The valentine shows a washboard with a bar of soap and suggests that the pianist foresakes hygiene to play. 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: Do you think this is vulgar? / Ah! no, / Ah! no, / Do you think this is vulgar? / Ah! no. / 'T were harder, I hope, / To go without soap, / Than to dispense with the jingling piano, / Yano, / Than dispense with the jingling piano., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A large Union dragoon rides on a small horse. "Old Dobbin" was an affectionate name for horses. The valentine mocks his poor horsemanship., Text: Men don't ride, my dear friend, to the red scene of slaughter, / Just as if they were taking old Dobbin to water; / You seat in the saddle is loose and ungainly, / Turn your knees in, and don't to your stirrups trust mainly; / Like an ox-goad don't carry that good piece of steel, stir, / Nor back into the next horse's chest when you wheel sir! / I know from the country you're fresh, but with training / There will soon be no trace of the rustic remaining; / If your heart's in the cause, all the rest will come easy, / But in hopes you'll improve. / If you do, I incline, sir, / To have you -- next year-- for my true Valentine, sir., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A tinker smokes a pipe and holds tools at his work bench. A kettle and pans are on the floor. "Soft soder" [i.e. solder or sawder] is slang for manipulative flattery and originates from a cheap, easy, and less-durable form of joining metal., Text: Pipe-smoking, filthy, dirty sot, / Black as the kettle or the pot! / Most noisy slave, most tink'ring brute, / My taste you surely ne'er will suit. / Ragged wretch! of base-born metal-- / Filthy maker of the kettle; / You can very plainly see-- / Can't come soft soder over me., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A man clings to a steam train's chimney with a frowning human face. Another man holds a flag in the background. The valentine possibly comments on sexual ethics., Text: Over the break-necks fiendlike plunging, / Car'less what ill you may entail, / If you're not cautious with your engine, / We'll ride you on another rail!, Cf. 3.37., 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 dollar worshipper kneels before a woman who has large sacks of money by her feet. The worshipper has a serpentine body with a curved spine and a hooked nose that suggests that he is Jewish. The large mirror and the curtained windows in the room suggest that the woman is wealthy. Because of the proximity of the woman to the money, it is not clear whom or what he worships., Text: Ha, ha, 'tis thus on bended knee, / You press your vows of adoration,/ But virtue's not your honest plea,/ Nor yet a life of pure devotion,/ For naught but the almighty dollar,/ Could make you wear the marriage collar., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
The laundry woman has a runny nose, holds a basket of clothing, and stands in front of a clothes line. "Stone blue" refers to the blue dye laundry women used on clothing., Text: With aspect STARCH and nose STONE BLUE, / My Laundry Maid who would love you. / Or dare to meddle with your clothes, / Or come too near that dripping nose, / So PERSERVERING it ne'er stops / But keeps on RUNNING 'till it DROPS, / You're one of those sort of women / I would not have get up my linen., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
"Affection" burlesques domestic disturbance. The husband and wife stand facing each other; she is armed with a sword, and he holds a riding crop over his head. The room is in disarray, with a chair and a three-legged table overturned. The text and image suggest that marriage ends in conflict, and the sender attempts to dissuade the recipient from it. Also visible in the room are a framed picture, a fireplace with a vase of flowers on the mantle and a kettle on the grate, an alarmed cat, drapery with a tie-back for a multipaned window, and carpeting., Text: O, this is the way 'twill be with us, / When we've been wed a year; / We'll be at it, shovel and tongs, / I promise you, my dear! / Like the poor cat upon the hearth, / We'll both be in hot water; / The hair will fly, the wife will cry,/ the table fall, the baby squall / And the fire get hot and hotter., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A woman holds out her arms in alarm after a man steps on the back of her crinolined skirt, causing her skirt to billow up to reveal enough of her legs to show her drawers., Text: Clear the track, Hackley -- your occupation's gone! / Here comes the new machine, a lady and her throng; / Her skirts sweep the street-- my feeling rankles-- / That men forget the dirt while gazing at her ankles. / She glides along in silence, with grace I confess, / Till some unlucky wight puts his foot upon her dress. / She quickly turns, while he bows with sorrow down. / And vents her spite, with "Oh! you awkward clown.", Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
