All England's up in her martial ardour
March! March! silly and nincompoop,
Rifles and bullets than all else are far dear.
Green as their uniform are the raw recruits,
Countryman, Tailor, Quilldriver and Baker,
Every one tries it, but few of them find it suits
Them, any more than it would do a Quaker.
So reads this comic valentine card from 1870. A white card, it is embossed with a border and contains a hand-colored lithograph depicting a soldier in a purple uniform with his rifle over his shoulder. He wears a full moustache and sideburns, a short beard, and wears a green cap with a red band.
Here’s something nifty! The head and one of the legs are separate from the card. When a tab of paper at the bottom is moved, the soldier nods his head and moves his leg to-and-fro as if marching. Hooray!
Below the image is a short eight-line satirical verse (see above) which does not speak highly of the sacrament of marriage. (I will note that fifteen years in my previous, miserable life in religion publishing has made me prone to using words like “sacrament,” and I apologize). Nevertheless, it’s a fun card though I can’t imagine being a proper little 1870 lady and being thrilled with the receipt of this card.
The card is marked “London. R. 7 Dowgate Hill,” referring to an unknown printer. This is one of a set of five comic cards (all, like this one featuring hand-watercoloring and fabric appliqué and paper lace) of various sizes which were donated to the V&A by one Mrs. E. Twamley.
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| Valentine by an unknown publisher. Articulated, paper lace and hand-colored, 1870 The Victoria & Albert Museum |
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