A man with a goose's head holds a needle and a piece of fabric. Behind him is a sign that reads "P.G. Goose/ F[as]hion Tailor." "Goose" refers to a tailor's iron., Text: When I look in the glass, / Or I look in my ledger, / I see nothing but "bill"-- / No chink for a pledger; / Sciss, sciss, I will, / Stuff and pad you till / You attend to my long bill; / Confound you, pay your bill -- / P.G. Goose must have a bank bill., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A woman hunches forward and wears a dress with a low neckline and furbelows. The valentine satirizes women who are too bold in their affections., Text: O! quite too willing; pray excuse me; / I had rather not, my dear: / Your love, too ardent, might confuse me; / Wait, perhaps I may next year., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
The valentine shows a tall woman in the foreground and a shorter woman in the background., Text: Dear Madam, I must vainly try / From your lengthened form to fly -- / To share that tender heart I pine / And fly to thee, my Valentine., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A woman holds a pair of breeches, and "I runs wid der sewing machine I does," and "tailoring done" are written behind her., Text: Ah! me, don't you see, I'm sadly in need / Of some one to tinker me with needle and thread? / I've long had my eye on your useful machine -- / Your "Wheeler and Wilson," of course, I mean. / To the end that my clothes shall be in repair, / My oldest breeches I'll permit you to wear, / And never shall grumble, unless you, sweet Miss, / Some other gay Valentine should prefer to kiss., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
The farmer's wife stands next to a large pig. A butter churn is behind her. The valentine mocks her for being overweight., Text: A charming life is a farmer's life; / And ain't you in luck to be his wife? / He feeds and fats you just like his pig, / And loves as much when you're twice as big., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A man with pink skin stands in front of a sign that reads "New York 122 Miles." His shadow looks like a pig., Text: When first you came before my eyes, / I really felt a great surprise, / In fact a puzzle 'twas to me / What animal you e'en could be; / Until at least I found it out-- / A drunken Pig with nasty snout., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
"Dr. Bleedems Office" appears on a sign behind the doctor, who stands holding a three-pronged knife in one hand and a saw in the other. The valentine mocks doctors who use unnecessary procedures to make money., Text: With probe, and saw, and lancet, / With plasters, purges and pukes, / You cut your way to favor / With duchesses and dukes; / But, you may saw into a fortune, / And probe into a mine, / Before I'd see in your ugly phiz / Anything worth this Valentine., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
The image depicts a man with his forehead labeled "impudence." He wears a necktie, a jacket with tales, and slim trousers. He sucks air out of a yellow bag labeled "gas.", Text: Some are pinched the wind to raise, / But you've enough to blow your praise; / While such a bag of wind you share, / You cannot die for want of air., Cf. 1.29., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
The woman bookworker holds a bone folder, a polished bone tool for creasing paper. A stack of papers lies near her hand, and a press is visible in the background. A cover sheet is on the table that reads " Elton's Alnanac [i.e., Almanac]." In the text, "calf" refers to a calf-skin binding., Text: No paper token, "lovely dear," / Could please you half so well, / As the signatures and folios / Of some young and brainless swell,-- / And if the wish'd for hour shall come, / I venture to opine, / You'll have a work full bound in calf, / For your dear Valentine., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
The woman's facial features are asymmetrical, with her eyes on different planes and pointing in different directions. She wears a dress with a red top and yellow skirt, and very large earrings., Text: Eyes not mates, and hair like carrots;/ Nose and chin like any parrots;/ No doubt, you think that face of thine,/ Will charm my heart, my Valentine., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
