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Title: A Great Big Nothing.
Description: A frowning man wears a red waistcoat and a green frock coat. The valentine mocks the recipient for being large and deficient., Text: Believe me when I say I've always thought / That you were simply nothing -- a big naught; / I'd like to know what 't'is you want a wife for, / For she would nothing gain except a cypher., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
Date: [between 1840 and 1880?]

Title: Elephant on Skates.
Description: The valentine shows an elephant ice skating (and smoking). He wears a blue jacket and green pants and carries a walking stick. The sender rejects the recipient because of his weight., Text: I've heard fat men singing, / I'm told of their swimming, / I've seen them in various states -- / I've known of their dancing, / And ogling and glancing, / But ne'er have I seen one on skates. / I always am laughing, / When fat men I'm chaffing, / Who think that it will be my fate -- / It sets me tee-heeing, / A Valentine being, / To an elephant trying to skate., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
Date: [between 1840 and 1880?]

Title: Mr. Poor Pay.
Description: A man holds out his empty pockets., Text: So bad your name for paying up, / That I believe that when / Grim death shall come for "nature's debt," / You'll tell him to "call again.", Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
Date: [between 1840 and 1880?]

Title: The Heart Breaker.
Description: A man holds his hands to his heart. He wears a frock coat, bow-tie, and thin trousers. His hair is curled., Text: Quit your tricks, my young man, and quickly to wed, / Lead some charming young damsel to church; / No delight, you'll then take, our poor hearts to break / Then leave us alone in the lurch., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
Date: [between 1840 and 1880?]

Title: To a Hog.
Description: A man with a pig's head reads a poster, which states, "GREAT VALENTINE DEPOT/ THE FAT HOG," and has a picture of a hog on it. He carries a walking stick with a man's head carved on the top., Text: You are the very antidote to love! / A man of taste undoubtedly you prove; / But 'tis of dinners, Hog, and that you know full well, / And if a wife you choose, 'twill be-- a dinner bell(e)? / Upon my word, I'd give a dollar bill, / To know the jade that sent this Valentine; / The saucy minx, she says I'm sour as swill, / She won't be good for a pig's head like mine., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
Date: [between 1840 and 1880?]

Title: A Dough-head.
Description: A young man sits in a chair., Text: You sleepy headed numskull, go home and take a snooze, / When you go to see the girls, they think you’re full of booze. / As vain as any weather-cock, you know not how to talk, / Nor can you take a slight hint, when you’re told it’s time to walk. / You ought to be a baker’s boy, for now wherever you go, / The girls all laugh at such a calf, and say your head is dough., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
Date: [between 1840 and 1880?]

Title: The Sight of a Boddice, or few stray curls,
Description: A man is watching a woman through a window. He has spilled a pail of water. The valentine criticizes him for paying attention to the woman and not to his work., Text: The sight of a Boddice, or few stray curls, / Sets your mouth watering after the Girls, / While you are staring with lecherous eyes / Your blundering movements your pail will capsize, / Splashing and pouring all into the street, / Making the passers by white as a sheet; / While you get the sack, as truly you luck it / Deserves for so stupidly kicking the Bucket., "117", Provenance: Helfand, William H..
Date: [between 1840 and 1880?]

Title: A Bear, what is it but a surly brute?
Description: A man in a coat and top hat and bear are separated by bars. The man's head is turned away from the bear and the bear is looking at the man. The text characterizes the man as having dangerous animal qualities, and the placement of the two figures poses the question of who is really the beast in a cage., Text: A Bear, what is it but a surly brute? / A pest to women, above dispute, / A surly brute are you, none can deny, / Also a nuisance to society, / Therefore, old Growler, I do decline / To Bruin be a Valentine., Provenance: Helfand, William H..
Date: [between 1840 and 1880?]

Title: A Bear, what is it but a surly brute?
Description: A man in a coat and top hat and bear are separated by bars. The man's head is turned away from the bear and the bear is looking at the man. The text characterizes the man as having dangerous animal qualities, and the placement of the two figures poses the question of who is really the beast in a cage., Text: A Bear, what is it but a surly brute? / A pestto women, above dispute, / A surly brute are you, none can deny, / Also a nuisance to society, / Therefore, old Growler, I do decline / To Bruin be a Valentine., Provenance: Helfand, William H..
Date: [between 1840 and 1880?]

