to be agog at these personal ads from 1896?

[SurelyYoureJokingMrFeynman]

From the The Morning Post. I'm dying to know what happens next!

If broken write me. My lost love, how could you!

RIKKI TIKKI.—Am going to town in a few days to consult nerve specialist.

TO A.—Not coming home after all; my S. will explain; hope you enjoyed your visit to sunny skies; am very well; fondest love from A.

WILL the Lady who TOOK AWAY an Ivory Silk SHETLAND SHAWL with fringe, by Mistake, at the Drawing Room on the 23rd, kindly RETURN IT to the Lord Chamberlain's Office, as the owner much prizes it on account of the giver?

WILL the Gentleman who, on the 2nd inst., SAW a Lady into 3rd Class Carriage of the 9.15 p.m. train leaving Paddington for Reading, Didcot, Oxford and Swindon, when an Elderly Woman who was in the Carriage suddenly got out, and the Gentleman remarked that she was frightened, please COMMUNICATE with C.I. Department, New Scotland-yard.

Amazing - second one sounds like MI5

I want the love story behind the shawl and i want to know if someone got murdered on the train to Oxford how VERY Agatha Christie

It's all code, it's a polite way of saying "my servants have the day off pop round for a quickie on the stairs"

These are fabulous. How did you happen to be reading them, OP? Real old newspaper you found in the attic or a digitised version? I am curious.

I love them :)

Why won't A just ruddy say why he/she is 'not coming home'? Coward, leaving it all up to S.

Fascinating!

And that shawl wasn't taken by mistake.

Agreed! The shawl napper was probably posh enough to be in such a drawing room but reduced circumstances meant she couldn't resist an opportunity!

Sad for the lost love one.

Communicating via small ads is the basis for the film "Desperately Seeking Susan" - mid 80s - but seems very Victorian in comparison with the communication technology that exploded 10-15 years later.

I love reading 19th century crime stories and they would use these ads to send secret messages. So did the spies, apparently. Unfortunately for us, we can only guess what was the story behind them and guess. Fortunately for us, we can use them to make-up interesting stories

RIKKI TIKKI.—Am going to town in a few days to consult nerve specialist

Mrs. Willard was in her late twenties, a wife of a very rich merchant from South of England. Her husband is twenty years her senior and married her for her links to aristocracy and looks. They have two children, a heir and a spare. Mrs. Willard suffers from ill health and her husband loves indulging her by sending her to Bath for few months a year to recuperate. She met Peter Cunningham, a young barrister, during her last visit. Peter has little money but he is passionate and loving. They know they can't be together. Peter works in London so Mrs. Willard started "suffering" from hysteria to be able to go to London on a regular basis. They use the RIKKI TIKKI code to exchange secret messages.
They will keep on having the affair till Peter meets a girl from a good family he proposes to. Mrs. Willard stops suffering from hysteria and her cough and chest problems return so it's back to Bath.

Bike - Desperately Seeking Susan was the first thing I thought of

They could do a sequel, "Desperate - Found Susan"

That shawl so wasnt taken by mistake lots on words used in the 1800s

How is thus aibu?

Ooh, nice one, Clandestino!

I've always wondered why the people in novels were so confident their vital message would actually be read by the right person.

It was raining hard that April morning, and there was a queue at the newsagent. Arthur Tiddlethorpe felt in his pocket for his baccy pouch, and decided it contained just enough to see him through till the morrow. He was already late for court, where he would be standing against the bright young barrister Peter Cunningham, and he hurried on, head down against the wretched, cold, driving rain, without either baccy or his usual paper. Such a shock to be back in London after the relentless sunshine of the Transvaal gold fields.

Six months later, he was sitting glumly in his chambers, contemplating giving them up but unable to do so without agreement from his roommate and best friend since childhood, Alex Bogle, whom he'd last seen over a farewell pint in Southampton before Arthur boarded the SS "Balmoral Castle". He'd never heard from Alex again.

Problem cate should we put lighthearted in everything?

Love them OP, I wonder what the last one was about!

Last 1 is appealing for a witness for a scared old lady who got off the train

SurelyYoureJokingMrFeynman, beautiful :)

Despondent, Arthur, put down his half-eaten breakfast of kipper and toast on an old Morning Post, inadvertently left by his landlady who'd been cleaning the windows with vinegar and newspaper. Suddenly his eyes focussed on the front page. There it was, staring him in the face! The answer to his conundrum all these last anxiety-filled months!

In the personals column, between

HELP Earnestly ASKED to save a Young Gentlewoman from complete ruin. A mother in her 80th year, a great sufferer, entirely to look after, heavy losses, cause of trouble. £50 will entirely change our position: 20 years' references can be given; kindly help me.—A.M., 18,699,346, Strand, W.C.

and

LADIES or GENTLEMEN desirous of Theatrical, Musical, Political, Literary, or Social CELEBRITY can have PORTRAIT, with Biography, INSERTED in influential and widely circulated Weekly; personal interview necessary.—Ask, between two and three, for Society, care of Messrs. Thomson and Shephard, Temple-chambers, Temple-avenue, Fleet-street.

was an advertisement for

JUSTIN CHEVASSE, Private Investigator for the Aristocracy: Divorce; French and Russian system of espionage; secrecy guaranteed; specially retained by many high-class firms. Telegrams, "Chevasse, London."—13A, York-buildings, Adelphi, W.C.

Hire a private investigator! Of course, this was what he must do! He eagerly grasped the paper, all unaware the grease-spot from the kipper plate obscured a rather more pertinent answer to his quest...

[Those are more real ads, btw.]