The government desires the postage stamp to be placed on a letter in the extreme upper right-hand corner. This is requested in order to facilitate the canceling of a stamp by a special machine made for that purpose.
Lovers, however, often oppose this regulation and use the stamp as a means of conveying a message to their beloved. The following are the usual meanings attached to the position of the stamp:
Placing the stamp in the upper right-hand corner at a slight angle means: “I expect an immediate reply.”
At an angle of 45 degrees: “I am provoked at your long silence.”
Placing the stamp upside down: “You are very cruel.”
Placing the stamp half an inch from the upper and right-hand edges means: “Expect me tonight.” Placing the stamp at the upper left-hand corner: “Be careful how you reply to this.”
Placing the stamp at the lower right-hand corner: “Beware! Father has caught on.”
Tearing a stamp in half and placing each half with a slight space between; in the upper right-hand corner: “Our friendship is at an end.”
Tearing the stamp and placing the halves in the upper left-hand corner: “You have broken my heart.”
Using two one-cent stamps; in place of a two-cent stamp, if placed alongside of each other in the upper right-hand corner, means: “My love for you has doubled.”
Two penny stamps in the upper left-hand corner means: “You have a rival.”
Two penny stamps one above the other means: “I will call to see you tonight.”
Two two-cent stamps where only one is necessary means: “My love for you stops at nothing.”
Two penny stamps reversed means: “I am thinking of you with joy.”
Lovers frequently place a message of love under the stamp, which must be taken off in order that the message can be read.