While ice skating, a woman hikes up her skirt to reveal her thin legs., Text: Like broom-sticks shrunk, or small hat-pegs / One cannot call your's matchless legs; / For as the wind reveals by snatches, / One sees they're quite as thin as matches. / Vile wind that tells the story sad, / That she who skates, must also pad; / Go whisper to this lady fine, / She cannot be my Valentine., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
An overweight child holds a doll and a stick., Text: Doting parient [i.e. parent] -- I thought that maybe / You'd like a portrait of your baby; / If so, just look above you'll find / A dogrotype, by----- Valentine., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A woman has black curly hair and wears ice skates and a skating costume., Text: That flashing eye, that beaming brow! / Those curls that wildly float and shine / O, if thy hair's as false as thou, / Thou'lt prove a sorry Valentine., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A father stands next to his child, and the mother is in bed behind them., Text: From the breaking of morn to the close of the day, / You delight that bless'd baby in the cradle to rock; / And you grin with delight, when you hear the folks say, / "La! isn't it a perfect chip, off the Old Block.", Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
The valentine shows a cradle marked " To let or for sale" and urges the recipient to have children., Text: Above, you will find a neat tenement, / Which empty, is now, for sale or to rent; / I send you a note, because if you will it, / I know you can soon find a tenant to fill it., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A man sits at a telegraph board with ticker tape around him. A clock hangs on the wall behind him, and in the background another man reads a ticker tape. The first telegraph message was sent in 1844., Text: O Mighty Operator on the little wire. / A liking I might have for you, / If you were not such a liar.. / But, out of an hundred words, / Of lies there's ninety-nine! / A man with such a [illegible]., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A woman holds out a pocket watch and ribbons. The border shows cupids and hearts; one cupid shoots a heart out of a thimble cannon labeled "Love"; another cupid travels with a heart in a hot-air balloon; and another cupid hammers at a cracked heart below a heart on a fishhook labeled "Caught.", Text: I know you, ma'am, your itching palm, / 'Mong ribbons and 'mong laces, / With artful play is wont to stray / In all the dry-goods places. / Of diamond rings, and such-like things / Likewise a skilful sifter, / You'd better cease, ere the police / Proclaim you a shop-lifter., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A woman stands in a dramatic pose and holds a bleeding heart in front of her. The border shows cupids and hearts; one cupid shoots a heart out of a thimble cannon labeled "Love"; another cupid travels with a heart in a hot-air balloon; and another cupid hammers at a cracked heart below a heart on a fishhook labeled "Caught.", Text: "Oh! If us two must part / For ever and for ever, / Take back your bleeding heart, / It is too hard to sever!", 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.
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.
A tailor rides on a goose, has a head of cabbage on his back, and holds a bat that reads "The Ninth or Lousy." "Goose" refers to a tailor's iron, and "cabbage" refers to the fabric leftover from making a garment, which tailors were often accused of stealing. "Ninth part of man" is a derogatory term for tailors, referencing the saying that nine tailors equal one man., Text: O! ninth of man, straighten up if you can, / And go get astride of your goose; / Your cabbaging art has lost you my heart, / I find all your habits are loose., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A tailor sews a jacket, and he has shears and his "goose," or iron, near him. Behind him is a sign that reads " 190/ J. Cabbage/ Tailor." "Cabbage" refers to fabric leftover from making a garment., Text: Pray, good Knight of the shears, my good Mister Cabbage, / Do you look for a wife, in spite of the adage, / That it takes nine full tailors to make one good man; / Well, I wish you good luck, catch one if you can., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
