What, exactly, did “playing post office” mean, when used in old movies as a sexual innuendo? What was the origin of the phrase? Was it the idea of the mailman stopping in for a quickie with the wife while the husband was out? Or was it a code term for a particular type of sexual activity? Or something not related to sex at all?
hmm, I’ve had a quick scan round and on one site of jokes
http://www.thecoffeeplace.com/Jokes/aaaaaagz.html
they use the phrase
-The age when a boy stops collecting stamps and starts playing post office.
which seems to have connatations of something, but I couldn’t find a description of the game itself.
It was some (older) kids’ game, and somehow it involved a smooch, maybe sorta like “Spin the Bottle.”
I remember Spanky asking a girl to play “Post Office” in an old “Our Gang” short, and she politely declined.
Also, in a recent Sunday crossword puzzle, a clue went something like, “Possibly received in Post Office?” and the answer was “smooch.”
Don’t know anything about the rules, though.
I never actually saw it used anywhere but on television. When I was very young, I asked my father what it meant and he told me it was a game about ‘delivering kisses’. Now, granted, I was about six or seven at the time, so if the game was any steamier, I’m sure pop wouldn’t have told me, but I’m giving you what information I have.
I just saw heard that phrase in a movie a few days ago Sweet Home Alabama I think. I was wondering about it too.
From this page - another kid of spin the bottle…
Grim
…another kind of spin the bottle…
:rolleyes:
Maybe if the ‘post office’ was completly dark it would be fun.
grimpixie’s information is on target. There were other variations which did not require three rooms.
There is a scene early in **Young Lonigan **, the first of the Studs Lonigan novels, in which children play Post Office. IIRC, it is at a party at the Lonigan house after their eighth grade graduation. There is a poignant note at the end that one boy never got called. His nickname is “Conny”. That’s because people think his respiratory problems are a sign that he has “consumption”–that is, tuberculosis.
The good old days weren’t always good…
F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote a humorous story in a kind of Booth Tarkington vein which discusses kissing games at some length. It was modeled after Fitzgerald’s Basil stories, but concerned a boy named Terrence who, if IIRC, appeared only in this one story.
This exchange also comes to mind:
Edgar Bergen: Did you and your little friends have fun at the party, Mortimer?
Mortimer: Well, a fellow told me there was a letter for me in the next room, but when I went there, there was just a girl, so I left.
Edgar Bergen: Mortimer, that girl wanted to give you a kiss.
Mortimer: Noooooo!
Edgar Bergen: Mortimer, it’s hard for me to believe anyone can be as ignorant as you.
Mortimer: Well, try, try…
Another thought: I recall hearing a description of a version of the game in which the boy was supposed to ask how much postage was due on the letter. The girl would then specify a number, and that was how many times he was supposed to kiss her.