The valentine depicts a Union general standing by a table. Casting a glance over his shoulder, he writes "Despatch [i.e. dispatch] No. 10,000" on a piece of paper. The sender criticizes the recipient's competency as a military leader., Text: Oh high and mighty general, I don't know where your match is. / Especially as regards the manufacture of dispatches; / In every one's opinion, you would make a first rate clerk / Who would have to do much thinking, and but very little work. / You had better take a friend's advice, resign your situation, / Or your general imbelicity will bring general indignation., "527", Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A woman ice skates, and the wind blows up her skirt to reveal her ankles., Text: The naughty breeze! I mean no evil, With female skirts does raise the devil -- / All pretty girls must skating go, But do not like their legs to show-- / That is-- and here the dart most rankles, If they, like you, have crooked ankles. / What is revealed, makes me decline To be to you a Valentine., Cf. Valentine 13.4., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
"Miss Nancy" is a derogatory term for effeminate men. "Judy" is a derogatory term for women derived from the puppet show "Punch and Judy." The man holds a baby as the character Judy does, and the hooked-nose woman resembles Punch and shakes her fist at them. The valentine mocks the reversal of gender roles and criticizes timid husbands and controlling wives., Text: You perfect Judy -- you Miss Nancy -- / Just such a thing as your wife did fancy; / She wanted a man that she could handle; / You suited, for you're just the thing to dandle. / MORAL. -- He would be a woman's tool, / Will find himself a henpecked fool., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
The first line quotes from Charles Carroll Sawyer's Civil War ballad, "When this cruel war is over." The valentine shows a Union soldier lighting his cigarette from a bomb as bombs fly in the background behind him. The piece has an embossed border. The valentine satirizes the purported bravery of the volunteers by showing them as foolish., Text: "When this cruel war is over," And our noble Volunteers / home return to live in clover / Shan't we have good times, my dears? Honor to the heroes, who by / Their brave deeds us captivate, / Thank of all the kisses ruby / That upon their coming wait!, Variant of Valentine 2.8 and Valentine 2.10., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
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.
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 "country pumbkin" is shown from the waist up. He carries a green pumpkin (or other squash) and wears a green top hat, blue jacket, and red vest. His mouth is open, either yawning or yelling. "Pumpkin" is a derogatory term for an important person., Text: Oh you poor corn-fed country Elf, / Behold the picture of thyself. / Hither come to make love's vows, / Better stay at home and feed your cows. / A city life will never do / For a stupid Hound like you, / Go hoe your corn and feed your swine / And keep your pumpkin for a Valentine., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A simian-faced Union soldier rides on a horse., Text: To Mars, the soldier's god of war, / You may perform your duty, / But you too great a blockhead are, / For Venus, queen of beauty., "462", Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A woman stands while reading a book. Her crinoline has turned up so that it reveals her legs, and a dog stands underneath it. She says, "What are the people staring at, I wonder?", Text: The winds of march will be here soon / Then you who look like a Balloon, / Perchance may the Balloon fate, / And into the air be carried straight. / Like Cesar -- all gentle fair / Should the Ides of March beware, / For were you carried into the sky, / What THINGS ABOVE might meet each eye., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
The valentine satirizes the Irish for drinking, violence, and Catholicism. The Irishman holds his fists up, carries a pipe, and wears knee-breeches., Text: Arrah! paddy, my darlint, wid a big stick, / Are you after a row with Dennis or Mick? / Or, perhaps, a Know-Nothing you'd like to spy, / I'm sure if you find him he'll blacken your eye! / And at a wake you're sure to get tight. / In the street you're a nuisance, with a nasty old pipe., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