The man's torso is a barrel of lager that shields him from cupid's arrows. His limbs are covered with armor, and his face is also shaped like a barrel. The border features matches, a heart-shaped beet, and cherubs playing tennis and tug o' war. The label on the matchbox reads "Red-headed matches go off easy," and the beet is marked "D.B." [i.e. "dead beat" or "dead beet"]. "Dutchmen" in the verse may refer to either Dutch or German ("Deutsche") men., Text: Little Cupid, don't be stupid, / Thus your darts to shoot away / At the Dutchmen, for on such men / Lost all your wily play, / As they swagger, full of lager, Up and down the cellar-way., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A woman stands in front of two men sitting at a table with a plate with two small fish on it. The man on the left holds up two fingers. Behind them is a sign that reads "Boarders will settle every week in advance. Mrs. Gutstarve.", Text: You stingy, shrivel'd, wrinkled, close-skin'd skin-flint, / You advertise for boarders in the papers, / But any man who has any sense or wit, / Can't stand your nasty tricks and capers. / One herring for two men, that is our fare, / And what is left of breakfast, for our dinner, / You think you are making money by your snare, / But you will find that you are the winner., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
The shop-girl walks holding up her skirt so that it reveals her crinoline. A man watches her and holds his hand to his face., Text: How gracelessly you move along / Like tun-dish upside down! / Pray, stay at home when streets are throng, / Lest some ungallant clown / Might tread upon that wondrous skirt / That sweeps from curb to wall, / And say: 'twas only right a flirt / From pride should have a fall., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
The milkman is seated in a horse-drawn cart with a container of milk in it. He pours something into a pitcher, and the text suggests that the milkman sells chalk and water as milk. Croton Lake housed many of the dairies and ice houses that served New York City., Text: Pure milk I sell from Croton-lake, / As any in the land, sirs; / No stub-tail drug to town I take, / The world can see my cans, sirs. / No doubt your milk is good and pure, / And will no babies slaughter; / Just chalk enough to make you sure / 'Twill hide the Croton water., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A man balances on the base of a weather-cock, with his arms and left leg indicating the directions. Birds and builiding spires and roofs are in the background., Text: You quickly turn and cock your nose / To each new breadth of wind that blows; / Your proper place is on a steeple, / Where you would be some use to people., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
The "beauty of Ireland" wears a shawl and a ribbon in her hair, and her dress reveals her chest. She has pointed facial features and smiles. "Mavourneen" is an Irish term for "my darling," and the verse mocks Irish accents., Text: Och, you're a beauty, mavourneen, my darlin'! / That swate Irish brogue, too, as thick as my ar-r-m; / Faith, when I see yez, I cannot help calling, / "St. Patrick presarve me, and kape me from har-r-m!", Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A thin woman wears rags and touches a pile of coins on a table., Text: Vain, hoarding miser, worst of all thy kind; / Of females all, least suited to my mind; / No room for other in that heart of thing; / Let filthy lucre be thy Valentine., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A bride is depicted as a cat, and the groom as a rat. The bride holds an envelope marked "Mr. & Mrs." Both are dressed formally; he wears a top-hat, and she wears a gown with a hoop skirt and a bonnet. The border features matches, a heart-shaped beet, and cherubs playing tennis and tug o' war. The label on the matchbox reads "Red-headed matches go off easy," and the beet is marked "D.B." [i.e. "dead beat" or "dead beet"]., Text: Pussy, when the rat she catches, / Smooths him down with velvet paw, / Then for change his hide she scratches / With her curved relentless claw. / So it is in wedlock's matches, / Beauty leads us like a straw, / Till she's got us "under hatches" -- / Then look out for Pussy's law!, Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A man has a large stomach, long moustache, and round, porcine features which suggest he is German, in keeping with his taste for lager. He stands in front of a barrel, holding a tankard in one hand and a pastry or roll in the other., Text: You're a regular barrel of Lager, / As plain can be seen by your snout; / And what you would save at the spigot, / At the bung you'd be sure to let out., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A man has two faces. One is smiling, and the other sticks out his tongue. The side that sticks out his tongue makes a gesture with his fist., Text: Monster of wickeness, deceit and crime, / Thou wretch that glories in all that's vile, / Look on this picture, and there thou'lt see / A double featured knave like thee. / You're lying tongue would disgrace even Satan, / So never presume to