comic valentine

A market for satirical cards emerged alongside the popularity of caricatures as an art form and the wide availability of cheap coloured printing in the 1840s – 1850s. ‘Mock’ or ‘Vinegar’ typically feature unflattering caricature images and mean-spirited, sometimes offensive satirical verses. Cards were cheaply produced and could be bought for one penny. Such cards lampooned people of all trades and professions and they frequently stereotyped racial and ethnic groups, especially African-Americans and the Irish. Women were included in the venom, with old maids, assertive women, ‘flirts’and ‘coquettes’ portrayed as devils, snakes, tigers, or hissing cats. The receiver of the Valentine paid the postage initially, so the receipt of these cards must have been doubly hurtful.