Die-cut scrap depicting a racist caricature of an African American woman playing the harp. Shows the woman attired in a white headband with her hair tied atop her head, a yellow dress with a white collar and decorated with blue ribbons, red earrings, green gloves, and blue dress shoes. She is seated and smiles as her fingers pluck the strings of the harp., Title supplied by cataloger., Date deduced from the visual content., Gift of David Doret.
Date
[ca. 1890]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Goldman Trade Card Collection - Scraps - Scrap 28 [P.2017.95.280]
Circular shaped scrap depicting a racist caricature an African American woman with gold earrings. Shows the bust-length portrait of the woman facing to the right. She is attired in an orange and red striped shirt with a white collared shirt underneath it, a gold pin or button in the center of the collar, and gold hoop earrings., Title supplied from cataloger., Date deduced from the visual content., Gift of David Doret.
Date
[ca. 1890]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Goldman Trade Card Collection - Scraps - Scrap 10 [P.2017.95.263]
Racist trade card illustration depicting an African American woman walking her dog. The woman is attired in an elaborate feathered wide-brimmed top hat, a form-fitting jacket with a ruffled collar, a long skirt, petticoat, and boots. The woman holds an umbrella in her right hand and her dog's leash in her left. The dog appears to urinate behind a pole. The woman is depicted with exaggerated features. J.T. Fritch was a businessman based in Kurtztown, Pennsylvania who was trained as a printer, became a cigar manufacturer and dealer, and embarked on several other business ventures during the late 19th and early 20th centuries., Title from item., Printed in blue ink., Gift of David Doret.
Date
[ca. 1880]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Goldman Trade Card Collection - Tobacco [P.2017.95.176]
Racist trade card illustration depicting an interior scene with two African American women, a toddler, and a cat. One woman, who is thin and gaunt, stands and is attired in a long dark colored robe, a shawl, a head scarf, and shoes. The other woman, who is larger, is seated in a rocking chair and attired in a long sleeved dress, an apron with a star pattern, a headwrap, and shoes. The toddler is seated on the floor in the background. A broken chair and framed picture of a person kneeling are visible in the background of the image. A cat is seated on the floor in the foreground. All of the African Americans in the illustration are depicted with exaggerated features., Title from item., Text printed on recto: "Aunty Fat, and Auntie Lean.", List of firm's branches printed on verso., Gift of David Doret.
Date
[ca. 1880]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Goldman Trade Card Collection - Union [P.2017.95.178]
Racist mechanical, fold-out advertisement for black enamel depicting a caricature of an African American mammy figure "Dinah" on the exterior. The figure is portrayed with a red headwrap, red hoop earrings, and exaggerated features. The interior of the advertisement includes the caricature as the illustration of the "I'se Dinah Black" trademark in the center of the print. Several vignette images depicting various tools and appliances, including a radiator, iron fence, pencil sharpener, heater, and shears border the logo and advertising text. Maloney Oil & Manufacturing was established by Martin Maloney in Scranton, PA in 1874. He started the firm with profits from an earlier grocery business. Standard Oil Company acquired Maloney Oil in 1929., Title from item., Printed on recto: Printed in U.S.A. No. K46., Date inferred from content and dates of operation of business advertised., Distributor's imprint stamped on back of fold out: Maloney Oil & Mfg. Co. 141 Meridian St. Scranton, PA., Advertising text printed on back of fold out: Made by the makers of Kyanize - It's Good., Advertising text printed on inner panels of fold out: Use Anywhere. Stovepipe Rusty! That looks slack. Refine it with Dinah Black. When passing children scar the fence, Get Dinah Black for thirty cents. For Heaters, Farm Tools, Implements, Dinah Black is just immense! To make old engines glow with pride Dinah Black serves far and wide. Outdoor iron rusts with ease, So Dinah Black it, if you please. Shears and shovels, plows and carts, Dinah Black keeps bright their parts. Indoors, outdoors; high or low Dinah Black will make things glow. No benzine - small chance of fires - that's Dinah Black all over. Buyers. Only the name and label is improved - we couldn't improve the product, which is the same as we sold before under the name, Black Dazzle and made according to our own secret formula. The same old reliable black enamel for stove pipes, heaters, and al wood and iron work, indoors or out. On with ease and dry in a day. The Good Black Enamel On Anything., Gift of David Doret.
Date
[ca. 1920]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Goldman Trade Card Collection - Maloney [P.2017.95.114]
Racist trade card depicting a view personifying cotton as a young African American woman. Shows the woman dancing with a large ball of cotton atop her head worn in the manner of a head dress. The woman leans to her left and kicks her right leg up as she pulls up the bottom of the skirt of her dress. The edge of her underskirt is visible. She is attired in a yellow dress patterned with black dots, a white kerchief tied around her neck, a red and white striped underskirt, and black shoes. Forestry is visible in the background. C. Meyer Jr. was a New York based fertilizer manufacturer who operated in the late 19th century., Title from item., Publication information from copyright statement: Copyright 1886. L.P. Griffith & Co. Baltimore., Advertising text printed on verso: The "Acme" Fertilizers Are Strictly Complete Manures of the Highest Grade, Guaranteed Bone Basis. Positively No Rock or Kainite Used. Guaranteed Analyses. Manufactured by C. Meyer, Jr., P.O. Box 26, Maspeth, L.I. Pure Ground Bone. Sulphate of Potash. Muriate of Potash. Dissolved Bone Black. Sulfate of Ammonia. Text surrounds table listing suitable grade (No. 1 and No. 2) of manure for specific crops, including potatoes, peas, cabbage, and corn, and the percentages of ammonia, available phosphorous acid, and actual potash of the grade of fertilizer., Gift of David Doret.
Date
1886
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Goldman Trade Card Collection - Meyer [P.2017.95.125]
The belle's dress is bell-shaped. She carries a parasol. The valentine uses slang, and it emphasizes that the belle is very talkative and uses such slang., Text: My parents named me Is-a-bel, / And fashion says I be a belle; / My clatt'ring tongue thumpbump pell-mell, / The same to every ear will tell; / Now see my flounces cut a swell, / Now hear the jingle, ding, dong, bell., Cf. Valentine 8.37 and Valentine 12.34., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A girl sits holding a book marked "grammar." A picture of a man is tucked inside of the book., Text: Spell Cat, my chubby little imp -- / "M A N, Cat," replied the girl -- / Thus, just as soon as they can limp, / Their thoughts, like flowers, to love impart., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A child's nurse holds an infant, and a young boy stands next to her and waves. She wears an apron, bonnet, and dress, and she sticks out her tongue., Text: A gay jolly soldier I always delight in, / He's ready for dancing, or singing, or fighting; / But when ladies essay it, I firmly decline, / As I see you have joined the infant-ry line., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A woman has devil horns and a tail, and her face and hair are blackened. She points to a fire., Text: Faces may be fair and round, / Tongues may be soft and clear; / But hearts when black, unmask'd are found / As I have pictur'd here., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
The valentine shows a woman sewing a dress. Both the woman's dress and the one she sews have red bodices and yellow skirts, but the one she sews has a lower neckline and shorter sleeves. The sender mocks the recipient for her status as a single woman., Text: My ugly old maid, how sad is your lot, / To work on some fine wedding gown, / And know all the while, live as long as you may, / You'll never have one of your own., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A woman wears a tapered, bustled, ruffled skirt that forces her to bend forward in the Grecian Bend. She holds a small parasol and wears a hat. The valentine mocks the recipient for thinking her fashionable dress is attractive to men. The Grecian Bend style of bustle became popular after 1869., Text: A slave to Fashion's tyrant laws, / You court each silly fop's applause; / Did you but know what I can see, / How shocked, I fancy, you would be. / You will, I hope, leave off this style, / Your dress provokes a pitying smile., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
The woman has a snake's body and a pointed tongue., Text: Deceitful reptile! vain thy every art-- / To captivate my eye, or charm my heart; / For even change your skin, you'd be, at last, / Nought but what now you are-- a snake in the grass., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A woman walks her small black dog. She wears an ornate gown, a flowered bonnet, and eyeglasses., Text: With the most ugly of all faces, Go on, and mimic all the graces: / How can you think, when in the street, The laughing, giggling men you meet, / That every laugh is but a smile, And that they love you all the while? / Good-bye, old maid-- without a clog, Go through the mud-heaps with your dog; / I don't know which I like the least, You or your dirty little beast., 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 stands with her face turned up. She wears a hat with a hairnet. "Saucy jade" is a derogatory term for spirited women, and the valentine suggests that the recipient is playfully bold to hide her lack of intelligence and education., Text: Oft ignorance hides want of learning and sense, / With a mask and a cloak of bold impudence; / And never more fully has this been essayed, / Than it is in your case, you most saucy jade., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A woman reads a sign that says " INTELI- / GENCE/ OFFICE." She holds an umbrella and circle of rope. A young man thumbs his nose behind her. The phrase "not to know B from a bull's foot" means to be completely illiterate., Text: Verdant damsel, jolly green! / Never was a simpler seen; / B from Bull's foot scarce you know, / Yet you think to catch a beau., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A large-nosed woman wears a large gown with petal-like furbelows. She holds a nosegay and walks a small dog., Text: The flower of your sex; O! yes indeed! / A flower already gone to seed, / And yet I will be prompt to say, / That you display a real nosegay., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
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 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 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.
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 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.
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 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.
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 Boarding House Landlady has pointed teeth, a hooked nose, and grimaces. She holds a long bill marked "Board bill" and points to trunk marked "SAM." Behind her is a sign that reads "Boarding." She wears an apron, bonnet, and red shawl., Text: Behold yourself! Mistress of Starvation Hall, / Whose beds are like boards-- as hard as a wall; / You who stint your poor boarders of what's on the table, / And make your bill as long as ever your able., 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 large woman in bed holds her arms up and yawns., Text: My pretty maid, to me it seems, / You're always in the land of dreams; / Take my advice and never wed -- / Your mate should be a feather bed., 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 valentine depicts a woman sewing a pair of breeches with a pile of completed breeches next to her. 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: Hard is thy lot, my honey dear / On soldier's pantaloons aye working, / And yet this thought is so funny, dear, / Within my wicked mind is lurking / Far fitter you than cannon balls / Breaches to make in fortress walls., 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.
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.
The woman bookworker holds a bone folder, a polished bone tool for creasing paper. A stack of papers lies near her hand, and a press is visible in the background. A cover sheet is on the table that reads " Elton's Alnanac [i.e., Almanac]." In the text, "calf" refers to a calf-skin binding., Text: No paper token, "lovely dear," / Could please you half so well, / As the signatures and folios / Of some young and brainless swell,-- / And if the wish'd for hour shall come, / I venture to opine, / You'll have a work full bound in calf, / For your dear Valentine., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
The "beauty of Ireland" wears a shawl and a ribbon in her hair, and her dress reveals her chest. She has pointed facial features and smiles. "Mavourneen" is an Irish term for "my darling," and the verse mocks Irish accents., Text: Och, you're a beauty, mavourneen, my darlin'! / That swate Irish brogue, too, as thick as my ar-r-m; / Faith, when I see yez, I cannot help calling, / "St. Patrick presarve me, and kape me from har-r-m!", Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A bride is depicted as a cat, and the groom as a rat. The bride holds an envelope marked "Mr. & Mrs." Both are dressed formally; he wears a top-hat, and she wears a gown with a hoop skirt and a bonnet. 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: Pussy, when the rat she catches, / Smooths him down with velvet paw, / Then for change his hide she scratches / With her curved relentless claw. / So it is in wedlock's matches, / Beauty leads us like a straw, / Till she's got us "under hatches" -- / Then look out for Pussy's law!, Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A woman with a long, shaded nose looks in the mirror on a bureau. She wears a dress with a bustle. The image in the mirror has less shading and exaggeration, suggesting that the woman's admiration of herself is deluded. Bustles became popular after 1869., Text: There was never a woman old fashion or ugly, / But what thought she possessed every beauty and grace, / And you're no exception, but as none else can see them, / You're compelled to admire yourself in the glass., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A woman has devil-like horns, tail, and a blackened face. The sender criticizes the recipient for critcal speech., Text: Once women, I thought, were angels bright, / But that was when I was so very young; / Your actions have given me a clearer sight, / I find a she devil with blistering tongue., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A woman wears a gown that reveals her long feet and ankles. She holds a fan., Text: What though in silks and lace you shine, / And though with care are painted! / I never wish'd to make you mine, / Since first we were acquainted!, Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A woman's very long tongue encircles her body. It reads: "You ought to hear all I've got to say! You'd open your eyes!" The valentine satirizes women who gossip., Text: Of all the evils flesh is heir to, / A long tongued woman is the worst to swear to; / What with scandal and story, and malice and wrong, / She keeps the lie moving all the year long. / Never so happy as when her words wound-- / Never so unhappy as when the truth is found: / May my fate ne'er be cursed by such a tongue as thine! / I'd rather have a blast furnace to be my Valentine., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
The valentine shows the head and shoulders of a woman in a pink, green, and yellow gown., Text: My widow you're like an old shoe, / That in its short life has ill fared; / And like it now when left all alone, / To be useful you must be re-paired., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
The Irish woman holds a broom, smokes a pipe, and stands by a pig. She wears a pink and yellow dress. 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 5.22., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
The grandmother wears a poke-bonnet and shawl. The valentine mocks older women who pursue younger men., Text: I'm a lonely Grandmother, / And want a young beau, / To nurse and caress me / As older I grow., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A woman's figure has two heads. One is smiling and says "My love to you, dear ," while the other has a forked tongue and says "Bad luck to the wretch." The text translates roughly to: "Cheers, Sir. Oh, how polite, to indulge us with the privilege of your presence, if I see the man I'd like to stick a pincer in his guts." The valentine suggests the recipient's words mask malicious intentions., Translation: "Cheers, Sir. Oh, how polite, to indulge us with the privilege of your presence, if I see the man I'd like to stick a pincer in his guts.", Text: Wohl bekomm’s mein Herr / Ach, wie artig, uns die Ehre / Ihres Besuches zu gönnen, / Wenn ich den Menschen sehe / Möcht icht eine glückende Zange / In seine Eingeweiden umkehren., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
