In Norfolk St Valentine’s Eve was the night for giving presents. At Norwich the streets swarmed with carriers and baskets; the knocker went bang and parcels labelled only St Valentine’s love or Good morrow, Valentine were left on the step by givers who ran off unseen. At Swaffham a valentine was tied to an apple or an orange and thrown in at a door opened on the sly, and boys chalked a letter-shaped square on the step to tease whoever came to the door. Leaving anonymous gifts from Jack Valentine is still a Norfolk family custom.
Valentine’s Eve in Norfolk
13 February · Norwich and Swaffham, Norfolk
Still kept
the valentine, attached to an apple or an orange, is thrown in; a loud rap at the door immediately follows, and the offender, taking to his heels, is off instantly.
From Hone's Every-Day Book, vol. 2, cols. 221-222; Chambers's Book of Days, vol. 1, pp. 252-253. Read the original
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