the hand of a maiden; / But go to your vile clan, and with them revel, / For rather than wed you, I'd wed the devil., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A simian tailor rides on a goose and holds a pair of scissors. "Goose" refers to a tailor's iron, and "the ninth part of a man" is a derogatory term for tailors, referencing the saying that nine tailors equal one man., Text: I see them coming -- my prophetic muse / Beholds each tailor riding on a goose, / And when in order ranked I see the nine, / I'll thank my stars that I've one Valentine / Romantic Tailor, ninth part of man, / Be all my Valentine a tailor can; / Little than none, is better to endure, / And for a whole one I but want eight more., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
Above his head, the butcher's words appear: "I'll take the last of your 'sacred nine' Mews!!" He holds a meat cleaver and a cat. He stands in front of a butcher's block; sausages and hams hang behind him. He has a large waistline and wears an apron. The valentine mocks butchers' dishonesty, violence, and gluttony., Text: The butcher is a jolly dog, / Gets saucy as he grows fat, / Makes "choice round" of horse's meat, / And "chain sausage" out of cat. / I'd marry a butcher, that I would, / If I could only be sure, / He wouldn't butcher his Valentine / And sell her as sugar cure., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A man prays in a church pew. A small devil has his arm around the man. Behind him are two women parishioners., Text: You may sing psalms with sanctimonious face, / And lift your eyes with such a virtuous leer / Who trusts in you will only meet disgrace -- / Disgrace that's everlasting too, I fear. / Hypocrites like rotten fish will shine, / The devil only is your Valentine., "118", Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A singing women stands amid floating bank notes., Text: The silvery notes that from your throat / Flow forth so beautiful and sweet, / Much better are than notes of Banks, / For they cannot be counterfeit., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A tailor sews a pair of breeches. "Goose" refers to a tailor's iron, and "cabbage" refers to the fabric leftover from making a garment. "Ninth part of man" is a derogatory term for tailors, referencing the saying that nine tailors equal one man., Text: You stitching elf, don't talk of wealth, / Go eat your Goose and Cabbage, / When had enough, then take your snuff / Nor think of love and marriage. / Ne'er to a tailor, could I my love resign, / A ninth part of a man is no fit Valentine., Cf. Valentine 11.42., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A tailor sews a pair of breeches. "Goose" refers to a tailor's iron, and "cabbage" refers to the fabric leftover from making a garment. "Ninth part of man" is a derogatory term for tailors, referencing the saying that nine tailors equal one man., Text: You stitching elf, don't talk of wealth, / Go eat your Goose and Cabbage, / When had enough, then take your snuff / Nor think of love and marriage. / Ne'er to a tailor, could I my love resign, / A ninth part of a man is no fit Valentine., Cf. Valentine 11.41., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A woman holds up her skirt revealing her crinoline, or hoop skirt, and petticoats. "Ducky" is a term of endearment, and "timbers" refers to her legs and suggests that they are indelicately large. The sender satirizes the recipient for her immodesty and indelicacy., Text: Hey, ducky dumpling, pray take care, / Your hoops don't give them to much air; / However, cold may be your liver, / Such timbers, ducky, ne'er can shiver., Cf. 5.4, Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A woman sits sewing as a small dog looks up at her., Text: My pretty young damsel, my very heart itches / With love for yourself, and I've made up my mind / As I've sat by your side and watched your quick stitches, / To ask you this day to be my Valentine., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A man with a donkey's head stands in front of a printing press. Behind him is a sign that reads "The Vicar of Bray! By a Celebrated Composer. E.HAW.EST.", Text: Believe me I have too much pride, / E'er to be a Donkey's Bride. / Girls take no pity on YOUR CASE, / But laugh full in your Asses face: / Tho' some may say that from our sex / Length of years (ears) command respect, / Yet no respect have I for you, / So-- my Composing Stick, Adiea!, Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A man sits at a table. His eyes are closed, and he holds a woman's hand., Text: Though you claim to converse with spirits above -- / Supernatural, if not divine, / I think that the one you know most about, / Is the one they call "Spirits of Wine.", Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A man is a bird, and a woman is a fish. He opens his beak over her head. The valentine mocks the recipient for trying to marry a younger woman., Text: No fool like an old fool. O! for shame; / Pretending to feel love's hold flame; / The ladies laugh at your ogling eyes, / And shut their ears to your pumped up sighs., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
