There’s a high volume of mail coming through the 200-person town of Valentine, TX this week. And you can probably guess why.
Early each February, Valentine's post office, otherwise known as the “Love Station,” is inundated with valentines from around the country and the world. The station offers an unusual service—specially-designed, Valentine-themed cancellation stamps.
This is how it works. People place a valentine inside another envelope addressed to the Post Office. Postmaster Leslie Williams opens the outer envelope and hand-cancels the valentine before shipping it off to its final destination. When the valentine arrives, it’s marked with a unique cancellation stamp from Valentine, TX.
So far this year, Leslie has stamped more than 8,000 valentines. They’ve come in from all over the US, Canada, Italy, France, even Japan. Despite its popularity, it turns out that Valentine is not the only town in the US that offers this service. You can also get themed cancellation stamps in Beauty, KY, Deary, ID, Loving, NM and Romeo, MI.
Valentine is known for several things: the library, the dentist office, artist Boyd Elder, and the high school Pirates. But this time of year, all roads lead to the post office.
- Sally Beauvais
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