The storekeeper daintly holds a napkin in one hand and pours coffee on the table with the other. He is thin, has thick catfish-like whiskers, and opens his mouth either yelling or shocked. A vase and a book are on the counter in front of him. A "codfish" was a wealthy New Englander whose family fortune originated in maritime business., Text: Magnificent merchant! you much I admire, / O! you prince of the counter -- you odd fish! / No doubt in the future I'll see you aspire / To a place 'mong the regular codfish., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A man and a woman sit at a table together, and her arm is around his shoulder. Both hold drinks, and her skirt billows to reveal her legs. A street sign points left and reads "Free Country." The valentine criticizes the recipient for pretending to be a soldier in order to pimp., Text: 'Tis such as you, that every day, / We meet in uniform quite gay, / Who boldly claim an honest mission, / But have no officer's commission, / Recruiting soon a goodly number, / You sell them, like the thief his plunder, / And spend your gold in drunken raids, / In beer saloons, with baser maids., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A cavalryman in a hat and uniform rides a thin, large-headed horse. He has a sword in a scabbard, but it is upside down and far away from his body., Text: When mounted astride of your Pegasus, / No doubt that you can fight like blazes; / Do but your duty and don't repine, / "Charge," you shall be my Valentine., 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 Union soldier wears a Zouave uniform and holds two pistols out. He has a pistol tucked into his belt, and his sword scabbard hangs away from his body. A smoking cannonball lies between his feet and a bullet is near his head., Text: Hero! how my fond heart doats / On your trowser petticoats; / On your leggins, tight and trim; / On your cap without a brim; / On your lip of hair prolific, -- / Arab-Yankee-- you're terrific! / There's a wild light in your eye--/ Is it valor? Is it rye? / O! beware of whisky-skin, / Brains go out as that goes in. / Sober keep, and by the Nine! / You shall be my Valentine., Cf. Valentine 13.45., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
The painter stands in a door frame painting and thumbs his nose. The text derides him for the odors that cling to him., Text: Begone from me! thou filthy man of paint, / Thy presence here doth almost make me faint; / Dost think that I could have for Valentine, / A man who smells so strong of turpentine., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A man drinks from a wine glass., Text: You vow and protest that you never will love, / Than myself, any other young lass; / But already you love something better than me / You love stronger your every day glass., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A Zouave Union soldier holds out two pistols and has a sword on his back. A cannonball is between his legs, and bullet is near his forehead., Text: Your tales fiery Zou-zou must surely amuse us / Picking up lighted shells to spit on their fuses / Catching balls in your hands and returning them home / I certainly own are marvelously some., Cf. Valentine 11.48., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
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.
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.
The dress maker wears the paper forms used to make a dress pattern. Her sleeves say "sleeve latest style" and "sleeve pattern." The dress bodice says "body pattern front" and "saque front pattern," and the skirt says "le mode de paris," and "cored skirt pattern." She stands in front of a store window that reads "Madame Slasher from Paris. Dress maker/ Parisian fits." Hickory shirts were worn by workers, and the valentine uses provincialisms to mock the dressmaker's pretensions., Text: Be jabers, its a useful insitution that ye are, / Wid yer 'gores," an' "waists," an' "boddice, an' skirts / An' if I had a few dirt paper collars to spare, / I'd try ye wid a dozen of good hickory shirts. / Do you stick up your nose at the shirts? Bellamalee. / Jist the thing! I'm after a lady so mighty fine / She'll be one thing to the public but another to me, / And won't I be illigant as her own Valentine!, Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
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 man has exaggeratedly long mutton chops and beard. He holds his facial hair in one hand and a walking stick in the other., Text: Like Samson your strength's in the length of your hair, / And the manner in which it is worn; / But look out, my dear fellow, unless you take care, / Some Deliah will send you home shorn., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
The bar-keeper stands at a bar and pours liquor from one glass into another. Decanters and glasses are on the bar., Text: You dashing, dressy Bar-keerp, for a dandy you would pass, / As with the most exquisite grace you handle well your glass; / But your brains are like your liquors, the more they are display'd / The more they show the frothy stuff of which they are made., Cf. Valentine 11.3., "73", Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
The valentine depicts a man crying, and the text mocks him for his childishness., Text: Pray do not weep, nor spoil those eyes red, / Don't soil your clothes with those soft drops of brine; / Sure, out of pity, some green girl will you wed, / And nurse you as an infant Valentine., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A man kneels before a stone tomb. On top of it is a barrel marked "Gold." The barrel is shaded, and the front of the tomb is yellow., , 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.
