A woman wears an enormous skirt with furbelows., Text: Expansive! expensive! extensive! exuberant! / Skirts, more than the city's outskirts, protuberant! / Not only the height of the fashion has come to this, / But the breadth of the fashion is Crinoline bliss., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
The valentine shows a woman wearing a crown, gown, and holding a parasol. A young man holds the train of her coat. The valentine mocks the woman's too-slender stature and excessively large crinoline., Text: A skeleton in figure / You still are bound to shine, / The great among the greatest / In size of Crinoline., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A woman carries a tiny parasol and wears a gown with a hoop skirt and furbelows., Text: This, truly, is the age of all things new, / For even women grown, and young maids too, / Believe not now in either Heart or Head, / But in the size to which their hoops may spread., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
The valentine shows a man falling over a woman's hoop skirt. The skirt billows up, revealing her legs. The valentine mocks the crinoline fashion for causing accidents. "Pegs" refers to men's legs., Text: The ladies' hoops do dreadful slaughter. / They often cause the chaps to lose their pegs; / And as often quite the girls to show their legs, / And make a world of sport and laughter., 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 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'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.
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 young, fashionably dressed woman stands in front of a sign that reads "Lisping grammar" and "Geography of dancing." Her hair is curled, and she curtsies, revealing her crossed feet, crinoline, and petticoat hem. 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 valentine associates the girl with France and mocks her impractical education., Text: In the language of France, / And its dress, and its dance, / I presume you are quite proficient; / But I doubt that, my dear, / You the oven could clear / When the time came for putting a dish in 't., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A woman wears a large crinoline, a cape, gloves and a hat with a snood. "Bean" can mean money., Text: Of Dandizetts you’re sure the Queen, The loveliest creature ever seen, / Your head so small and shape so fine, / Must make each bean your valentine., Provenance: Helfand, William H..
A woman steps out of a door and reveals her petticoats under her crinoline. A sign behind her reads "To the Bank" and a man is standing next to the steps. The valentine suggests that the sight of her legs is embarassing to the people around her., Text: Oh! Daughter of fair mother Eve, / Your brothers all you sorely greive, / And give us each exceeding pain / To witness thus the curse of Cain. / ‘Tis surely not a modest sight / To have the legs thus brought to light., Provenance: Hlefand, William H..
A woman wears a large crinoline. Two small boys in the background mock her by saying "Hoop de doo den doo" and "Who's your Cooper?" One also places a basket on her skirt., Text: A hundred years ago they say, / Hoops were the fashion of the day, / They now completely stop the way. / Hoop de doo den doo. / As they sail along as fine, /In the day’s most busy time, / The passers by will CRY-NO-LINE! / Hoop de doo den doo. / I’m sure it must be van-i-ty, / That makes you so extrav-a-gant-ly / Dress that all the boys will cry, / Hoop de doo den doo. / “Who’s your Cooper” now they ask, / You roll along just like a Cask, / And getting by you is a task, / (with your) Hoop de doo-den doo., Provenance: Helfand, William H..
A woman wearing a flowered bonnet holds a fold of her dress in her hand. Her shoes, undergarments and crinoline are visible below her dress., Text: If my passion I ever declare, / Your heart I should like to possess; / But alas! You’ve so little to spare, / All being devoted to dress., Provenance: Helfand, William H..
An elaborately dressed woman holds the folds of her skirt. Her shoes and crinoline are visible beneath the skirt., Text: If my passion I ever declare, / Your heart I should like to possess; / But alas! You’ve so little to spare, / All being devoted to dress., Cf. Valentines 15.13, 15.15, 15.16., Provenance: Helfand, William H..
A woman with an elaborate hairstyle carries a parasol. In the other hand, she holds her voluminous skirt. Her petticoat and the tassles on her boots are visible beneath her skirt., Text: If my passion I ever declare, / Your heart I should like to possess; / But alas! You’ve so little to spare, / All being devoted to dress., Cf. Valentines 15.13, 15.14, 15.16., Provenance: Helfand, William H..
A woman carrying a parasol walkes by an enclosed garden. She is holding the front of her skirt up to reveal lacy undergarment beneath it., Text: If my passion I ever declare, / Your heart I should like to possess; / But alas! You’ve so little to spare, / All being devoted to dress., Cf. Valentines 15.13, 15.14, 15.15., Provenance: Helfand, William H..
A short and stout country bumpkin smiles and carries a pitchfork. The sender rejects the recipient's romantic advances because of his occupation., Text: Blundering little hussy, who can never move about, / But furniture and tea trays are all put to the rout ; / It's all your foolish vanity because you wil be seen, / When about your work, dressed in a crinoline : / Pray leave off your hoops and gain a little sense, / And then to gain a husband you may make some pretence., "No. 186", Provenance: Helfand, William H..
