Day.
Bad chiefs and lazy workers – Sometimes employees sent these cards to their employers as a form of protest, while disturbing presidents may send them to workers who have been considered incompetent. Because nothing enhances morale in the workplace like anonymous bullying in the place of disguise as hair. A postcard mocking the man who lacks ambition may be mentioned:
“Lazy Lout wandering throughout the day, / no work, there are no plans – just waste! / Dreaming of love? Ha! What a joke, / when the lazy and lazy suits you better!”
The role of satire and social criticism
By the mid -nineteenth century, VineGar Valentines represented about half of all Valentine's Day sales in the United States, According to the writer Roth Web Lee.
Valentine's Day was not only harsh jokes, but also reflected the strict social expectations of Victorian society. Men and women were expected to commit to strict roles, and those who often deviated from them were the subjects of general contempt. Cards were a way to enhance social standards by punishing those who challenged them.
For example, the women who asked for independence or refused to marry as ugly, bitter, or unwanted were photographed. The men who were considered weak or uncomfortable have mocked their failure to raise the level of the expectations of the age of masculinity. This form of the social police, which was implemented through a lukewarm tradition, reveals the dark side of Victorian culture.
In short, if you are not following the text of a suitable man or lady of Victory, then someone may send you a postcard to inform you of that.
The end of Valentine's Day
However, with the progress of the twentieth century, Valentine's Day popularity decreased. The height of Valentine's Day traditions make the most positive and commercial, along with changing social situations, these harsh cards are less acceptable. By the middle of the twentieth century, greeting cards in the collective market embraced topics of romance and passion, and left only a few sharp intelligence of Valentine's Day. Halmark seems to have decided that “you are the worst” was not just profitable like “I love you forever.”
Today, these cards act as historical curiosity, as it provides a glimpse of humor, biases and social dynamics of the Victorian era. While Valentine's Day is usually seen as a celebration of love, the legacy of VineGar Valentines reminds us that not all expressions of passion are nice – or hidden.
So the next time you get a bad Valentine's Valentine Card, just be grateful because it does not include a poem in the Victorian era on how you are your death alone.
