Blacksmith" -- Vinegar Valentine
- England: N.p., 1860
England: N.p., 1860. Very good. Toned with spotting, offsetting, and letter folds.. A "Blacksmith"-themed Vinegar Valentine, showing a rough-around-the edges blacksmith mid-swing as he pounds what looks like a horseshoe on an anvil. The text below reads:
"Mr. Hammer and Tongs, pray go it, sonorous,
To that sweet useful tune of the famed 'Anvil Chorus;'
Like Vulcan of old, who the thunderbolts made,
Your face and complexion denote your dark trade.
Although a great blower, and striking's your lot,
Be sure that you strike while the iron is hot."
A charming piece of ephemera with lots of personality, and refreshingly tame compared to other Vinegar Valentines we have seen. Measures approx. 9.5" by 7.5" Vinegar Valentines (sometimes called Penny Dreadfuls, not to be confused with the identically named cheap serial literature of the same period) were most popular in the Victorian era, and were usually sent anonymously and with a bit of a mean-spiritedness to someone you were not fond of.
"Mr. Hammer and Tongs, pray go it, sonorous,
To that sweet useful tune of the famed 'Anvil Chorus;'
Like Vulcan of old, who the thunderbolts made,
Your face and complexion denote your dark trade.
Although a great blower, and striking's your lot,
Be sure that you strike while the iron is hot."
A charming piece of ephemera with lots of personality, and refreshingly tame compared to other Vinegar Valentines we have seen. Measures approx. 9.5" by 7.5" Vinegar Valentines (sometimes called Penny Dreadfuls, not to be confused with the identically named cheap serial literature of the same period) were most popular in the Victorian era, and were usually sent anonymously and with a bit of a mean-spiritedness to someone you were not fond of.