The belle wears a red shawl and skirt with furbelows. She carries a tiny parasol, as large umbrellas were unfashionable. The valentine criticizes the belle for being too talkative., Text: Though beautiful, and formed to please, / Fair, witty, charming, gay, and young,/ I can't forget while thus I gaze,/ That every bell must have a tongue., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A man lies on his back with his arms and legs up and bottom facing towards the viewer. He wears ice skates, and the ice around him has cracked. Likening him to a coin, the sender rejects the recipient for landing with his tail up., Text: A game of chance, played with a nickel, / Suggested is by your pickle; / Head or tail! -- I'll watch and see, / If I your Valentine shall be. / The Tail is up! -- the Head is down! / Your doom is sealed, your fate is known -- / Heads lose -- Tails win-- the game is mine, / Go seek another Valentine., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A smiling woman holding her baby as she looks him. The baby holds a mallet up in the air and has his finger in his mouth. The valentine mocks the ill-behaved baby and his parents' misplaced affection for him., Text: Papa's pride-- "de yittle beauty / "Mamma's comfort," cross it may be, / Like his Papa-- "ain't he pooty,"/ Crowing, screaming, blessed baby., 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.
Crossing a body of water, a woman sits astride a donkey, thus revealing her calves. She raises a switch to urge the donkey to move. A man with Asian features looks on. The sender offers help as a "Jack in the water" [i.e., an apprentice to a boatsman]., Text: The Great Mogul of Tartary, / I am sure would laugh and stare, / To look upon this picture, / And this very pretty pair. / Come wriggle on sweet waggle tail. / Your charms indeed with me prevail / At any time you want a porter, / Do not forget JACK IN THE WATER., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A man has a hog's face and a large waistline. He has a bottle in his pocket. The sender references the Swedenborgian belief that one's mind shapes one's appearance in hell to suggest that the recipient is a hog., Text: If Swedenborgians tell us true, / When dead, our mortal selves appear, / When bad, like beasts to other's view, / So you will look as pictur'd here., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A man with a hog's head ice skates. He carries a walking stick and wears fashionable clothes, suggesting that he is a dandy. The word "cove" is slang for fellow, and the expression "hog on ice" suggests lack of grace and control. 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: I love to lie in the shady grove, / In the arms of him whose heart I prize; / Or 'neath the skimm'ring moon to rove, / And gaze into his lustrous eyes. / O'er the frozen pool to glide I love, / With him whose love is past all price; / Get out, Pork-Chops! you're not the cove, / 'Tis not with you, you Hog on Ice!, Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A short and stout country bumpkin smiles and carries a pitchfork. The sender rejects the recipient's romantic advances because of his occupation., Text: My country chuck, go turn your hay, / And do not put me in a splutter, / By asking me to go away / With you, to make your cheese and butter., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A woman bends forward in the Grecian Bend caused by fashionable bustles and restrictive skirts. She holds up her skirt revealing her ankles and petticoats. The Grecian bend style of bustle became popular after 1869., Text: Thou languishing young lady-bird, / Thou Angel quite untainted; / With ruby lips, and well formed hips, / Pray tell me, -- are you painted? / You're uglier than the Gorgon / That frightened folks to stone, / The Grecian Bend don't help you, / So ugly have you grown., 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 woman walks in front a much smaller man, presumably her servant, who holds a bundle. "Upper Ten" is a term for the wealthy elite, or "Upper Ten Thousand." The sender mocks the recipient for not marrying., Text: Though dress'd in ribbons, silks, and laces, / And midst the Upper Ten your place is; / You surely should you silly elf, / Find some poor man to share your pelf., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
The woman wears a gown and holds a fan. Her head is shaped like a cod-fish, and the fins resemble strings on a bonnet. Cod-Fish aristocracy was a derogatory term for New Englanders whose family wealth originated in maritime businesses., Text: You wish to be thought "some" we know, / In truth a very odd wish; / Since people say, not long ago, / Your parents dealt in cod-fish., 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.
The country girl wears a low-cut gown, and she holds a basket of fruit in her lap and pares a piece of fruit. The valentine suggests that she is fickle and possibly sexually promiscuous., Text: Now's the time, sweet girl, for paring, / But, like your onions, I'm a pun-gent; / Ah! I fear you're too ensnaring, / And not content would be with one gent., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
The Modern Cupid is a man with large mutton chops, a beard, and small wings holds a string of hearts. The text suggests that he has a financial approach to love. 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: Cupid in whiskers and all-round collar / Is now a sight of every day, / With hearts for sale, (two for a dollar), / And sometimes hearts to give away. / He takes his part in every pageant, / Is for his business tact renowned, / Acts as a matrimonial agent, / And plays the mischief all around., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
The valentine depicts a wrinkled woman sitting in front of a mirror. In front of her is a bottled labeled "hair dye." The valentine mocks older single women who dye their hair and portrays them as desperate for matrimony., Text: Now Time has stolen all your charms, / (If any existed not sure am I,) / To win a husband to your arms / Your only resource now to dye., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A woman wears a gown with a tiered, tapered skirt over a Grecian Bend style of bustle. The Grecian Bend became popular after 1869., Text: "Pray, what's the matter," said a friend to me, / "With that young woman that I see?" / I stopped and looked and calmly said, / "The wits have surely left her head, / But where they're gone there's no telling / Unless you judge by large swelling.", Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A woman wears a dress with a narrow skirt and train and neither a crinoline nor a bustle. "Rag and tag" refers to the damage done to the trains of the skirts from walking in the streets. Crinolines were out of fashion in the late 1860s, and then bustles were in vogue. Bustles went out of fashion between 1876 and 1883., Text: Devoid of useless crinoline. / She moves majestic as a queen, / In sweeping robe and drooping bonnet / With many a rag and tag upon it., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A "nasty man" stands with his hands in his pockets. He spits in a long, thin line., Text: Pah! keep your distance, a man so disgusting, / So foul in his person, so rude in his tongue, / Cannot be the one that I'll put a trust in; / Go back to the dunghill whence you sprung., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
The Irish woman holds a broom, smokes a pipe, and stands by a pig. "Cutty" refers to a short clay pipe, and "broth of a boy" is an Irish colloquialism for a good young man., Text: Arrah, Bridget, Och! hone! bonny Ireland's joy. / Is it you wud be wanting 'A broth of a boy;' / Jist take my advice, stay at home, tend your pigs, / Lilt your songs, smoke yer cutty, and dance yer gay jigs., Variant of 5.21., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
The valentine shows a large central female figure, the coquette, and two men standing behind her. She smiles and holds her hands out. The valentine condemns female flirtation and suggests that the outcome will not be marriage., Text: Vain, silly coquette, whose only employ / Is fond loving hearts to offend; / Beware, or ere long the enjoyment will cloy, / And you'll die an old maid in the end., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A man wears a plaid jacket with large sleeves, vest, and pants., Text: What more would have, all plaided and stuffed / Sleeves full dimensioned and puckered and cuffed; / A spectacle spectacled -- good morrow to you, / A sample I pass, for the best Boggs can do., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
Two women and a man sit at a table with tea-cups in front of them, and all three figures hold their hands up and have their mouths open. A cat hisses at the teapot on the floor. The valentine criticizes gossips, particularly those who ruin younger people's reputations., Text: Scandal and slander are what you deal in, / Such ghosts as you are without soul or feeling: / With serpents' tongue youth's hopes you sell, / You'll get your just deserts in h--l., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A man with prominent teeth wears a frock coat, waistcoat, and trousers. "Loathsome weed" refers to tobacco., Text: There you stand with mouth all reeking / With the juice of loathsome weed, / Shocking every ear when speaking. / In all vileness taking the lead., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