The valentine shows a plate with bread, molasses, a fork, and a knife marked "butter knife" on it. The border features a woman embracing a man; the pair resemble Commedia dell'arte characters. At the bottom is a pack of matches marked "Lucifer's matches." The sender rejects the recipient because of her young age., Text: Bread-and-butter misses / Will not do for me: / Then reserve your Kisses / Until "after tea." / Certainly for "lasses / I've a tooth, I own, / That all teeth surpasses, / But they must be--- grown!", Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A tailor with a cabbage on his back rides on a goose holding a pair of shears. "Goose" means a tailors iron, and "cabbage" refers to the fabric leftover from making a garment. Cabbage belonged to the customer, but the valentine accuses the tailor of stealing it., Text: Tailor behold the future ride / That will you one day betide / Upon a Goose you mounted are / Yourself the GREATEST Goose by far; / Slung around your neck is seen / The CABBAGE pilfered from the GREENS, / In your hand a pair of shears / To cut Imp's tails when they appear., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A man with a long beard wears a colorful turban and smokes a long pipe. He sits on a pile of pillows. "Tartar" is slang for an unpleasant woman., Text: My lazy old pipe-smoking turk, / If you catch me you'll have to be smarter; / And if you succeed you may find / In the end that you have caught a tartar., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A dancing woman wears a veil and a brightly colored gown. The first line of the verse alludes to Milton's L'Allegro (1645) and refers to dancing. She wears a necklace and bracelet., Text: To trip it on the light fantastic toe-- / To every ball and rout you wish to go; / Your only loves, my charmer, now confess, / Are but the loves of balls and loves of dress., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A woman wears a hoop skirt and floats above the ground. Two men look up at her through a grate, and another man looks at her from a window. A street lamp with a face smiles at her. The sender mocks the recipient's exhibitionism., Text: Oft when seated in the Park, / You wonder what attracts each spark. / To turn and look with such surprise; / "I wonder what attracts all eyes?"/ Alas, alas you little know, / What a show you make below., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A man stands in front of a polling place. In one hand, he holds a sign that reads "Defeat the Traitors," and "Virtue, Liberty, and Independence," the latter being the state motto for Pennsylvania. He stretches out his other hand to offer a coin purse. His wrinkled clothes have holes, and his nose is dark and drippy (from drinking?). His apron reads: The regular ticket; the country will be saved., Text: To make frothy speeches, and electioneer, / There's no one doubts, but that you're a honey, / And always ready, so the people swear, / To serve your country for a little money., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A man with a wide head smiles and puts his hands on his hips., Text: Ha! ha! ha! 'tis just your likeness, / And a sweet one sure is this; / Don't you think your grin inviting / All the maids to snatch a kiss?, Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
The valentine shows the fashionably dressed ladies man with a woman on each arm. He is able to attract women's attention, but the valentine suggest that this attention effeminizes him, as actions like holding shawls and flirting fans are feminine., Text: At church or concert, ball or rout, / You're always sure to be about / To hold a shawl or flirt a fan; / My pretty little "ladies man.", Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A smirking woman holding a small purse waves a handkerchief over her shoulder. The valentine suggests that a woman who flirts with many men will be a bad wife., Text: You're like a fair young rose bush, / Where each beau plucks a rose, / 'Till nought but thorns are left behind, / To prove the husband's woes., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
