The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1903-02-14
MAIL CARRIER BRINGS
MANY LOVE MISSIVES
Delivery Capacity of the st. Louis
Post Office Ia Taxed
This Year.
VALENTINES GO OUT FIRST.
Extra Force Employed to Prevent
Delay in Carrying Ont Uncle
Sans Contract With
Cupid.
Good morning! Did you receive your

Good morning.! Did you receive your
valentine?
II you did not It's very strange. for the
indications about the various statSnery
stores yesterday. and for several days previ-
Gus. as we'll as the unprecedented crush
about the distribution department of the
Post Office, were that no one would be for
gotten.
A glance at the deserted shelves In the
stores yesterday evening told that the an
cient custom of exchanging love tokens has
not refrigerated a whit. On the contrary,
it appeared to have increased amazingly.
William ]. Kipp. superintendent OF distri-
button at the Post ONCE. stated that the
business this year in comparison with That
OF last had doubled.
The mail matter began to pile up on us
as early as Wednesday morning" said he,
'.and necessitated large increases in my
working forces. l have put on nanus'
equivalent to 200 extra hours, to work tri-
day night and Saturday morning, whicn IS
virtually double the working force OF my
department. and l am confident that al! our
valentines will be on their way In the AFTER
noon delivery to-day.
HANDLE TOKENS WITH CARE
I'VE have also put on double forces on
the mail cars In order to give the pretty
things the careful handling necessary;
notice" he continued. thai, the valentines
tiito sNci "a AAeNh
they are also much more valuable and nave
necessitated q great. deal more care IN
handling than We have experienced IN
former years"
Dealers were enthusiastic over the sales
and rejoiced in the thought that very niue
OF this years stock would haveNto be held
over for next year.
A remarkable feature this year Is a stump
In the sale of the comic hand bill gotten
up to portray defects In the pef fhs aasle 9s
concur in the belief that this style OF valen.
tine is on the wane. and In a few years will
be a thing almost unknown.
In their stead appear beautiful card
board missives. just as characteristic OF
ones vocation in life. but minus the objec-
tionable verse. A few lines dainty writ,
compared to the picture, make q contrast
which never fails to strike one.
X: l.. Johnson. who has charge OF the
Jaccard Jeweiry Company. stated that the
business this year was better than Il had
ever been before.
One OF the most popular of the more OK
pensive valentines this year is the
"Mouchies." which We're very popular
among the bellies and beaux Of one hundred
or handkerchief box. highly perfumed.
the valentine a gorgeous affair of hand
ing the lid. Hand-painted valentine plates
and Cupid clocks are also among the most
expensive OF novelties.
Grotesque pickaninnies and their ludicrous
love affairs found favor among lovers who
wished TO. poke fun at one another: Pop
ular catch-phrase valentines found many
buyers. For instance. II one wished to call
a friend a 'knocker." a beautiful missive
adorned with a hammer served the pur-
pose to a nicely. 'Spoony' couples re-
ceived the same card with a spoon dccora-
ton.
A novelty continued over from last year
which found favor among the young folks
WIS the appearance on the market of Gu
pid's love letters ard kilograms. Hardly a
store could be found last light that had
any OF these left. The love letters ran
something like this: