A woman holds a leash around her husband's neck, and he holds a baby. The valentine criticizes advocates of women's rights for degrading men., Text: She who be-littles her husband's name, / Knows not what to woman's grace belongs; / The Rights some silly women claim, / Are nothing less than a husband's wrongs., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A man has very long mutton chops and a moustache., Text: You think your style is just the thing / To raise a great commotion; / Get the ladies on a string, / And use them to your notion; / But ladies cannot stomach now, / Such senseless-headed noodles, / They all with one accord avow, / They find more sense in poodles., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A woman stands at a podium with her hand raised. A smaller man and woman sit in the audience. Figure possibly caricature modeled after Quaker women's rights advocate Lucretia Mott or sisters Sarah and Angelina Grimke., Text: Peace! brainless babbler -- what's the use / Of proving to mankind that you're a goose, / By asking husbands -- so runs your speeches -- / To put on frocks, while you wear their breeches., 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.
A man stands between two women who wear restricted skirts that reveal their feet; they do not appear to be wearing bustles. He has a shocked expression as they both press leaflets to his chest. The valentine mocks women's involvement in politics and connects it with immodest and flirtatious behavior. Bustles were not in vogue between 1876 and 1883, as they were before and after those years., Text: You talk so much of what you'll do / When women have their proper show; / That for your country, in your zeal, / You would the men caress and feel; / Excuse me, if I here portray / A female politician's way., 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 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 bends forward towards a crowd of women, in the "Grecian Bend" created by wearing fashionable restrictive gowns and bustles. Behind her are signs that read " The Original Grecian Bend for State Millener" and "The Pink of Fashion, Mme. Lecreme." The Grecian Bend style of bustle became popular after 1869. New York city directories for 1867-72 list Fisher and Denison at the same address, noting that Denison lived in Maryland., Text: You're all aflame with woman's right, / And hope thereby to see strange sights; / No place too bold for such a trump-- / You'd even go so far as mount the stump. / If you thus cast all social laws aside, / You'll never be a happy bride., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
The valentine depicts a woman in a booth labeled "Vote the Ladies Union Ticket." The woman inside of the booth reaches out to a hesitant man. The text and image criticize woman's rights advocates for not recognizing their proper places and suggests that such women are not desirable sexually or socially. The woman appears to be wearing a bustle; bustles became popular after 1869., Text: Among the women who in history brightest have shone / Are those who have left the men's affairs alone, / Who in their homes have found their proper places, / And sought not in crowds to show their faces; / We see you seek a different line-- / You are too bold to be my Valentine., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
The valentine shows a blacksmith at his forge. His cheeks are red, and his hair is black. He has defined arm muscles and puffed sleeves., Text: Was ever such a dingy devil seen? / A perfect antidote to love, I ween. / Black as your forge, eyes like your furnace red; / When you appear, folks start back with dread. / The fire at your forge may continue to shine, / But I will never wed such a black Valentine., 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.