This digital collection consists of 164 comic valentine sheets (ca. 1870-1920), 10 sentimental valentines from World War II (ca. 1939-1945), and 7 suffrage valentines (ca. 1915-1920) from the Alice Marshall Women’s History Collection, located in Archives and Special Collections at the Penn State Harrisburg Library. The majority of the collection includes comic valentines, also known as vinegar valentines, which lampoon women and their physical attributes, habits, styles of dress and behaviors. A smaller portion of the collection consists of romantic or sentimental valentines that feature women in the United States Armed Forces and themes related to American woman suffrage.
Suggested Readings
- (1847, February 20). A Fatal Valentine. Newport Mercury, pp. 2
- Jones, E. (2009). What’s love got to do with it? The social life of comic valentines, 1870-1920. Unpublished master’s thesis, The University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware.
- Pollen, Annebella. (n.d.). Love Letters and Hate Mail.
- Prochaska, D. & Mendelson, J. (Eds.). (2010). Postcards: Ephemeral Histories of Modernity. University Park, PA: The Pennsylvania State University Press. Penn State Libraries: NC1872.P76 2010
- Shank, B. (2004). A Token of My Affection: Greeting Cards and American Business Culture. New York: NY: Columbia University Press. Penn State Libraries: HD9839.G73U573 2004
- Staff, F. (1966). The Picture Postcard and Its Origins. New York, NY: Frederick A. Praeger. Penn State Libraries: NC1872.S7 1966a
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