Title: The Hog Comes Out Strongly on the Wheel.
Description: A man in the form of a pig rides a bicycle. The valentine criticizes him for unmannerly behavior., Text: We never need / To ask your breed, / It shows so plain in word and deed, / And your face so well reveals the story ; / But when we deal / With you on a Wheel / More strongly than ever you make us feel / That here's a HOG in all his glory., Provenance: Helfand, William H.
Date: [between 1840 and 1880?]

Title: Sighing for a Wife.
Description: 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.
Date: [between 1840 and 1880?]

Title: Wherefore art thou Romeo? (Romeo & Juliet.) Coe and Co., notions, trimmings, furnishing goods and dressmaking, 222 W. Main St., Norristown, Pa. G.H. Coe. J.C. Kulp
Description: Illustrated trade card and caricature depicting a lampoon of the balcony scene from William Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet," except Juliet is much larger than Romeo and cannot see him even though he is immediately below her., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., Gift of John H. Serembus., Digitized.
Date: c1883
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department trade card - Coe [P.2005.30.1]

Title: The travelled monkey - wiser & sadder
Description: Cartoon depicting two unidentified white men, attired in suits, on the balcony of the "Cleveland Hotel" in front of a hostile crowd calling out "Traitor" and "You be Damned." The speaker clutches a handkerchief and the bannister of the balcony as he tries to placate the crowd by stating it is their "Congress that is trying to break up the Government." The man beside him in the left smugly comments that he hopes the mayor is in town. An African American man in the crowd, portrayed in racist caricature, taunts the speaker, "How about that $400 Gold watch.", Title from item., Date inferred from content., Originally part of American political caricatures, likely a scrapbook, accessioned 1899. Collection primarily comprised of gifts from Samuel Breck, John A. McAllister, and James Rush., 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 Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Date: [1884?]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1884 Tra [5760.F.110]

Title: The first of May 1865 or gen'l moving day in Richmond Va
Description: Cartoon relishing the surrender of the Confederacy to the Union depicting a Southern general moving from his war damaged home which is to undergo a "Sheriff Sale" and to be let by "Lincoln & Co." Three white Southerners and two African American men, one who thumbs his nose, witness the General and a mover begin to load a "C.S.A." (i.e., Confederate States of America) cart. The cart, to be pulled by two dogs, is situated next to a "C.S.A Treasury" box of "Waste Paper" that is being urinated upon by another dog. The mover is burdened by several packages, many falling off his back, labeled with the names of Confederate states., Title from item., Date from copyright statement: Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1865, by H. & W. Voight in the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Southern District of New York., Accessioned 1979., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Digitized by Alexander Street Press for Images of the American Civil War., 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 Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014., Kimmel and Forster was a 19th-century firm known more so for their engraving than their lithography.
Creator: Kimmell & Forster, lithographers
Date: 1865
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department political cartoons - 1865-4W [P.2275.29]

Title: [Caricature of a laughing African American man]
Description: Bust-length portrait depicting an African American man, portrayed in racist caricature, laughing with his head tilted back to the right, eyes closed and mouth wide open, as he reads a "Texas" newspaper. He is attired in a white collared shirt, a tie, and a jacket., Title supplied by cataloger., Gift of Elsie Wood Harmon, 1982., 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 Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014., Wood, a Philadelphia artist, turned to photography in the 1880s exhibiting his work, including genre studies of African Americans, in national and international photography exhibitions. His work won several prizes.
Creator: Wood, George Bacon, 1832-1909, photographer
Date: [ca. 1885]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department photo - Wood [P.8743.184]

Title: [Caricature of a laughing African American man]
Description: Bust-length portrait depicting an African American man, portrayed in racist caricature, laughing with his head tilted back to the right, eyes slightly open, and mouth wide open, as he reads a "Texas" newspaper. He is attired in a white collared shirt, a tie, and a jacket., Title supplied by cataloger., Gift of Elsie Wood Harmon, 1982., 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 Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014., Wood, a Philadelphia artist, turned to photography in the 1880s exhibiting his work, including genre studies of African Americans, in national and international photography exhibitions. His work won several prizes.
Creator: Wood, George Bacon, 1832-1909, photographer
Date: [ca. 1885]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department photo - Wood [P.8743.185]

