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318
The Royal Mail: Its Curiosities and Romance
·
James Wilson Hyde
99
But
the
decay
of
the
ancient
custom
of
sending
Valentines
has
probably
not
come
about
from
within
itself;
it
may
rather
be
attributed
to
the
progress
made
in
what
may
be
called
the
rival
custom
of
sending
cards
of
greeting
and
good
wishes
at
Christmas-time.
It
would
almost
seem
that
two
such
customs,
having
their
times
of
observance
only
a
few
weeks
apart,
cannot
exist
together;
and
it
will
probably
be
found
that
the
new
has
been
growing
precisely
as
the
old
has
been
dying,
the
former
being
much
the
stronger,
choking
the
latter.
Valentines
were
sent
by
the
young
only--or
for
the
most
part,
at
any
rate--while
Christmas-cards
are
in
favour
with
almost
every
age
and
condition
of
life.
It
follows,
then,
that
a
custom
such
as
this,
having
developed
great
energy,
and
being
patronised
by
all
classes,
must
throw
a
larger
mass
of
work
upon
the
Post-office--the
channel
through
which
such
things
naturally
flow--than
Valentines
did.
And
so
it
has
been
found.
The
pressure
on
the
Post-office
in
the
heyday
of
Valentines
was
small
by
comparison
with
that
which
is
now
experienced
at
Christmas.
During
the
Christmas
season
of
1877,
the
number
of
letters,
&c.,
which
passed
through
the
Inland
Branch
of
the
General
Post-office
in
London,
in
excess
of
the
ordinary
correspondence,
was
estimated
at
4,500,000,
a
large
portion
of
which
reached
the
chief
office
on
Christmas
morning;
while
in
the
Christmas
week
of
1882
the
extra
correspondence
similarly
dealt
with
was
estimated
at
14,000,000,
including
registered
letters
(presumably
containing
presents
of
value),
of
which
there
was
a
weight
of
no
less
than
three
tons.
Everywhere
similar
pressure
has
been
felt
in
the
post-offices,
and
it
is
by
no
means
settled
that
we
have
yet
reached
the
climax
of
this
social
but
rampant
custom.
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