A man pulls back a curtain and holds his head. Behind him is a bureau with a mirror on it. The valentine condemns the jealous man for his incursions into privacy. "Dog's death" is slang for a terrible death, which the sender suggests the recipient deserves instead of a Valentine., Text: You selfish, vile, suspicious, jealous ape-- / You green-eyed monster in the human shape, / You fancy, things to others, thoughts unkown, / And paint all hearts as foul as is your own. / You sneak and watch, and like a fool you rave, / To all a torment, to yourself a slave; / A hangman's cord your ugly neck should twine, / And thus a dog's death be your Valentine., 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 valentine shows a man on one knee with a heart for a torso., Text: If you will promise to adore, / To fondly love me ever; / I'll take your little heart and hand, / Yourself and all together., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
The butcher boy has cow's head and wears an apron covered in blood. He holds a large knife and a sharpener. Behind him is a tub labeled "Blood Tub.". 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." "Bowery butcher boy" may refer to the Bowery Bh'oys, and "pluck" can mean animal innards. The valentine suggests that violence will not bother the recipient., Text: How are you? Bowery butcher boy, / I wish you every luck : / Our calf's head scarce will you annoy, / While you possess the Pluck!, Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
The soldier stands with his hand on his chin. His chest is puffed up, and his jacket forms a small, bird-like tail. He carries a sword., Text: Let others court the phantom-- Glory / Ambitious of historic story; / You seek not fields of strife and blood, / Your feats are for the body's good. / The sword is but the scourge of men, / And not so mighty as the Pen; / Sooner than fight on plain that's murkey, / You'd make a charge upon a Turkey., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
The valentine shows a tall, thin man kneeling as he holds a baby. He prepares food on a spider pan over a candle. The valentine suggests that the man is weak and child-like, and his wife is an abuser of both him and the baby., Text: Don't strike and thump him, baby Dick, / Leave 'ma to hit him many a lick; / 'Tis her he fears, not you, who squall, / He trembles so, he'll let you fall -- / Poor, shivering, nussing skeleton, / With cuffs for teaching, when he's done., 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.
"That human face divine" refers to Milton's "Paradise Lost." The title refers to the Second Battle of Bull Run, which occurred August 28 and 30, 1862.The valentine shows a Union soldier running from cannon balls. He wears a blue coat and red trousers and cap. He carries a sack on his back., Text: His eye-balls glare--- / Oh! what a stare / Is on that human face divine; / He runs! he's running back to me-- / Oh! Hurry up! my Valentine., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector., Provenance: Milton, John, 1608-1674. Paradise lost.
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.
A short and stout country bumpkin smiles and carries a pitchfork. The sender rejects the recipient's romantic advances because of his occupation., Text: My country chuck, go turn your hay, / And do not put me in a splutter, / By asking me to go away / With you, to make your cheese and butter., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
Two fashionably dressed men wears sashes. The one in the foreground holds a top hat. The valentine mocks the secretiveness of the Odd Fellows and the recipient's tendency to stay away from home., Text: Why are you odd? Why don't you get even? / O! that excuse, "Must be off to my Lodge." / Reform, stay at home on night in seven, / Tell me the secret, and own up the dodge., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
The woman wears a dress with a large skirt and holds two bags. Behind her a man carries a trunk and a pile of boxes stands nearby. "Shin" means either to walk quickly, suggesting that the woman made numerous brief social calls after going shopping, or to borrow money, suggesting that she needed to make her purchases on credit., Text: Just dropt in -- can't stay a minute; / Got to visit all creation -- / Brought a few things -- had to shin it; / Come to make a visit-ation!, Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
An ice skating man jumps. He has a tail and holds a walking stick. 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.", Text: Art spirit of health, or goblin dam'd? / Or dry goods shopman, by butcher boy lamm'd; / Kangaroo, agile Gibbon, or bearded Saki -- / Or perhaps one of Barnum's "What can they be?' / The C.P. Commission won't stand it, I say-- / To let such a guy on the ice slide about, / While the mothers of children prospective are out., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
