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Title: That Blessed Baby.
Description: 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.
Date: [between 1840 and 1880?]

Title: Poor Molly-Coddling Spooney Fool.
Description: A man in sleeping clothes stands next to a child seated in a chair. His wife sleeps in the bed behind them. "Gaby" means "simpleton.", Text: You, poor molly-coddling spooney fool, / This is a picture true to life: / Showing you in your shirt, so cool / With your baby, while calmly sleeps / your wife. / But you are just served right in that; / The only one we pity, is the blessed baby; / And if I was your wife, -- I tell you flat: / You would get something worse, you / stupid gaby., Cf. Valentine 13.43., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
Date: [between 1840 and 1880?]

Title: Bless'd Baby.
Description: 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.
Date: [between 1840 and 1880?]

Title: Free Mason.
Description: 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.
Date: [between 1840 and 1880?]

Title: Your Wife's the Boss.
Description: A man in sleeping clothes stands in front of his baby in a chair. His wife sleeps in the bed behind him., You poor molly-coddling spooney fool, / This is a picture true to life, / Showing you in your shirt, so cool / With your baby, while calmly sleeps your wife. / But you are just served right in that, / The only one we pity, is the blessed baby: / And if I was your wife, -- I tell you, flat, -- / You would get something worse, you stupid gaby., Cf. Valentine 8.31., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
Date: [between 1840 and 1880?]

Title: You Darling Pet.
Description: A naked baby sits on pillow. He holds a piece of cloth and his mouth and has large eyes., Text: Pick him up and walk the floor, / Twenty times a night or more ; / If he was mine, I’ll tell you what, / I’d pitch him out into the lot. / He’s got his mamma’s ogling eyes -- / He’s got his papa’s yellow tint -- / He hasn’t got a nose at all -- / And jingo! How the brat does squint. / Swing your leg, and give him a lift, / I wouldn’t have him for a gift., Provenance: Helfand, William H..
Date: [between 1840 and 1880?]

Title: [Prodigal Son series, 1775]
Description: Six prints based upon Sebastian Le Clerc II's 1751 series, "L'Histoire de l'enfant prodigue," depicting the Prodigal Son parable of sin, penitence, and salvation. Includes two Black characters: a prostitute and a male servant. The six scenes titled: La Enfant prodigue exigeant sa Legitime; Le depart de l'Enfant prodigue; Vie debauche de l'Enfant prodigue; L'Enfant prodigue dans la plus grande Misere; L'Enfant prodigue reclamant la bonte de son Pere; Rejouissances pour le Retour de l'Enfant prodigue depict the white son claiming his patrimony, taking leave of his father, living a debaucherous life with prostitutes, in misery as a swineherder, returning penitent to his father, and celebrating his return with a feast., "Vie debauche de l'enfant prodigue" shows the prodigal son engaged in immoral behavior. Depicts the young white man, attired in a white wig, a jacket, breeches, white stockings, and buckled shoes, seated at a table with three prostitutes. He leans over and gropes the breast of the white woman, who touches his face with her left hand and raises a glass in her right hand. The Black woman sits in the left and holds a glass in her left hand. The women are attired in wigs in high hairstyles ornamented with ribbons, bows, and feathers, dresses, and heeled dress shoes. The table has plates of food, cutlery, and glasses set upon it. On the floor is a tub filled with bottles. Several bottles are knocked over at the man’s feet, including one that is spilling out alcohol. In the right, a servant woman, attired in a white cap, a plain dress, and an apron, bends over a gambling table to tidy up the cards and chips., "Rejouissances pour le retour de l'enfant prodigue" shows the celebration of the prodigal son’s return with a feast. Depicts four white men and two white women seated at the dining table. The men are attired in wigs, white shirts, jackets, breeches, white stockings, and buckled shoes. The women are attired in wigs in high hairstyles ornamented with ribbons and bows and dresses with bows at the neck. The feasters eat and drink at the table, which has glasses, plates, and cutlery set on it. Two white men servants, attired in wigs, white shirts, and uniform jackets, stand behind the diners and serve food on a plate. In the left, a Black man servant, attired in a wig, a white shirt, a uniform jacket, breeches, white stockings, and buckled shoes, crouches behind a chair to hide and drinks from a bottle. The man seated in the chair turns around to look at him. At his feet is a tub filled with bottles, one bottle knocked over, and an additional bottle by his chair. In the top right background is a balcony where four white men musicians play, including two violinists and possibly an oboe player., Prints numbered 1-6 lower left corner., Series title supplied by cataloger., Publication information inferred from name of engraver and the attire of the depicted figures., See Ellen G. D'Oench's Prodigal Son narratives, 1480-1980 (Connecticut: Yale University Art Gallery and Davison Art Center, Wesleyan University, 1995)., Purchase 1971., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Creator: Haid, Johann Elias, 1739-1809, engraver
Date: [ca. 1775]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *Prodigal Son-1775 [7943.F.1-6]

Title: Here's the boy, my soldier brave.
Description: A baby with a scrunched face and large ears is held aloft, by an unseen woman with lace cuffs on her sleeves. The valentine states that the soldier will be greeted by the child he fathered as he was going off to war., Text: Here's the boy, my soldier brave, / You left behind you in the dark; / When you victoriously return, / He'll chirp your "welcome" like a lark., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
Date: [1861-1865?]