Title: Joyous birthday
Description: Racist, metamorphic birthday card depicting a caricatured portrayal of a Black man taxi driver and a Black man passenger, riding in a taxi. Scene, with the card closed, shows the exterior of a yellow taxi with blue and checkered trims. The passenger and driver, depicted with exaggerated and minstrelized features, including wide eyes and a circular mouth, look out their respective rear and front windows, and toward the viewer. The passenger wears a bowler hat and the driver is in a uniform, including a cap. A suitcase is strapped to the top and a a spare tire is attached to the rear of the vehicle. Scene, with card opened, shows the rear door of the car open and the passenger, attired in a pink plaid suit, seated on a blue car seat, and holding a pot with three flowers on his lap. The trim of the taxi is pink., Title from item., Date deduced from the visual content., Printed in the vernacular on inside front cover: When yo' Birf'day rolls around. May it find yo' Up to Snuff,' And may it bring de best ob joys. Now ain' dat Fare enuf?, Printed on verso: Made in U.S.A., Manuscript note on verso: Hoping you have many more Happy and Joyous Birthdays to come. Ruth., RVCDC, Gift of James Hill.
Date: [ca. 1935]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department ephemera - Cards - Birthday [P.2021.26.2]

Title: Happy contraband
Description: Photographic reproduction of a caricature depicting a half-length, cameo portrait of an African American man playing a fife. Shows the man, posed to the right, looking up with his eyes, and holding up with both his hands, a fife to his pursed lips. He leans slightly forward, is portrayed with a furrowed brow, and is attired in a wide-brimmed hat adorned with a ribbon, white shirt with long sleeves, and a dark-colored vest. While commander of Fort Monroe, Virginia, General Benjamin Butler declared freedom seekers as "contraband of war," providing the impetus for Congress to enact the Confiscation Act of 1861. During the war, several visual materials, often satires, depicting Black persons as "contraband" were published., Title from manuscript note on verso., Date inferred from active dates of publisher., RVCDC, Philadelphia Photographic Company operated from 730 Chestnut Street circa 1864-1865 before relocating to 24 N. 8th Street. Active until about circa 1869, the firm, per advertisements, issued a catalog, sold "specialties" for albums, including "from original drawings by artists of high quality," and published "[Thomas H.] Johnson's Photographic Views of the Whole Oil Regions," as well as sold election campaign cards and badges.
Creator: Philadelphia Photographic Company
Date: [ca. 1865]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department cdv - non-portrait -Philadelphia Photographic Company - Happy [P.2022.50]

Title: Josh educating a pig
Description: Racist periodical illustration that illustrated the James Fenimore Cooper serial "The Islets of the Gulf, or Rose Budd" in the January 1847 issue of Graham's Magazine. Depicts the scene from the story set during the Mexican-American War aboard a sailing ship when the character Josh, an older Black man cabin hand, teaches a pig "to know their place"-- not to be on the quarter-deck--with scalding water. Shows, in the right, on a ship deck, Josh, attired in a blue-checkered shirt, red vest and tie, yellow pants, and boots, standing with his legs apart, and holding a cloth in his right hand and a kettle in his left hand. He pours "scalding" water from the kettle onto a squealing pig by his feet. He is portrayed with a smile and steam rises from the back of the pig. To the left are a young Black man, attired in a brown broad-rimmed hat, shirt, pants, and boots and an older white man with a chin-beard and attired in a brown jacket, white vest, blue pants, and shoes. The younger man stands with his feet crossed and leans on the ship railing behind him. The older man is portrayed with a rotund midriff and holds his left hand in his vest pocket and his right hand on the railing on which he leans. A lantern-like object is visible in the left foreground and sailing line and a rope ladder are visible in the right background. Scene also includes a cloudy sky, the ocean, and distant sailing ships in the background. Josh and the white man character are portrayed with exaggerated features and/or manners., Title from item., Date from item., Originally published in Graham's Magazine, January 1847, aft. p. 54., Hand-coloring probably added after removal from publication., RVCDC
Date: 1847
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department GC - Fictional Characters - J [P.2022.17]

Title: The Old Fogie.
Description: The valentine shows a large-chested man walking in a field. He holds a top hat., Text: You conceited old fogie, with face of Brass, / By nature intended for an ass; / But ape the Biped of two-legged kind, / With stomach, all a bag of wind. / Seek for thy wife in Afies clime, / And be her faithful Valentine., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
Date: [between 1840 and 1880?]