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 seated woman has a padlock through her mouth. The valentine suggests that the recipient's quietness will disappear when she marries. The border shows cupids and hearts; one cupid shoots a heart out of a cannon labeled "Love"; another cupid travels with a heart in a hot-air balloon; and another thimble cupid hammers at a cracked heart below a heart on a fishhook labeled "Caught.", Text: A rare and commendable thing / Is well-affected silence, / Among the maids their wiles who bring / Our dulness to beguile hence. / Yet Paddock no control assumes, / (Experience teaches this bird), / When Wedlock or the future looms / And "Yes" has to be whispered., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A man with a large, pox-marked head holds a bottle of alcohol. He has a scarf tied around his jaw and head. "Pumpkin" is a derogatory term for an important person., Text: How could I even think, to wed / A man who's always drunken; / Who really has so large a head, / It looks like a ripe pumpkin,., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A ice skating woman with her legs turned in flails her arms to regain her balance. Her skirt billows up to reveal her legs. 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.", Text: Though puggy of nose and void of grace, / Lanky of limb -- in feature wan; / The thought with each must have a place, / That something you are like the swan. / Ask not of me the reason why, / 'Tis breathed upon the chilly wind; / 'Tis echo'd by the skater's cry, / "A Swan! see, down on her behind!", Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A Union soldier holds a bouquet of red roses and a sword. In addition to his uniform, he wears a monocle and cap, suggesting that he is a dandy. The sender mocks the recipient's inflated sense of his attractiveness., Text: Swaggering like some great high-grandee, / How d'ye do, my Soldier Dandy; / The girls, you think, no doubt get sweet / On you as you strut through the street. / But they're more apt to think you scamp, / When you're found roaming from your camp., "515", Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A woman holds out her arms in alarm after a man steps on the back of her crinolined skirt, causing her skirt to billow up to reveal enough of her legs to show her drawers., Text: Clear the track, Hackley -- your occupation's gone! / Here comes the new machine, a lady and her throng; / Her skirts sweep the street-- my feeling rankles-- / That men forget the dirt while gazing at her ankles. / She glides along in silence, with grace I confess, / Till some unlucky wight puts his foot upon her dress. / She quickly turns, while he bows with sorrow down. / And vents her spite, with "Oh! you awkward clown.", Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A man holds a fork with a fish on it over a fire. Next to the fire are a small sauce pan and toasting fork. A cat stands behind the chair., Text: Mean, snivelling, sneaking, garret bred, / Cat-lick'ed, and shotten herring fed; / What right can such a thing as you, / Presume a woman's love to woo? / Starve where you may, this picture see, / Poor drivelling knave, you don't starve me., Cf. 6.31., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A man with a bear's head and a tail holds a rifle., Text: Your presence as a lover, / Right gladly I had hailed; / But that of fair proportions, / You are cruelly cur-tailed., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A man smokes and sits with his leg on a table. A wine glass and a tankard are on the table. "Three-balls" is slang for a pawnbroker., Text: Go on, go on, with your sporting and spending, / You'll last as long as your uncle is lending; / Two chances to one, like his three-ball sign, / Your end will be at the end of a line., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
Two men stand in front of a staircase. Above it are signs that read "Saloon/ Wines" and "Clam Soup." One man has his hand on the other's back., Text: Where're you are met, in tavern or street, / You're waiting to see if some one will treat; / You'll ask friends to drink, and then walk away, / And leave them behind for the liquor to pay., 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 stands in front of a store counter, holding his wallet and a dollar bill. A purse is on display, and coins are on the counter. A clerk with a box in his hand smiles at the man., Text: A fool and his money is soon parted you know; / And when once it is started, it's bound for to go; / Then beware my young man, take a hint in good time, / Or before very long you'll have nary a dime., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A girl sits holding a book marked "grammar." A picture of a man is tucked inside of the book., Text: Spell Cat, my chubby little imp -- / "M A N, Cat," replied the girl -- / Thus, just as soon as they can limp, / Their thoughts, like flowers, to love impart., 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 Union soldiers stands with his chest puffed out and his hand on his hip., Text: Say! Song of Mars, / With lofty figure, / Did you ever pull a trigger? / I know you didn't invent powder, / Although you talk a great deal louder. / Shun men who're really brave-- / You couldn't fight your soul to save; / Go keep your tale of love untold, / For my affection's for the bold., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A Union soldier stands with closed eyes. His nose is a cannon, and he holds a rifle. Signed with a monogram: BB [?]