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.
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 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 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 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..
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 ice skates, and the wind blows up her skirt to reveal her ankles., Text: The naughty breeze! I mean no evil, / With female skirts does raise the devil -- / All pretty girls must skating go, / But do not like their legs to show-- / That is-- and here the dart most rankles, / If they, like you, have crooked ancles [i.e. ankles]. / What is revealed, makes me decline / To be to you a Valentine., Cf. Valentine 13.5., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A woman ice skates, and the wind blows up her skirt to reveal her ankles., Text: The naughty breeze! I mean no evil, With female skirts does raise the devil -- / All pretty girls must skating go, But do not like their legs to show-- / That is-- and here the dart most rankles, If they, like you, have crooked ankles. / What is revealed, makes me decline To be to you a Valentine., Cf. Valentine 13.4., 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.
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.
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.
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.