Title: One of the B'hoys.
Description: A young man wears a stove-pipe hat, red jacket, and boots, marking him as a Bowery B'hoy, or young working class man from the Five Points neighborhood in New York City. He stands in front of another male figure who smokes a pipe and wears a stove-pipe hat. "Get the bag" means to be fired., Text: Each swollen eye, each dirty rag, / Of brawls and battles tell us; / You seek my heart -- you'll get the bag, / And won't get nothing else., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
Date: [between 1840 and 1880?]

Title: The Rowdy.
Description: A man stands with his fists raised to fight. The term "b'hoys" marks him as a young working class man from the Five Points neighborhood in New York., Text: In quarrels, and fights, are your only delights, / Or in making most hideous noise; / I'm sure you'll not doubt, when I say, you're about / The worst example, of one of the "B'hoys.", Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
Date: [between 1840 and 1880?]

Title: The Rake.
Description: The rake wears fashionable clothes and carries a walking stick. He smirks and holds his hand to his mouth., Text: Your ruffled shirt bosom and gay flashy vest, / The tip of the mode in which you are dressed, / Your heaps of flash jewels, the strut that you take, / All prove you to be a most licentious rake., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
Date: [between 1840 and 1880?]

Title: A Verdant Young Man.
Description: A young man looks at a poster of an elephant. Behind him is a sign that reads "NOTICE GENTLEMEN FROM THE COUNTRY TAKEN IN," suggesting that the recipient is from the country and will be exploited in the city., Text: My tender sprout of cabbage head, / I would your young heart deceive; / So seek some more congenial bed / To flourish in, -- and now leave., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
Date: [between 1840 and 1880?]

Title: Man with Elk Horns Staring in a Mirror.
Description: A man with elk horns looks at his reflection in an ornate mirror. Horns can be a sign of being a cuckold., Provenance: Helfand, William H..
Date: [between 1840 and 1880?]

Title: Group of men out on the town.
Description: A group of men are walking in the street. They wear coats and tophats and have elaborately styled facial hair. Several of the men link arms and one lifts his top hat on a cane. A moon in the sky is smiling., Provenance: Helfand, William H..
Date: [between 1840 and 1880?]

Title: Pug-nosed smoking boy, look here,
Description: A boy wearing a cap and short jacket is smoking. He stands in front of a house. His toes are turned in and his elbows stick out. The valentine criticizes the recipient for smoking and having a ridiculous appearance., Text: Pug-nosed smoking boy, look here, / How quaint your visage, and how queer, / With turned in knees, and turned in toes, / Rach little boy cries “There he goes.” / And so you may, my little man, / Try all you think, do all you can / Mixture of man, and boy, and swine, / Now don’t you think you look divine?, Provenance: Helfand, William H..
Date: [between 1840 and 1880?]

Title: The Shirk.
Description: A boy lies on his stomach with his heels in the air underneath a tree. The sun is high in the sky and a hoe is lying on the ground next to the boy, suggesting he is neglecting farming duties., Text: You are the biggest fraud on earth, / A lazy, loafing lout, / A big mistake was at your birth-- / Oh! That your ma was out! / Such shirks as you should be caught up, / And sent around the horn, / Or an inquest held on all of you, / Before you e’er were born-- / Oh! How we hope that some fine day, / You may dry up and blow away., Provenance: Helfand, William H..
Date: [between 1840 and 1880?]

Title: You queer looking fellow, you ill looking brute,
Description: A man with a monocle and a whip stands in front of a wall. He has antlers protruding from his head., Text: You queer looking fellow, you ill looking brute, / You never will me for a valentine suit, / And if for a husband I ever should take thee / This is the figure I'd certainly make ye., Provenance: Helfand, William H..
Date: [between 1840 and 1880?]

Title: Joseph L. Varnam, ladies' and gents' & children's boot & shoe maker, Bustleton, 23rd ward, Philad'a Fine custom work made to order. Repairing promptly attended to
Description: Racist trade card depicting an African American man, portrayed in caricature with an oversized head and exaggerated facial features, sitting on a chair and playing the cello. He is attired in bright, mismatched clothing, including a yellow hat, a red and white striped and collared shirt, a yellow bowtie, a blue jacket with tails, yellow and red striped pants, blue socks, and yellow and black shoes. Includes vignettes of a boot and a shoe printed on verso., Title from stamp on verso., Purchase 2001., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., Digitized.
Date: [ca. 1880]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department trade card - Varnum [P.9984.1]

