If you’re alone this Valentine’s Day, just be grateful it’s not 1850 and someone sent you a card to comment on your “most hideous teeth”.

So apparently in Victorian times people were complete dicks to each other on Valentine's Day.

Hulton Archive / Getty Images

(Except for these two smug lovers, it seems.)

It was a way to tell someone something you could never say to their face – like calling them fat or bad at singing. Like a Victorian subtweet.

Boydell told BuzzFeed that it was a way to tell people off for not conforming to societal expectations: "There is some suggestion that there may have been a moral undertone to this, chastising those who didn't behave according to social norms."

"Some are quite nasty and we must suppose they were sent to people that were disliked, but some are more gentle and might be given someone you were fond of," Boydell said. "I'm sure some would have found them quite amusing."

1. These cards are totally still relevant, right? For example, is your lady friend a "saucy puss"? Absolutely. Then this horrendous card is perfect for her:

Courtesy of the MMU Special Collections

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