The valentine shows a woman standing on a city street. She wears a walking dress with short skirt that reveals her crinoline structure, legs, and petticoats. The valentine mocks the recipient's immodest deportment., Text: Oh! Gentle Lady, you know full well, / You care not for mud, but you'd cut a swell-- / A swell you make, if you could see, / You'd be ashamed, as well as we., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A woman hikes up her skirt, revealing her crinoline and petticoats. "Ducky" is a term of endearment, and "kiver" is a dialect for "cover." "Timbers" refers to her legs and suggests that they are indelicately large. The sender mocks the recipient for her careless immodesty., Text: Hey ducky dumpling, gazing high, / Parading in your t'others, / We look less high, and there we spy, / 'Till laughing almost smothers. / However cold may be your liver, / Such timbers, ducky, ne'er can shiver. / Especially with, such hoops to kiver., Cf. 4.50., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A woman stands while reading a book. Her crinoline has turned up so that it reveals her legs, and a dog stands underneath it. She says, "What are the people staring at, I wonder?", Text: The winds of march will be here soon / Then you who look like a Balloon, / Perchance may the Balloon fate, / And into the air be carried straight. / Like Cesar -- all gentle fair / Should the Ides of March beware, / For were you carried into the sky, / What THINGS ABOVE might meet each eye., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
The conceited woman wears a large skirt with furbelows and a crinoline. Her face is obscured by a purple wide-brimmed hat, and her nose is upturned. She extends her left hand., Text: There we see an old ewe, yet more like a ram, / Though a fifty-year old, she's dressed like a lamb / Both toothless and ugly, and snuffy and base, / Yet she tries to look sheepish, and soft in the face. / Dress on, mother Hecate your Stiff Crinoline / Floats flauntingly freely, abroad in the wind, / But the looks you give, and the fashions you wear, / Bids all of good sense and of manners beware., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A woman wears a coat and a large-skirted gown that make her triangle-shaped. The valentine mocks the hoop skirt trend for the cage-like appearance of crinolines and the dirt the large skirts attracted in the streets., Text: Waddling pyramid you go, / Flounce flouncing in the snow; / Pretty lady do not rage, / When I say you're in a cage, / By a lot of hoops secured -- / Of it, I am well assured. / Head, of course, is left outside, / Bonnet on your back doth ride; / Sweep away the side-walks clean, / Of street sweepers, you're the queen., Cf. Valentine 1.41 and Valentine 8.37., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
On public transportation, two fashionable young men (a "pair of bloods") crowd a woman so much that her crinoline billows up, revealing her legs. The men's high opinion of themselves (as "big bugs," or men of importance) is not shared by the woman. A third man is visible in outline; each man wears a different style of hat., Text: Aint you a pretty pair of bloods, as in the cars you ride, / To croud and squeze a lady so, with room upon each side, / You are two big bugs indeed, the ladies think you are two swine, / To squeze a lady in the cars, and smash a crinoline., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A woman wears a triangular gown and coat. The valentine mocks the crinoline fashion trend, particularly the dirt the skirts attracted in the streets., Pretty lady do not rage / When I say you're in a cage, / By a lot of hoops secured -- / Of it, I am well assured, / Sweep away the side-walks clean, / Of street sweepers, you're the queen., Cf. Valentine 1.41 and Valentine 12.34., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
The valentine shows a woman entering a carriage and a man standing behind. Her crinoline pulls up her skirt, hitting the man in the head and revealing her legs to him., Text: Go in, my dear-- go it with a rush, / And never mind the hat; / It is not often that I see / So big a leg as that., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
Her crinoline pulls up the fabric of the Irish domestic's dress as she leans forward and reveals her legs and behind. The verse shames the biddy for her immodesty and does not blame the men watching., Text: An! biddy, dear, do cease to scrub, / And mount a box, bench, chair or tub, / For while you're dusting off the blind, / The boys are peeping up behind., 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.
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 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.
Having fallen while ice skating, a woman sits on the ice with her crinoline and petticoats revealed. She gestures toward a sign which reads "ice cream." The punning text misconstrues her interest in ice cream as a statement regarding her predicament on the ice. 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: You shiver and howl-- to move you dread, / You're game for all deriders, / Your balance gone and your thin legs spread, / Like a pair of drunk dividers. / "I scream!" you shriek in anguish'd tone, / A more summary plan you require; / Take off your skates and stay at home, / Knit stockings in front of the fire., 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.
The back of a woman's skirt is lifted to reveal her crinoline and her legs. A Union soldier bends down to look, unaware that a dog is sniffing his rear., Text: You were sent as a scout to try to discover, / If the enemy's troops were crossing the river, / But your eyes are engaged with the girl on the fence, / While the dog does the duty of reckon-i-scents., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
"Bridget" looks at herself in the mirror glass. She wears a bonnet and large skirt with the crinoline visible. A broom stands rests on the dresser in front of her. Honiton refers to an expensive English lace company. Brass here means brazenness or impudence, and the valentine condemns her pretensions., Text: Bridget, sometimes, at the glass, / Tries Miss Julia's bonnet on;/ Making, thus, a face of brass, / Edged with lace of Honiton., Cf. 5.7., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A man smokes and wears both men's and women's clothing, including a skirt, a top hat, breeches, and a coat and jacket. His has mutton chops. 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." "Guv," or govenor is slang for "boss.", Text: Some chaps are seen / For crinoline / By Nature's hand adapted; / No woman's love / To such is "guv," / Their hearts are never tapped at., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