Title: B.M. Weld, drugs & medicines, also boots, shoes, slippers, etc. Bradford, Vermont
Description: Series of three illustrated trade cards promoting druggist B.M. Weld. Depicts a white child raising the American flag on a flag pole; a framed image of two men walking beside a house under the moonlight superimposed onto a spray of flowers; and an African American man, portrayed in racist caricature and attired in a white collared shirt, a green bowtie, and a blue jacket, who leans over the folded signboard containing the title, and dangles a red suit for a monkey, which sits in the lower right corner holding a red cap in its hand., Title from item., Date inferred from dates of operation of business., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., Gift of William H. Helfand, 2000., 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. 1875]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Helfand Patent Medicine Trade Card Collection - Pharmacists - W [P.9828.7053-7055]

Title: Cartes de visite reproductions of "Campaign Sketches"
Description: Series of reproductions of lithographs of military life "sketched on the spot" by Homer and originally published by L. Prang & Co. in 1863. Includes "A Pastime," "The Coffee Call", and "Our Jolly Cook" showing white men soldiers gathered around camp fires to play cards; get coffee; and watch the African American man camp hand, portrayed as a racist caricature, dance. Also shows white men soldiers "Foraging" as they round up a cow on a homestead; the "Baggage Train" with two African American camp hands on the back of a conestoga wagon; and "The Letter for Home" showing a white woman volunteer assist an injured white man soldier in the hospital to write a letter., Title and date based on the L. Prang & Co. publication in 1863., Three of the images signed by artist: Homer del., Created postfreeze., Originally part of a McAllister scrapbook of humorous caricatures and photographs. McAllister Collection, gift, 1886., Original lithographs described in Katherine McClinton's The chromolithographs of Louis Prang (New York, C. N. Potter distributed by Crown Publishers, 1973), p. 144-147., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Digitized by Alexander Street Press for Images of the American Civil War.
Date: [ca. 1863]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department cdv - miscellaneous - Civil War - Homer - Caricatures & cartoons - Homer [5780.F.52i; 53b, d, g, i & n]

Title: Northern coat of arms
Description: Racist cartoon expressing anti-abolitionist sentiment within the North by depicting a "Northern Coat of Arms," in which only the rights of African Americans are represented. Depicts a Phrygian cap from which an African American man's large feet protrude. The cap, inscribed "Liberty," is adorned with the American symbols of stars and the eagle with an arrow and olive branches., Title from item., Date from copyright statement: Entered according to act of Congress in the year 1864 by j.E. Cutler in the clerk's office of the district court of the dist. of Mass., Series no. printed on recto: 159., Probably drawn by Joseph E. Baker, Boston., Accessioned 1979., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Digitized by Alexander Street Press for Images of the American Civil War., 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 Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Date: 1864
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1864-36R [P.2275.4]

Title: Customer. "Rather cool weather Pete, for a close crop like that." Pete. "Can't help it Boss---the proprietor says long hairs gits in de wittles."
Description: Reproduction of a drawing of a racist, comic scene showing an African American waiter serving a bearded, white man seated at a restaurant table. The African American waiter is depicted with exaggerated features, including an oblong-shaped head. He wears a black suit, a white shirt with a high collar, and an apron around his waist. The waiter stands beside the table that is covered in a tablecloth. He rests his left hand on it and holds a bowl of soup on a saucer in his right. The customer, attired in a tuxedo, rests his left arm near a pitcher, glass, napkin and condiment display on the table. In the background, a bald man, sits and eats at a nearby table. Paneling adorns the walls of the restaurant on which the morphed shadow of the waiter is visible., Title printed on negative., Yellow mount with curved corners., Date inferred from attire of depicted figures., Gift of David Long., RVCDC, Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022.
Date: [ca. 1880]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department stereo - unid. photo - Portraits & Genre [P.2018.16.8]

Title: Machinist.
Description: The machinist holds a hammer and pushes against a brace., Text: In the shop there's none so smart as you / At mending a boiler or making a screw. / Where is your means of supporting a wife, / And supplying her wants throughout her life? / Your wages are small, every one knows / The principal part to the port-house goes! / Faint hope to gain a woman's heart, / By one so well known as thou art., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
Date: [between 1840 and 1880?]

Title: Savage by nature, and savage by looks,
Description: The valentine shows a darkened man with facial hair, yellow legs that may be socks, and caucasian features. He wears a red loin cloth and carries a small ax. Nena Sahib played a prominent role in the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857, and the valentine uses racist and Orientalist references to critique the recipient's behavior and appearance., Text: Savage by nature, and savage by looks, / You scare chambermaids and frighten the cooks. / What a fate is hers that is linked to thine! / I'd rather have Nena Sahib for my Valentine., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
Date: [not before 1857]

Title: A Light Cavalryman.
Description: The cavalryman sits on a much smaller horse and holds his sword out in front of him. The valentine mocks his gluttony., Text: With sword just like a carving knife / As I'm a living sinner / You look just like a hungry man / A charging on good dinner., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
Date: [1861-1865?]

Title: Vain Old Fool.
Description: A man is a bird, and a woman is a fish. He opens his beak over her head. The valentine mocks the recipient for trying to marry a younger woman., Text: No fool like an old fool. O! for shame; / Pretending to feel love's hold flame; / The ladies laugh at your ogling eyes, / And shut their ears to your pumped up sighs., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
Date: [between 1840 and 1880?]

Title: An Old Granny.
Description: The valentine shows an old man wearing sleeping clothes and a headscarf. A bowl marked "gruel" is on the table behind him, and he stands near a pile of bedding. The term "granny" mocks the recipient for being both old and effeminate, and the sender ridicules the recipient for thinking he can find a young wife., Text: Gouty and toothless, one foot in the grave, / You would like a young wife to make her a slave; / If you've luck you may get one, and if so, so be it -- / But for me, my dear granny, I can not see it., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
Date: [between 1840 and 1880?]

Title: [Frederick A. Rex & Co. trade cards]
Description: Series of illustrated trade cards promoting coffee manufacturer Frederick A. Rex & Co. and depicting a fox leaping to grab grapes in its mouth from a vine running along the top of a tall stone wall. Racist trade card titled "An absorbing subject" and depicting a caricature an African American man lying on top of a barrel and drinking from it with a straw. Shows the barefooted man, portrayed with exaggerated features, and attired in a straw hat, a striped shirt with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows, and patched and torn pants. He lies straddling on top of a wooden barrel and rests his head in his hands. He closes his eyes as he drinks from a straw through a hole in the barrel. The barrel has a label pasted on it and is marked “XXX.” In the foreground, a painter’s palette leans against the front of the barrel. Frederick A. Rex (1850-1916) founded the Frederick A. Rex Company in the 1880s which manufactured coffee and tea. The firm had an office in Philadelphia and a mill in Camden, N.J., Title supplied by cataloger., One print [P.9651.20] copyrighted 1881 by Geo. M. Hayes., One print [P.9651.20] contains advertising text printed on verso promoting "Peerless Coffee," the finest coffee sold, roasted and packed by Fred'k A. Rex & Co., 39 North Front St., Philadelphia, with mills in Camden, New Jersey., Purchase 1999, 2001., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., Digitized.
Date: [ca. 1881]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department trade card - Rex [P.9651.20 & P.9984.2]

Title: H. Jahke, wholesale & retail dealer in all descriptions of fresh & salt pork, hams, lard, tongues, &c. 130, 131, 132 & 133 Nineteenth St. market, residence, cor. Baring & Sloan Sts., West Phila
Description: Racist, trade card promoting butcher John Henry Jahke and depicting a caricature of an African American man on mule-drawn plow. Shows the African American man, attired in a hat and a blue, plaid jacket and pants, sitting on top of a plow. He holds the lever to the plow in his right hand and the reins to the mule pulling the plow in his left hand. The mule is kicking its back legs into the air because three pigs are running around it. Trees are visible in the background. John Henry Jahke (1835-1919) was a prominent butcher who owned a slaughtering and packing plant in West Philadelphia on Baring and Sloan Streets., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., Gift of Emily Phillips, 1883., Digitized., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021.
Date: [ca. 1875]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department trade card - Jahke [P.9766]

Title: The eureka poisoned fly-plate will kill every fly in the house
Description: Trade card promoting Eureka Fly Plate Co. and depicting an African American man, portrayed in racist caricature, observing the fly plate kill a swarm of flies. The man, attired in a white collared shirt, a red jacket, and blue pants, stands holding a broom, which he uses to sweep dead flies from the table in the left. On the table is the fly plate that fills with flies. Above the table is a window., Title from item., Gift of Emily Phillips, 1883., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., Digitized.
Date: [ca. 1885]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department trade card - Eureka [1975.F.294]

Title: [Armand Dalsemer trade cards]
Description: Series of illustrated trade cards for Armand Dalsemer's "fine shoes" and "common sense shoes" at 136 North Eighth Street in Philadelphia. Illustrations depict a grinning African American man, portrayed in racist caricature, standing in an open window holding a newspaper labeled "The American Citizen"; a cherub sitting on a lily pad in a lily pond; and a portrait of a little girl wearing a bonnet., Title supplied by cataloger., Printers and engravers include Sunshine Publishing Company (Philadelphia) and Leon Meyers, 29 S. Liberty St., Gift of Emily Phillips, 1883., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., Digitized.
Date: [ca. 1880]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department trade card - Dalsemer [1975.F.15; 1975.F.19; 1975.F.286]

Title: He dreamt dat from away off thar de angels sent him news. He 'woke and found it was Dunbarr dat sent dem bully shoes; 60 N. Fourth St. Philadelphia
Description: Racist, satiric trade card depicting an African American man, portrayed in racist caricature and attired in a straw hat, a white collared shirt, pants with patches at the knee, and old shoes, sleeping with his back resting against a haystack in a field. A rifle is propped on the haystack beside him. An African American angel with wings flies toward the sleeping man with a pair of boots in his outstretched right hand. In the background is a scarecrow. Text printed on the recto describing the scene is written in the vernacular. Burns & Zeigler succeeded the firm of Geo. S. Clogg & Son in 1875., Title from item., Date inferred from dates of operation of business., Contains advertising text printed on verso: E. L. Burns. F. T. Zeigler. Burns & Zeigler, dealers in fashionable boots and shoes, No. 1109 Pennsylvania Avenue, betw. Eleventh and Twelfth Sts., Washington, D.C. F. Lisiewski & Co., prs., 639 Arch St., Gift of Emily Phillips, 1883., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., Digitized.
Creator: Donaldson Brothers (Firm)
Date: [ca. 1875]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department trade card - Burns & Zeigler [1975.F.33]

Title: [Proofs from specimen album loose prints collection]
Description: Contains proofs, primarily of advertising vignettes, depicting views of factories and storefronts predominantly in Ohio. Businesses depicted include manufacturers of saddlery hardware, "burial cases," sewing machines, and glass; dealers of liquor, dairy supplies, wallpaper and painter supplies; and engravers, printers, and lithographers. Vignettes often include street and pedestrian traffic. Prints also show portraits of men, women, and children; genre and satiric scenes, including the stereotype character "Uncle Remus" (portrayed in racist caricature) designed for trade cards; pictorial and border details designed for certificates, labels, and billheads; machinery and transportation vehicles; trademarks and seals; and a rocking chair. Series also contains a reward of merit designed as a stock certificate and an uncut sheet of six illustrations titled in German. Illustrations primarily depict historical and religious scenes, including the conversion of Saint Eustace., Title supplied by cataloger., Various printers, including H.J. Toudy & Co. and W.J. Morgan & Co., Originally part of Specimens Album [P.9349]., Gift of Margaret Robinson, 1991., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., Added to African Americana Digital Collection 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. 1860-ca. 1882]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Specimens Album Loose Prints Collection - Proofs [P.9349.296, 308, 320, 339, 342, 344-347, 349, 351-353, 360, 365, 416, 419, 427-430, 443, 445]

Title: Franks Dining Room, for ladies and gents, open day and night, 216 N. Ninth St., Phila
Description: Racist trade card promoting the restaurant of Frank Tiefenthaler and depicting an African American man, portrayed in caricature with grotesque facial features. Shows the man, portrayed with a blank stare and attired in a striped, long-sleeved shirt, eating from several stacked bowls of "mush." He holds a spoonful of porridge close to his open mouth from within a wooden pantry. Illustration also shows the open door to the pantry. Tiefenthaler began to operate his restaurant from 216 North 9th Street in 1884. Tiefenthaler died in 1934 retired from business, but was listed in city directories as operating a dining room through the early 1920s., Title from item., Date inferred from dates of operation of advertised business., Printed above image: "Mush-Room.", Printed in blue., Purchased with funds for the Visual Culture Program., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021.
Date: [ca. 1885]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department trade cards - F [P.2015.35.2]

