February 8, 1987
By Dorothy W. Jerse
Vigo County Historical Society
Valentine greetings not always sweetness and light
Valentine’s Day greetings have not always been filled with hearts and cupids and trimmed with paper lace. Comic valentines, also known as “rudes and crudes,” “penny dreadfuls” and “vinegar Valentines,” have been available in our country since the first part of the 1800s. The caricature and the poisonous verse painted below drawings expressed anything but love and friendship. They often poked fun at teachers, the unmarried, the tightwad, the thin and the fat.
These were not valentines to be treasured and kept as sentimental souvenirs. This reason and the fact that they were printed on very cheap paper make it difficult for museums and valentine collectors to acquire them.
Pity the person who may have received any of the greetings below. To make matters worse, these unflattering greetings almost always were sent unsigned. Here are examples of their messages:
|
Affinities This
Pickle, which you plainly see |
Cheap Skate Against
you, you penny-pincher, |
| A Slob Say, old girlie, fat and tough At work you only make a bluff. You’re a both at every job; Never was a worse old slob! |
Dancer |
We still have comic valentines in our card shops but they are now in the form of
contemporary studio cards and they cost far more than once cent each. The comic
valentines, “The Gossip” and “The Powder Puff Girl,” pictured above are part of
the museum’s collection.
The Historical Museum of the Wabash Valley, 1411 S. Sixth St., is open from 1 to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday.