A tall, thin women holds a fan. "Long shanks" is slang for "long legs," and the valentine mocks the recipient's height., Text: At length my love appears a-long, / So long I do aver; / Her passion towers --and I'd be wrong / Should I a-spire like her., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A woman frowns and has a thin, wrinkled face. She wears a gown with a full skirt with furbelows and a very thin waistline. She sits on a sofa and rest her face on her hand; the object near her face is possibly a handkerchief. The valentine suggests that the recipient expected matrimony, but was disappointed., Text: Counting chickens ere their hatching / You found fatal to your matching; / Disappointed, now you linger, / Scored by Time's unsparing finger., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A woman stands with her hands on her hips and her nose turned up. She flexes her right arm. The woman has pox marks on her cheek. The valentine possibly alludes to sexually transmitted diseases., Text: See what results from passion vile! / Look on this face, what ravage! / Let those beware, who would defile / Their natures like this savage., Cf. Valentine 9.47., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
The valentine shows a large central female figure, the coquette, and two men standing behind her. She smiles and holds her hands out. The valentine condemns female flirtation and suggests that the outcome will not be marriage., Text: Vain, silly coquette, whose only employ / Is fond loving hearts to offend; / Beware, or ere long the enjoyment will cloy, / And you'll die an old maid in the end., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
An older woman sits reading to three small children. The text suggests that she vents her frustrations at being unmarried on the children., Text: Deserted old damsel, so prim and demure, / You have lost all your hopes for a husband at last; / When you refused, and you now must endure, / Your old maidish thoughts and regrets for the past. / Sour tempered old dame whose only delight, / Is to tease the poor children who are put in your care; / On them vent your spleen if they are not quite right, / And to vex and annoy them as much as you dare., Provenance: Helfand, William H..
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 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 wrinkled woman holds a parasol and tilts her head up. The sender criticizes the recipient's fear of marriage and threatens that she will be damned., Text: My wrinkled old maid, who to wed is afraid, / And therefore, unmarried will stick; / At the end of your days if you don't mend your ways, / You're sure to be caught by Old Nick., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A woman in an ornate gown walks her small black dog., Text: You are my darling; don't I know / Why you are ogling ev'ry beau; / But all in vain, for who would be / Led like a puppy tied to thee., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
The "daughter of the D---" holds a broom in one hand and a set of large tongs in the other. Her hair is wiry, and her face is pointed with lizard-like tongue and sharp teeth., Text: If all God e'er made was good, / Some things like you we find most evil; / And we must think, at least we should, / That you're the offspring of the D----., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A woman holds a tea pot over her head to throw it., Text: In Hymen's noose to hang myself, / My earnest only wish is, / But I'd ne'er wed one who when mad, / Would break my head and dishes., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A woman holds a whip and stands over a fallen man. Her hair forms horns., Text: You ugly, cross and wrinkled shrew, / You advocate of woman's rights, / No man on earth would live you, / For fear of endless fights., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A woman sits in a chair and holds a handkerchief., Text: Pray clear thy brow of clouds and care, / And banish Melancholy, / Or you will find when 'tis too late, / That all of it was folly., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A woman stands next to her bed and holds up a blanket. Her low-cut gown reveals part of her breasts, and her crinoline tilts back to reveal her petticoats. The sender rejects the recipient, and the valentine connects lazy women with immodesty., Text: Crawling out at ten o'clock, / Hurry girl, put on your frock / You're a sleepy head I see, / So you'll never do for me., Cf. Valentine 3.39., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A woman points her nose up and holds a small parasol. The valentine mocks the recipient for being a social climber., Text: Just as a mushroom from a bed / Of marshy vileness rears its head, / Distilling poison to the touch, / So you appear, and worth as much., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
The valentine shows two fashionable women holding hands. They wear gowns and have upturned noses. The valentine condemns the women for their slander, gossip, and spleen [i.e., their ill temper]., Text: Envenomed, tattling, mischievous souls, / Whose breath with slander onward rolls, / Your tongues keep going like a bell, / But never knew the truth to tell. / The purer the mark, the bolder your attack, / And always deceitful behind one's back; / On all you vent your spleen and ire, / Your home should be "the place of fire.", Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
An unwashed woman stands amongst animals, including a nursing dog and a cat who has killed a chicken. In the text, "slut" means "messy.", Text: One animal there is, always in disgrace, / Who cannot look you squarely in the face. / One class of women. too, ought to be cut, / And you are one of them I mean, a slut. / In this there's truth in every line, / And more than that, I'll find another. / Valentine., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A woman in a gown smiles. The valentine mocks her brazeness and suggests that she unsuccessfully uses it to hide her lack of intelligence and feeling., Text: Your knowing wink and brazen stare, / Are just the signs that do declare, / (Howe'er you think conceal'd by art,) / An empty head and callous heart., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A woman wears a dress with furbelows and a bustle. The valentine suggests that she is not a beauty, but attracts male attention when she is the only woman out at night. Bustles became popular after 1869., Text: O! you are the handsomest---all the beaux swear / That for beauty you top the heap; / I think you so too when you're taking the air, And all the rest are asleep., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
The coquette is surrounded by four men. One has a hunchback, two have large noses, and the final one is balding. The female figure is larger and more brightly colored than the men. She wear a gown and small cap. The shadowy figure of a dog looks on., Text: Lizard-hearted, sly coquette, / Never pleased but with a set / Of winking fools about your feet, / Swearing your sour breath is sweet. / Casting each one off in turn, / Until at last, for all you burn; / In wrinkles in contempt you'll pine, / And like a lone cat longing whine., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
The valentine shows a woman standing in profile. The sender suggests that the recipient enjoys the company of men despite her assertions otherwise., Text: We often hear you say, you hate the men-- / You mean you hate them out of sight; / For when they're in your company -- Oh! then / Your soul is filled with rapture and delight., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A woman sits in a tree holding a fishing pole. Men swim in the water in front of her., , Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A woman sits in front of a counter with bolts of fabric on it. She wears a bonnet, shawl, and dress with furbelows. A clerk holds up fabric behind the counter. The valentine urges the woman to restrain her spending., Text: Vain, prodigal woman, in jewels and dress, / Your delight is your money to spend, / But remember this, though your purse may be long, / It sometime must come to an end., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
The valentine shows a woman with an enlongated tongue. She holds out her finger in a chiding gesture. The sender condemns the recipient for her gossiping., Text: Hence, babbling, brawling soul of evil, / Hence to thy chosen friend, the devil; / Forever chattering, scandal-raking, / Slanders and lies, and mischief-making, / Go, long tongue, go, most hateful, woman, / Thou disagreeable friend of no man: / Such ugly mugs, I'm sure, as thine, / Will never gain a Valentine., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
The wide-eyed woman grins and wears a bonnet, gown, and coat. The valentine criticizes young women who show affection for too many men too frequently. The valentine possibly connects her enthusiasm with promiscuity., Text: I never like to see a pretty miss / Love everything she meets with breeches on; / And thinks herself possessed of every bliss, / To sport with each new beau she pitches on., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
The bashful girl wears a ribbon in her hair. Her face is hidden by a yellow fan, and her eyes are downcast. She stands in front of a yellow settee. 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: Nay, cast not thy sweet eyes down, my dear, / 'Tis cruel of you thus to act; / Be they black, be they blue, be they hazel clear, / I should like to establish the fact. / But if your eyes you thus will drop, / To pick them up I cannot stop., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
The milliner wears a ball gown and an exaggeratedly large hat., Text: I am a young Milliner, / Setting my cap, / In hopes it may catch me / Some pretty young chap., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A woman looks at a cap that she holds. Behind her is another woman who wears a similar cap., Text: Cap-maker, at your task you sit, / Wond'ring what head your cap will fit, / And if the locks that round it twine, / May ornament your Valentine. / Ply your trade with industry, / And 'tis possible there'll be, / Of the men your caps will cover, / Some poor fool to be your lover., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A woman who stands with her arms folded. Her dress reveals much of her breasts. Her face is heavily shaded with thick eyebrows and dark hair., Text: No paint, nor powder, needs that skin of thine / Shroud not thy beauty in goods of cost, / For only know, my beat'ous Valentine, / Beauty, when unadorned's adorned the most., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
The valentine shows a woman with two faces. One has an overbite and closed mouth, and the other has an open mouth. The side with an open mouth makes a gesture with a fist. The text refers to the figure as a polecat [i.e., a skunk]., Text: Now, mother, Double Face, look here. / Upon your likeness, now, my dear, / Janus himself might claim the prise, / For venom, in those goggle eyes. / Base bred, base born, deceitful creature, / There's villainy in every feature: / Go, Polecat, go, thy sight I hate, / Thy visage sour and addled pate., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A woman wears a gown with a red bodice and yellow skirt with furbelows. She holds up her hand and points her finger. The valentine criticizes the woman for her mean-spirited envy of others., Text: Who cannot look pleased at her neighbor's good, / But devours in secret the bitter food / That lean-faced detraction spreads on her board, / Will be marked out herself to be abhor'd!, Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A stern woman wears boxing gloves. "Ruff" means passion or excitment as a well as a collar. 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"]. The valentine suggests that the recipient channel her passion for fighting into romantic passion., Text: Your glove, my enchantress, / I'd rather excuse, / The paw of a panth'ress / 'Twere safer to choose. / There's a fashion in collars, / As well as in Cuffs, / Round your neck, then, why don't you / Put "one of the Ruff's"?, Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A woman has a pig's head. A pig stands behind her. "Pig" is an animal epithet, and "pork" refers to an uncultured person., Text: My dear Miss Pork, though fair and lovely -- / All entrancing you may be, / I really blush while thus I own / That I am not fond of P-I-G., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
The bride wears a dress with a red bodice and yellow skirt, a white veil, and a pair of earrings. She holds a sheet of paper that says "Marriage certificate." She smiles, and has crossed eyes. The pictures suggests that she has limited intelligence and mocks her pride in her marriage., Text: Now you are wedded! and happy too, / Then let the world deride, / The dirty scamp who would attempt, / To slander, such a bride., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A woman holds a broom in one hand and has her other hand in her pocket. She has dirt on her face and drools., Text: I've counted up all of earthly ills; / I threw a box of -- Somebody's -- pills; / But after I'd thought of every thing human, / I found the worst -- a slovenly woman., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
The valentine shows a woman pulling a sheet over a bed. She smiles and wears a dress and apron. There is a bucket by her foot. The text quotes an old proverb to suggest a literal meaning for the figurative expression., Text: What pleases you so? you have caught a new beau, / I know by the glance of your eye! / I hope you'll not rue it, but you know it is true, / "As you make your bed so you must lie.", Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A woman in ragged clothes frowns and points her finger., Text: If you keep on, you vile old wretch, you, / 'T'is certain that old nick will catch you; / But if he does, how much the winner / Will he be by so great a sinner., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A woman wears a gown and a green shawl that resembles butterfly wings. She holds a fan and wears a bonnet. The valentine mocks women of fashion as artificial., Text: If you had a husband, giddy one, / He soon would in the gutter lie; / With you for a mate, he'd be undone; / You're but a painted Butterfly., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A woman wearing eyeglasses holds a plate with bones on it., Text: Your only thought, to me would seem to be, / How you can skimp, and skin, and save; / Forgetting riches oft take wings and flee-- / At least, you none can take beyond the grave., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A woman in gown with furbelows tilts her nose upwards. The valentine mocks the recipient's social aspirations., Text: O! lofty Miss Highflyer, nose to the moon, / Your fancy outrivals your beauty; / I fear you'd forget your husband too soon, / And fail in a wife's gentle duty., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A woman stands with her arms bent and mouth open so that her posture resembles that of a roaring tiger. Behind her a house cat adopts a similar stance., Text: Not in India's jungles only / Are the Tigers doing ravage, / I would live forever lonely, / Than wed such a hideous savage., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
The valentine shows a woman riding sidesaddle. 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." The valentine perhaps suggests that her horsemanship leads to improper contact with men., Text: Oh! proud must be the noble steed / Yon lady fair that carries, / And sensible the swain, indeed, / For her consent who tarries. / Blest be the man who on to horse- / Back daily tosses her up, / Toys with her lovely feet, of course, / And puts it in the stirrup!, Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A frowning woman wears a yellow gown and holds a small parasol., Text: Full many a fair flower, not half so fair as you, / Has been plucked in early springtime, when fresh with morning's dew, / And you alone, neglected, have been carelessly passed by, / And now, when old and faded, you are left to droop and die., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A woman wears an enormous skirt with furbelows., Text: Expansive! expensive! extensive! exuberant! / Skirts, more than the city's outskirts, protuberant! / Not only the height of the fashion has come to this, / But the breadth of the fashion is Crinoline bliss., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A woman holds up her arms and screams at the sight of a bug dangling in front of her. She wears a fashionable gown with a low-cut and very narrow bodice. The text suggests that the woman is not scared of physical intimacy and marriage., Text: You'll rush with fright from a harmless bug, / Which the wind has near you carried; / But yet you don't fear a good, stout hug, / Nor tremble at getting married., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
The woman carrying a small red parisol wears a gown with large yellow skirt with furbelows., Text: Yes, there she is; and it's no use talking, / I've seen the Devil in the street walking; / I thought they were chain'd in bonds superhuman, / This is hooped up just like a woman., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
Clad in a skirt with yellow furbelows and a bonnet, the woman carries a parasol., Text: On the back of your head a neat little bonnet, / A great wide spreading skirt, with furb'ows on it, / Your pride is in dress, but, really, you somehow, / Just put me in mind of a doll, on a hay-mow., Cf. 1.8., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A seated woman has a padlock through her mouth. The valentine suggests that the recipient's quietness will disappear when she marries. The border shows cupids and hearts; one cupid shoots a heart out of a cannon labeled "Love"; another cupid travels with a heart in a hot-air balloon; and another thimble cupid hammers at a cracked heart below a heart on a fishhook labeled "Caught.", Text: A rare and commendable thing / Is well-affected silence, / Among the maids their wiles who bring / Our dulness to beguile hence. / Yet Paddock no control assumes, / (Experience teaches this bird), / When Wedlock or the future looms / And "Yes" has to be whispered., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A woman sits supporting her chin with her hands. She has bare feet, wrinkles, and is missing teeth. A cat sits in front of her, and a canary is behind him., Text: With a nice new wig and a coat of paint, / You're almost just as good as new; / Folks say you're old, but then you ain't-- / What woman's old at sixty-two?, Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A woman holds a wine glass and a bottle of wine and frowns. A picture of a man hangs behind her. The valentine critiques women who drink as being dishonorable and possibly unchaste., Text: Good advice to somebody; indeed, I think, / The advice is plain to understand: / Flee at once from a woman who loves to drink, / Her honor is like a rope of sand., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