Title: Mechanical target and gun. Mutual Novelty Manufacturing Co., 813 Girard Ave., Philadelphia, Pa
Description: Illustrated flier for "comic head" mechanical target issued by the Mutual Novelty Manufacturing Company. Contains image of target (Patented Aug 28 1877), which includes the racist, comic head of an African American clown, portrayed in caricature with a slack jaw and grotesque features, and pictorial details of the "Target Arrow" (Pat. Sep. 5 1876). Flier also contains vignette of "Toy Target Arrow For Boys and Girls." Shows a child's hand pulling the arrow through an egg-shaped barrel. Vignette surrounded by advertising text reading "Throws the Arrow very accurately, and affords hours of amusement for both young and old. Made of hard wood, finely polished, beautifully colored. Price, per gross, $35.00 nett. Sample, by mail, 50 cts." Mutual Novelty Manufacturing Co. operated until at the least the 1920s., Title from item., Date inferred from content., Several lines of advertising text printed below image explicating the size, construction, price, and shipping of toy, and advertising potential of "Target and Envelope." Text also includes the solicitation that "Agents can earn over $30,000 weekly, and Canvassers from house to house more than $3.00 daily, selling our different Novelties. We would like to make you an Agent, and if you send out Sub Agents you can make upwards of $2,000 yearly.", Purchased with funds from the Walter J. Miller Trust for the Visual Culture Program., 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 Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Date: [ca. 1877]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Ph Pr - 8x10 - Advertisements - M [P.2013.36.4]

Title: A new song suitable to the season, to the tune of good English beer
Description: A cartoon supporting the Old Ticket Party of Pennsylvania which advocated a conversion from a proprietary government to a royal colony. Depicts well-to-do Philadelphians in a tavern drinking and singing "Huzza Old ticket, Old Ticket Forever." An African American server serves the men as he states in patois his support of the Old Ticket. As the devil exits the tavern, he indicates his support for the New Ticket Party which supported the existing proprietary government. Contains an electioneering song of six verses from which the depicted Philadelphians sing verses. The tavern was often used as a place to canvass election support and treat voters., Place and date of publication supplied by Evans., Possibly the work of Henry Dawkins., 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., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021.
Date: [1765]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons -[1765] - New [959.F.87a]

Title: The results of abolitionism!
Description: Cartoon reflecting the fear among Northern white workers of job competition with free African Americans. Depicts African American men bricklayers, portrayed in racist caricature and speaking in vernacular, on a construction site giving orders to white laborers in a reversal of roles. The laborers work on a large multi-storied brick building fronted by scaffolding and a ladder. The African American supervisors hold trowels and stand at the top of the scaffolding. They hurl orders and abuse at white workers exclaiming: "Bring up the mortar you white rascals" and "You bog-trotters, come along with them bricks." An African American man standing on the ground, attired as a dandy, exclaims, "White man hurry up them bricks." A white man climbs the ladder and two white men work on the ground shoveling and picking up bricks. Another white man stands and says, "Sambo hurry up the white laborers.", Title from item., Date inferred from content., Originally part of American political caricatures, likely a scrapbook, accessioned 1899. Collection primarily comprised of gifts from Samuel Breck, John A. McAllister, and James Rush., 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.
Date: [ca. 1835]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *Political Cartoons - 1835 - Res [5780.F.1]

Title: I take it on my responsibility
Description: Cartoon critical of Andrew Jackson's decision to discontinue federal deposits to the Bank of the United States and his denial that his informal circle of close advisors, known as the "Kitchen Cabinet," influenced his decision. Depicts Jackson pinned to a column at the top of the stairs of the bank as he and other white men are being drenched by white men wielding fire hoses, one labeled "United States," in the street. Near Jackson, a kettle boils, fueled by burning papers labeled "Constitution" and "Globe," the pro-Jackson newspaper. Behind him several men, one labeled "K.C.," are involved in altercations. Other men run down the steps, one colliding with an African American man carrying barrels. In the street, a rotund white man, attired in a military uniform, observes the soaking of Jackson with delight while two other white men appear to be coming to Jackson's aid., Title from item., Date of publication supplied by Weitenkampf., Originally part of American political caricatures, likely a scrapbook, accessioned 1899. Collection primarily comprised of gifts from Samuel Breck, John A. McAllister, and James Rush., 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.
Date: [1834]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1834-12W [5760.F.57]

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