., Text: In battle I'm sure you are brave, / And I know you never would run; / For you're fighting-- the Union to save, / And was born a son of a gun. / Your barrel is rifled, you say, / And will shoot a long distance quite straight; / But I fear at some future day; / 'Twill blow all the brains from your pate. / So I think my preference would be, / Instead of a single bored man; / A splendid back-action revolving nose, / And I'll marry one -- if I can., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A man with a pumpkin for a head holds a paper that reads "Some Pumpkin Esquire." "Pumpkin" is a derogatory term for an important person. 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.", Text: Gentle Squash-head, (don't be shocked), / Mind your eye, / Else some day you may be knocked / Into a pie., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A Union soldier holds a sword in his hand. His hat is decorated with two figures. Behind him is a dead body with detached legs., Text: O thou, man of fame and slaughter, You cannot have my mother's daughter; / You are the man, I most could bet, That went away from poor Jeanette. / What's the use of that long sword to you? Void of courage to run an enemy through, / Or even a bull-frog to attack a rush, Thou art no soldier, but a man of mush., Cf. Valentine 10.15., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A Union soldier holds a sword in his hand. His hat is decorated with two figures. Behind him is a dead body with detached legs., Text: O thou, man of fame and slaughter, / You cannot have my mother's daughter; / You are the man, I most could bet, / That went away from poor Jeanette. / What's the use of that long sword to you? / Void of courage to run an enemy through, / Or even a bull-frog to attack a rush, / Thou art no soldier, but a man of mush., Cf. Valentine 10.14., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
The soldier stands with his hand on his chin. His chest is puffed up, and his jacket forms a small, bird-like tail. He carries a sword., Text: Let others court the phantom-- Glory / Ambitious of historic story; / You seek not fields of strife and blood, / Your feats are for the body's good. / The sword is but the scourge of men, / And not so mighty as the Pen; / Sooner than fight on plain that's murkey, / You'd make a charge upon a Turkey., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A Union solider holds a rifle with a bayonet. He has a porcine nose., Text: Mr. Rifleman, but I would be a flat, / If you think that with you I would wed: / Cheeks put out your eyes -- nose turn'd to the skies-- / Like a turnip, my dear, is your head. / One like you is enough for a bed, / So with you I'll never wed., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A soldier wears a red coat with epaulets, a belt marked "A", and tall black hat. He carries a rifle with a bayonet. His spine is curved, and he pushes out his stomach., Text: Though you try to look bold in your fixins so gay, / As you strut around the streets I hear the folks say, / If to war he should go, and they made an attack, / He would surely come home with a ball in his back., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A Union soldier holds his hand up and raises his pinky finger. In the background, two women watch him., Text: You are a gallant soldier, / With a splendid figure for parade; / The country is safe in your keeping, / So long as you fight in the shade. / I fancy mysefl your beloved! / Wouldn't you have a jolly good time? / I'd make you stand guard over a cradle, / And do double duty to Valentine., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A shoemaker attaches the leather upper to the sole of a shoe. "Snob" is slang for a shoemaker., Text: Your awl is little; you're near your last: / 'Tis time you try to mend; / Your ends wax close; so work on fast / To save your sole, my friend., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A man has a snake's tongue and body., Text: Your portrait see without the glass, / A perfect snake within the grass, / A scaly, crawling, slimy thing, / Your forked tongue is deceit's vile sting, / Smile in one's face, bites at one's back, / And leave your poison in your track. / Go and 'mong fellow serpents shine, / A venom-spitting Valentine., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A man tilts his head back and smokes a cigar. He holds a glass., Text: Smoker of the filthy weed, / Love of thine can never speed; / Dost thou love me? better far / Brandy punch and vile segar [i.e., cigar]., "78", Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A