The Enquirer published this little pre-Valentine tale January 30, 1886. How much of it is true is impossible to tell. The postmaster at the time was John Bauer, Jr., who would have been 49. As a reminder that Bremen was still very much a German town at the time, Bauer is described in his obituary as having “a good education in the German language” and “a fair knowledge” of English.

valentine by mail - Enquirer_Sat__Jan_30__1886_

It was Bauer who, in 1875, built the American House hotel, which eventually was moved from downtown to Marshall street to become a grocery store owned by John Byrer, then Bob Zentz, then Art Forsythe. Look for a full article on the history of that building sometime soon.

By the way, $3 in 1886 would buy about the same goods as $80 today. But there is no inflationary index calculator for kisses.

(Note: This article was originally posted in 2016.)