Miniature handmade heart-shaped puzzle love token.

Bookseller Notes

An intricate and lovingly made folding valentine - possibly a valentine lottery token - encased within hand-decorated and varnished wooden boards. This love token contains twenty three conundrums, such as: 'Why is an egg overdone like an egg underdone', 'Why is a Steam engine like a Prime Minister' and 'If a poker tongs and shovel cost five shillings what would a chaldron [sic] of coals come to'. Perhaps the answers were provided on a corresponding heart, for a lover to carry. It is reminiscent of the kinds of tokens that appeared in valentine lotteries, in which, on the evening before Valentine's Day, groups of young people would gather to 'draw Lots' to determine their valentine, which was 'look'd upon as a good Omen of their being Man and Wife afterwards'. Couples remained 'valentines' from 14 February until Easter Day, and retained their puzzle tokens throughout. The sharing of home-made acrostics, riddles, and puzzles was a standard part of courting behaviour, which was steadily incorporated into the Valentine's Day repertoire.See: Sally Holloway, The Game of Love in Georgian England: Courtship, Emotions, and Material Culture (OUP, 2019).