Title: Lines Bros., the largest retail dealers in the state! Proprietors of ten shoe stores. Buffalo store- 95 E. Seneca St. Boots, shoes & rubber goods. Low prices. Plain figures
Description: Racist trade card depicting a comic, genre scene between a new white father and an African American woman caregiver. Shows the young, African American woman holding to her chest three white babies wrapped in blankets. The babies' father stands across from her and exclaims "Did any of them get away?" In the background, the new white mother is visible laying in a bed with a blanket up to her chin. The African American woman wears a cap adorned with a ribbon, an apron, and a long skirt. The white man wears mutton chops and is attired in an evening coat over a suit with a bowtie.The figures are depicted with caricaturized and exaggerated features., Title from item., Image caption on recto: Excited Father - "Did Any of Them Get Away." "Triplets'", Advertising text on verso: Lines Bros., Largest Retail Dealers in the State Proprietors of Ten Shoe Stores! Buffalo Store, No. 95 E. Seneca St., Boots, Shoes & Rubber Goods. Stores at Troy, Albany, Geneva, Elmira, Buffalo, Lockport, Rochester, Amsterdam, Schenectady, and Canandaigua., Gift of David Doret.
Date: [ca. 1880]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Goldman Trade Card Collection - Lines [P.2017.95.109]

Title: Rock-a-horse, baby, and don't make a noise,
Description: A man sits and bounces a baby on his foot. The sender criticizes the recipient for not fighting in the Civil War and implies that his wife will cheat on him. The verse has the same meter and rhyme scheme as the nursery rhyme "Rock-a-bye baby.", Text: Rock-a-horse baby, and don't make a noise, / Your daddy belongs to the stay-at-home boys; / Kid gloves on his fingers, new boots o'er his toes, / He has fine music wherever he goes. / So rock-a-horse, baby, your mother may roam, / But you'll find that your daddy is always at home., "525", Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
Date: [1861-1865?]

Title: I'm a masher
Description: Set of five collecting cards depicting African Americans, portrayed in racist caricature with grotesque facial features, to satirize womanizing, courtship, marriage, and fatherhood. Includes (1) "I'm a Masher" showing a dapperly-dressed African American man, attired in a derby hat, a red bow tie with yellow polka dots, a yellow waistcoat, a blue jacket, and a watch fob, holding up a swagger stick, as well as cigarette that he smokes; (2) "I've Made a Mash" showing the "masher" in a close embrace with a stylishly-dressed African American woman, attired in a red dress with black polka dots, gold drop earrings, and yellow gloves; (3) "I'm Married" showing the couple on promenade with the woman, attired in a red dress with a yellow bow, a yellow and red hat, and white gloves, and the man, smoking a cigarette, and attired in a green bowler hat, a red ascot with shiny cravat pin, a blue jacket with a yellow flower boutonniere, a matching yellow with gray striped waistcoat and pants, and red gloves; (4) 'Home Sweet Home" showing the man, attired in a white collared shirt and blue-striped pants, seated with a look of anguish and surrounded by his six small children; (5) "Dady's [sic] Dead" showing the children as older and dancing around their father's grave adorned with a headstone inscribed "To the Memory of the Masher." Masher was a later 19th-century slang term for a womanizer, known for garish clothes and a vulgar manner., Copyrighted., Series no. printed in upper right corner., Purchased with funds from the Albert M. Greenfield Foundation., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014., Chicago Picture Co, a Chicago publishing firm of advertising card and novelties, was active circa 1881-circa 1883.
Creator: Chicago Picture Co.
Date: [ca. 1882]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department GC - Genre [P.2012.25.1-5]

Title: "I'm a farder"
Description: Set of four collecting cards depicting racist caricatures of African Americans to satirize fatherhood and the question of paternity. Titles are in the vernacular. Includes "I'm a Farder" showing a dapperly-dressed African American man, attired in a white collared shirt, a red tie, a gray waistcoat, a blue jacket, and blue-and-white striped pants. He talks to his "Aunty," an African American woman, attired in a red and yellow head kerchief, hoop earrings, a green and red shawl, a red dress, and a white apron, and holding her hands to her chest; "Aunty Says Der Am Two" showing the man with a sheepish look and his hands in his pockets while "Aunty" smiles; "And Dat One Am kinder White" showing the man aghast and standing straight up as "Aunty" holds out her hands in a near gesture of comfort; and "If Dat Chile Dont Change Color Der'l Be Trouble in Dis Yer Fam'ly" showing the man forlorn, hands in pockets, and looking down at this two infants being held by "Aunty" in her lap, while she sits in a chair under a placard reading "Bless Our Home." The baby in the left has a dark skin tone, and the baby in the right has a light skin tone., Copyrighted., Title from item., Date inferred from content., Purchase 2012., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Purchased with funds from the Albert M. Greenfield Foundation., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Date: [ca. 1880]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department GC - Genre [P.2012.23.1-4]

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