A Romping Miss. [Drop title].

(n. p.): (n. d.), circa 1890. 9-3/4 x 7 inches. Single sheet printed in color to recto only. Old fold lines, with a few tiny holes along the folds; short tear to top edge; light bump with a few small chips to bottom edge; light toning and soiling. Good.

A vinegar valentine ridiculing tomboys, or indeed any girl who prefers "romping" to more gentle "girlish" activities. The illustration depicts a girl or young woman swinging on a wooden swing, with wild hair, her hat fallen on the ground, and her clothes in disarray -- including (gasp!) her knees and knickers showing beneath her rumpled skirt. The text reads in full:

"To be attractive, maidens should

Be gentle, graceful, and refined;

But all who know you class you with

A widely different kind.

You're but a vulgar, tasteless romp,

A coarse and unattractive creature,

Without a single maidenly trait,

Or a pretty, graceful feature."

Although the valentine was obviously meant to apply societal pressure to girls and young women to get them to conform to traditional "womanly" pursuits approved of by men, the illustrator's intent may have backfired: the wide smile and carefree attitude of the girl depicted, presumably meant to connote ugliness, lack of refinement, and, as a result, being doomed to spinsterhood, must certainly have been enticing to some girls at the time, rather than an inducement to act otherwise.