woman holds a broom in one hand and has her other hand in her pocket. She has dirt on her face and drools., Text: I've counted up all of earthly ills; / I threw a box of -- Somebody's -- pills; / But after I'd thought of every thing human, / I found the worst -- a slovenly woman., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A man stands next to a lamppost. He has dirt on his face and shirt., Text: You are perfectly disgusting with paltry dirty ways, / You skulk about the house, and along the highways, / You are a sloven and a slouch, a lible on the race, / You've a ragged suit of clothes, and a dirt, dingy face., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A women wears sleeping clothes and holds a candle., Text: To lounge in bed, / Is your delight, / And so I wish you / A Good Night., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A woman wears a tapered, bustled, ruffled skirt that forces her to bend forward in the Grecian Bend. She holds a small parasol and wears a hat. The valentine mocks the recipient for thinking her fashionable dress is attractive to men. The Grecian Bend style of bustle became popular after 1869., Text: A slave to Fashion's tyrant laws, / You court each silly fop's applause; / Did you but know what I can see, / How shocked, I fancy, you would be. / You will, I hope, leave off this style, / Your dress provokes a pitying smile., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
Two soldiers in Union uniforms are shown. One holds a rifle with bayonet and prods the other one over a fence. "Skulker" is slang for a soldier who feigns injury to avoid duty., Text: Boaster of your deeds of glory / When the shot fell far and near, / The only scar to prove your story / Is from a bayonet in the rear., Cf. 2.21., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A German American woman ice skates, and a small figure in the background has fallen down., Text: You come all de way from Hoboken, / Mit a schmile upon your nose, / An', I dinks you is a fraulein, / A seeking for-- I knows! / So shust don't skate any more as dat. / But schlip like scheese away, / Un go mit me to de schustice mit de peace, / Und I'll make you mine vrow right away. / Never skates any more, den, bewitching fraulein, / If you would save from de colic your own Valentine., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A woman sits at a piano singing, and her shadow looks like a bird. The valentine puns on the word "lark" to mock the recipient for being a ridiculously bad singer., Text: You think yourself so runs the tale / A very Lark or Nightingale, / For those that hear you sing, say "hark" / "List to that warbling, what a Lark," / While thus you sing to please the men / You are a precious Lark to them., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
The singer holds a sheet of music and his hand to his heart. Jullien refers to French conductor Louis Antoine Jullien. The sender mocks the recipient's poor singing., Text: No one would take you for a Jullien, Sir, / For such croaking never was heard, / Whenever I hear you it reminds me of---/ A carpenter sawing a board., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A woman wearing a dress with a bustle stands in front of a chest. Over it hangs a sign that says "Election Laws," and she holds a piece of paper over a pot, presumably to vote. A carriage is visible through the doorway. Bustles became popular after 1869., Text: Since, in this progressive age, / Woman's Suffrage is all the rage, / You strive in this to take the lead, / As if 'twere a case of vital need; / When you thus seek among the men to roam, / We're apt to think there's something wrong-- at home., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A man with disheveled hair sits at a table with his chin resting on one hand. In the other hand, he holds a handkerchief., Text: O! you sigh for a wife-- how funny / No a girl must be flat indeed, / Unless you had mints of money, / To take up such a broken reed., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A woman stands with her hands on her hips and her nose turned up. She flexes her right arm. The woman has pox marks on her cheek. The valentine possibly alludes to sexually transmitted diseases., Text: See what results from passion vile! / Look on this face, what ravage! / Let those beware, who would defile / Their natures like this savage., Cf. Valentine 9.47., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A man holds a magnifying glass to a book with a heart drawn on it. The valentine possibly alludes to sexually transmitted diseases., Text: See what results from passion vile! / Look on this face, what ravage! / Let those beware, who would defile / Their natures like this savage., Cf. Valentine 9.46., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
