The Unique Meaning Of A Letter With An Upside Down Stamp In Wisconsin

That stamp can actually carry meaning.

In the dating and relationship world we look for all kinds of clues to see how actually interested in us someone is. It makes us all levels of delusional but it's a game that's been played for centuries.

Sending cards and writing letters isn't as common as it should be but if you do get something in the mail from a potentially special someone, you might be throwing away one of those clues.

Take a look at the stamp. We almost never look at the envelope. How is the stamp positioned? Unless the sender can't tell up from down, it could mean something.

The Language Of Stamps

We know the "language of flowers": yellow roses mean friendship, red roses mean love, etc. There's the "art of the fan", which reflects how you feel by how you flutter the fan. These were the "they saw my Insta story" before that existed. There's the same underlying communication with postage. Philatelic Database has the translations.

Upside-down stamps were something that were often sent to someone overseas in the military. An old-school Easter egg and one that I'm sure was overlooked more than once.

Not only does the positioning matter, it matters what corner you put the stamp in. If it's in the left corner, it means "I love you". If it's upside-down in the right corner, it means "Write no more". If it's upside-down in line with the surname, it means "I am engaged".

Those are three very different meanings. And you can't just put the stamp on normally, since straight in the top right corner means "Goodbye sweetheart". Oops.

It makes you wonder if the person you're interested in would be sharp enough to catch it. I'm going to send a card just to see if he'll catch it. If he does, I have questions.

Obviously nowadays, the USPS wants you to put the stamp in the top right corner but technically you can put it anywhere on the front of the letter or card. The folks at the sorting center may not like you very much for it but you can still do it.