The lady of the house wears a fashionable gown and holds her head at a haughty angle. Behind her, another woman washes clothing in a large tub. The woman at the washtub is probably the employee of the lady of the house. The valentine mocks the woman's social pretensions as unjustifiable given her role as someone who minds a stand (i.e., works in a small commercial enterprise)., Text: The lady of the house, so grand, / With head stuck up, and airs refin'd, / She quite forgets that little stand, / Which all day long she had to mind., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A man wears an open red shirt, apron, and a top hat with a brick on it. His apron has a triangular symbol of freemasonry on it. He sticks out his tongue and holds a leveling triangle and bricklaying trowel. "Morgan" refers to William Morgan, whose disappearance in 1826 fueled the Anti-Masonic movement. The valentine criticizes free masons for profligacy and neglecting their duties to their children., Text: Go, you poor devil of Morgan fame, / Closet yourself up to hide your shame, / Spend all your money like a poor drone, / Leaving your little ones starving at home., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
The woman depicted is thin, gaunt, tall, and has a pinched face. Her arms are raised. She wears a poke-bonnet and a dress with a high neckline and thin skirt., Text: "A Ball, a Ball --- an abomination!" / It's a scandal to all creation : / Now no one would take you; you groan and bawl, / And say that the Dev-l will take us all., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A woman sits at a table and drinks from a bowl. A pile of kitchen utensils stands behind her, and a cat eats at her feet. The valentine condemns uncleaniness in women., Text: A nasty woman, let me fly, / She is a pest to ev'ry eye; / At least a female can be clean, / For sluttishness is most obscene., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
The valentine shows a couple kissing. The clock on the wall indicates that it's one o'clock, and a candle burns nearby. His receding hairline and her staid demeanor suggest that they are older than the norm for courtship. Thus, the late courtship is literally late-at-night and possibly an object of ridicule given their ages., Text: As you daintly sip the dews from her lips, / Both time and the hours scorning, / You sit all night in gay delight, / And don't go home 'till morning., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A man skates with his back faced toward the viewer. The seat of his pants is torn., Text: Oh! don't you think yourself a smarty, / Making fun of everybody; / But could you see your own profile, / You scarce would risk another smile. / Ha! ha! -- you cut a pretty shine, / With streamer floating from behind, / You are, indeed, a dandy fellow, / With colors hoisted --white and yellow., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A large woman stands at a washing tub, and her dress is low-cut. There is a container marked "soft soap" behind her, and "soft soap" is slang for flattery or sugar-coating, suggesting that the recipient is too idealistic., Text: Scrubbing Judy, Oh you beauty! / All your curls are steamed to strings -- / Swash and spatter in your duty, / Soft-soap well the pesky things; / Rubbing, scrubbing, Judy sings, / As the soap-suds out she wrings., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
The saloon girl holds a large tray carrying pudding with forks in it. "SALOON" is written behind her. The sender mocks the recipient for her oily hair., Text: Beautiful waiter-girl, are you aware / That the pudding you carry, (all suet), / Is capital dressing to put on the hair? -- / Yes, your head looks as though you well knew it!, Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
The quack doctor has a skull for his head and holds a large sword labeled "bleeder" and a paper marked "BILL 5,00000." An arm bleeds into a bowl, but it is not attached to a body. 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.", "I do not like you, Doctor Fell," / Is an old line, as you've heard tell, / And sharply, still, the case it touches / Of the foul quack, who says as much as, / "This is my game, let no one block it, / Blood from arm-- and from the pocket!", Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector., Provenance: Brown, Tom, 1663-1704, I Do Not Love Thee, Dr Fell.
