The Cincinnati daily star. [volume] ([Cincinnati, Ohio]) 1875-1880, 1880-02-14
VALENTINES AND VIBRATIONS.
Brisk Trade in AL Kinds and the Injury q
Comic Wrought.
New York World.1

IL .lcIt d DUOW III NdlcuGlueSE & bdlu
a reporter of the World yesterday to
one of the head men in the large pub
fishing house of Mclaughlin Brothers.
Il guess so," was the reply; "business
is good, unusually SO. suppose we will
sell twice as rlany valentines this year
as we did last"
"The trade is widely distributed, isn't
itY asked the reporter.
"The retail trade? No. About this
season Of the year almost everybody who
keeps a store in the country sells valen-
tines. I've known men in the rural dis
tricts to deal in Goldfish, calico and val
entines The wholesale merchants or the
manufacturers Of this perishable but
precious class of goods are few. There
are two frms-one in this city and one
in Worcester, Mass.-besides ourselves,
who are the large wholesale publishers Of
valentines" -... ...
"And you say you are making more
valentines than usual this yearw ,.
making and selling more. Times are
good, and then this is leap year. We
didn't begin to sell as many valentines
in 1873 as we did in 1872, and with the
present picking up of business prosper
ity the pretty custom Of sending valen-
tines has had a sudden revival"
"Don't you find that a spirit of en-
nifty between the sexes has more to do
with the briskness of the valentine trade
than the tender passion9 In other words,
are there not more alleged comic or sat.
irical valentines sold than there are those
of a flimsier and more expensive charac-
terw
"Well, there is no denying" was the
ingenious reply, chat we do sell great
many comics" .t
II thought sol" calculated a misan-
thropic bystander. ....8
But" interrupted the valentine man,
''the trade in choice valentines Is by no
means extinct. Here's one (throwing up
the cover of d rnarvelously painted
white satin box and disclosing thereby 9
deep mace of lace and tissue paper, at
the bottom Of which was to Be seen g
little naked Cupid that will retail for
SIS, and I can assure YOU we have sold
many gross of this kind. That isn't 8
big price for valentine, Twenty-Five
years ago we used to get $40 and $50 for
very much the same class Of goods"
"Sweethearts are not as precious al
they used to beT a.g .a 49,.
"Well, I don't know about that, but
rather fancy this isn't an age Of senti.
raent. There is a big Improvement in
the comic line. Our valentine poets are
better than they used to be-"
"No better than they should be even
yet, / supposeT said the reporter.
"Oh, yes, they are; they've done won.
ders this year. Nothing like an oper
winter for poets. Frinstance." and ths
valentine dealer tossed upon the counter
huge pile Of brilliantly colered valen
tines. Picking up one upeh which wa
depicted those truly unpoetical adjuncts
a tar-barrel. a bag Of feathersMpainted g
most extraordinary yellow and hang
mans rope, the reporter read the follow
ing epigrammatic lines: iisa iii.
Beware, Young man. or bid good by to hope;
A hapgman's necktie is pie6e of ropei
Ana here is one, although It's but moose,
Will hbld you ught though seeming to be loose.
.'Beautifulp involuntarily exclaimed
the reporter, "and 90 convenient for gen
etal use. Have you any more equally
choicew 1t was evident from further
inspection that this was but the mos
paltry exhibition Of the valentine poet
powers. The following verse which was
appended to the picture Of gentleman
with very complete mouth abuhdantly
proves the truth OF this assertion: l51
El ''You horrtd, noisy, brAying witch, {!
dYourmouth is always on the stretch, l.!aj
Go smash that o. cracked accordion a.t-9
That you forever practice on. ~, ..s..,
At large Nassau-street establishment
valentines of tender and sentimental
character predominated. There were
rare birds nests which, invaded, dis
closed amiable little notices, and there
were wondrous Transformation scenes be-
meath the covers Of wicker baskets,