The valentine depicts a man with a dog's head. He wears boxing gloves labeled "insant death" and "six months illness.". He also wears a monocle and a top hat, which suggest that he is a "puppy," or dandy. The border features matches, a heart-shaped beet, and cherubs playing tennis and tug o' war. The label on the matchbox reads "Red-headed matches go off easy," and the beet is marked "D.B." [i.e. "dead beat" or "dead beet"]., Text: Do you think you ugly man, / Because you're like a black-and-tan, / And a hitter from the shoulder-joint likewise, / That on you the blooming girls, / With their fascinating curls, / Will glance with approbation in their eyes / If you do you're much mistaken, / For it's just as sure as bacon / No fighter can a woman's true love win, / But the soldier-boy whose blows / Fall on his country's foes / When the ring is pitched, the battle-field within., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
The maiden aunt has masculine features and wears a bonnet and eyeglasses. A cat sits next to her, and a barrel labeled "vinegar" and a jar labeled "pickles" are nearby., Text: You dear old soul! Every day you grow old, / And your face gives comfort to the vinegar jug; / Your virtues are kept like pickles, I'm told. / Bottled up in a bosm nobody can hug; / If in glory hereafter your face becomes divine, / What a miracle must be wrought, O Valentine., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A man sits in a chair. He wears fashionable clothing, smokes a pipe, and holds a drink., Text: You're a nice man to think of a wife, / With a phiz that we laugh at round town; / We girls know how you're spending your life, / With your drink and tobacco done brown., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
The peddler carries two cases and stands in front of a sign that reads "5 miles to [illegible].", Text: Sell your stuffs and laces, / Pedlar, and your [i.e. you're] sure to win; / But take up women's faces, / And sartin you'll be taken in. / But not at Matrimony's door-- Oh, no, / You're far too stiff to make a pleasant [illegible]., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A woman with crooked teeth wears a gown with furbelows and stands in front of a table with portaits of men. A picture behind her features a hammer hitting a heart., Text: O! gentle Heart-breaker, I fear you; / I'll not trust my head, lest you knock it: / No desire have I to be near you; / You shan't break my heart nor pocket., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
The valentine shows a man holding a bag of money marked "$50,000." The border resembles bank note engraving., Text: You grasping Usurer, you rascally Knave, / Master of Wealth, yet still its slave! / For worlds I would not link my name with thine / For, gold can't purchase a true Valentine., Cf. Valentine 4.29., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A woman holds a pair of tongs. Her face is creased, and she frowns. The sender suggests that the recipient's appearance and behavior make her an appropriate wife for the devil., Text: A scolding tongue, a vicious mind, / A face the counter part of evil, / In you we find are all combined, / To make a fit wife for the -----., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A man and woman walk arm in arm. He wears yellow pants and tie, and she wears a large-skirted walking dress that reveals her feet., Text: I am sure it makes the neighbors talk / To see you when you take a walk / With such a silly dressed up swain, / As no other girl would care to gain, / Although I know it makes you vain / To suceed a beau to gain. / And you no other man could win, / So must be content with him., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A man grimaces and closes his eyes. His fingers are long and pointed. He wears a long red coat and a top hat., Text: It seems to be me some men are born / Who only merit wise men's scorn; / Who by mean acts well merit hate-- / Such is your kind and such your fate., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
The large-nosed boarding-house keeper is very thin. She holds a thin rooster by the neck in one hand and a knife in the other; "Age 65" is written on its body. A speech bubble by her face reads "You'l do/ Old BUZZARD." A butter dish with legs and insects appear in the top left corner. The border features a woman embracing a man; the pair resembled Commedia dell'arte characters. At the bottom is a pack of matches marked "Lucifer's matches.", Text: Old mother Skinflint, I know you well, / Your species is common, and mean at that; / You think yourself able to "keep an hotel," / Which in you're too stingy to keep a cat. / Your boarders look yellow and skinny and thin, / Just like the old rooster you feed them on-- / Why don't you hang out, from your sorry inn, / The sign of the "Living Skeleton?", Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