A farmer gives grain to a small bird. He has moles and errant facial hairs. The valentine puns on the meanings of green and implies that the recipient is inexperienced and a bad farmer., Text: A farmer's life's the life for me, / A farmer's lad I mean to be; / So sweet to go, at early morn, / And give the little chicks their corn; / To milk the pigs, and shear the cows, / And see the 'punkins' on the boughs; / To gaze on all the lovely scene, / And be, just like the landscape, green., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A man is a weathercock, with his legs and arms indicating direction and the center spire going through his torso., Text: The weather-cock that turns it face / With ever wind that blows, / An emblem of a class of men / As uncertain as the drifiting snows; / Although his points he argues well, / And promises so very fair, / Yet like the sprightly Paddy's flea, / You'lt always find he isn't there. / I've brought this fact to your attention, / To show you are of the class I mention., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
The valentine shows a man with a frog-like appearance gesturing expansively. He wears a top hat and holds a walking stick., Text: The sun supplies the painter's place, / And pictures true your manly face; / The girls who see this phiz hereafter, / Will die of love -- or else of laughter., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
The valentine shows an overweight woman with ringlet curls. Her gown is low cut., Text: "Fat, fair and forty," I have heard / As terms of half praise; on my word / I could not say the same of you, / Fat, ugly, lazy, is too true., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A woman with an ill-tempered expression stands with her hands on her hips., Text: 'Tis my belief that God created wives / To sweeten all the troubles of men's lives; / But surely, you exert your utmost power, / To poison his best joys and turn them sour., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A woman wears a plaid gown with a low neckline that reveals her breasts. Her crinoline billows up, revealing her petticoat. She pulls back a yellow blanket, possibly before getting into bed. The text suggests that she is sexually promiscuous., Text: You shall not sigh your hours away, / For you're the gayest of the gay; / You love the concert and the dance, / Life's pleasures they so much enhance. / Full many a stricken, ardent beau, / Has oft' pronounced that you're not slow, / You do the warmth of love excite, / And charm me with hope of fond delight., Cf. Valentine 5.41., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A woman has a codfish for a head and wears a gown. She holds out a slip of paper and a fan. "Cod-fish aristocracy" was a derogatory term for New Englanders whose family wealth originated in maritime businesses., Text: Fair dame, your fishery portrait here you see, / One of the Codfish Aristocra-she; [prouder / Lest your soup-erior wealth should make you / I leave you to the friends of Codfish Chowder., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A woman sits with her hands folded and her head down., Text: Oh! I can't think of you, my dear little darling, / You're all the time fawning, and fretting, and snarling; / So take my advice, now, and don't be forgetting, / Youl'll not get a husband, my charmer, by fretting., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
The literary man sits at a table. His nose is dark (from drinking?) and he cradles his head with a hand holding a quill. In one corner of the table is a spike with papers through it (i.e., bills?) and on the other corner is a book titled Webster (i.e., Webster's Dictionary?). His trashcan is full, and the valentine suggests that it is difficult for him to write and what he does write is of low quality., Text: With slipshod feet, and coat with elbows out, / You daily sit, and with your scribbling quill, / Indite strange tales and trashy stuff, with which / Poor idle maids their simple minds may fill., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A woman's walking dress reveals her legs and her crinoline. The verse mocks the structure of crinoline, which resembled a cage. She wears black boots, a blue coat, and red cap., Text: Behold her pompous, lofty stride, / With her boots, and hoops ten feet wide; / We'll step aside and let her pass, / A bladder filled with wind or gas, / A petticoat made like a cage: / The monster is so huge in size, / And her dress sticks so far out! / The whirling winds now fill her sail., Cf. 2.32., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A woman wears a low-cut gown and pulls up her skirt so that it reveals her petticoats and ankles. Her face is shaded to suggest rouge and lip coloring. Her holds her thumb to her nose in a disrespectful gesture., Text: Your conduct in loud accents speaks, / That nought can bring shame's blush to cheeks / So hard as your's, -- what shame, alas! / That in your face you've so much brass., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A man driving a carriage and says, " Don't I feel nobby now I keeps my own carriage?" "Nobby" is slang for smart or elegant., Text: They say you feel so proud of heart, / Because you keep a donkey cart; / One thing tho' you should bear in mind, / "Fellow feeling makes us kind," / Therefore you sometimes might change places / With the Donkey in the traces., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A man holding a trowel lays bricks. The valentine urges the recipient to amend his behavior so that he will not be considered "shabby," or someone who plays mean tricks., Text: If you aint the best of good fellows, / Or constantly up to your tricks, / I think you'll be put down as shabby, / Though you're daily surrounded with Bricks., "31", Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
The short book-keeper stands at a large desk. He holds a quill in front of a book. He resembles a horse and wears a patterned jacket, tie, and striped pants, which suggests that he is a dandy. The sender accuses the recipient of dishonesty., Text: You do not cast your figures right, / And false entries, 'tis said you make; / Some day your sins will come to light, / And another man your place will take., Cf. 2.5., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
The woman's walking dress reveals her legs and her crinoline. "Sonsie" is slang for "comely.", Text: Clear the track and let me pass, / Boots and hoops, / Am I not a sonsie lass, / One who troops? Ho! my coat of lion skin / Never droops-- / Nor my buttons, nor my chin. / With ribbon loops., Cf.1.39., 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.
"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.
