The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1880-02-17


amount Of ingenuity IL employed in devi.-
ing caricatures and does.rel which sill
enable young folks aud old 10 refer snony-
0ously Z" some pefsonsl defect, or foib!e
Of their respective acqoaintsnces. The
csrricstures are all Gaudy and rude. but
they serve their purpose only too we'll. end
no email part Of their merit il the fact that
swo Of them can be had for Eve rents.
The young mis-, Who, with heart going
pit-s-pai, and With fond expectations Of
some pretty, scented proof Of tender rrgar1;.
visits the pos, ofice On Valentine. day. is
probably ~ perfect picture Of disspi point
ment and diegust ss il 10 pos~ible TO con-
ceive Of. when che opens m envelope ard
6nds hideous monstro-ity star,ng her in
the face, with references in bad syntxx and
worse rhyme, to the shape Of her noe or
the width Of her mouth. or the cisck Of
her tongue. And accordingly ~ she j.
cast down, the malicious little sender Of the
sheet lie exuItant. Her day dream has
vanished. and she % soon actively engaged
in conjecturiEs which Of those mean, con-
iApptible g,rls in the ''oiher at did il.
TIE boy who. instead Of the honeyed
lines Of no particular relevancy which h.
has reason to count on. receives some
shocking print making malicious slIusion.
to the shape Of h,s legs or the business Of
his father, or the style Of hi. clothes, is con
verted At once IRON . rpoqpey gallant to
red hot thumper. and begins to make an
quiries aao~g bic friends which may lead
10 the detection Of the fellow whose no.e
has TO BE- busted for sending that ihirg.
Nobody feels veil on receiving these lit
lie expressions Of malice. Yet nearly
everybody among the young folks. and not
few among the cd ores, know three or
four persons ~hcm thy .,.-rn deserving
Of . testimonial Of this character.
sExnNESraL
The sentimental valentines have DOT The
variety which the comic ore. lave, posi-
blv because sentiment is chief Of one kind
while fauIis are N .ny. The weaknesses Of
human nature are too numerous 10 men.
t,on, and no one Of these weskne..es, bu, lie
hit si in the comic valentines. The senii.
mental ones are no: 20 attractive q the
people sho gsss m At bookseller. wird,w
because they cxrress the same idea. IL
beauty and price. though. they differ more
than the comic ones. varying iron the sim
pie sinsle sheet of paper with aowers or .
cupid and . senlimen; 10 TIE elaborate work
Of art enclosed in case, as too delicate TO
be sent through tae m sill in an envelope.
In the ord.ssry class oi sentimental VAL
eniine., those ranging in price from 6fieen.,o
6fiY cents, the chief sfort in manufacture
seems 10 Be ID produce small incentive to
curiosity. Upon the front Of most Of them
is de.ign upon email A,p Of the paper
which, lifted, reveals another design or the
verse beneath. To be sent to OF By women
are tLese, and to discover something hidden
IL the supp~ably feminine weakness the
world ovcr. Valentines sre constructed or
strictly psychological principles. The cen.
iimenial enee hsve, almost universally, the
feature noticed.
OF the more expensive valentines, a visit
to an Ohio street stcre yesieri.y indicated
that more are cold in this degenerate sge
than is generally rspposed. There .se
bashful men in the community who venture
through valentine to say that from which
they shrink when face 10 face With the cb-
ject Of sdosatinn, vho always sesost 10 val
tines and do not mind the expense. E,ch
individual who sends such . miseive doub,
less ch.,irhes = sscret hope that unsigned
though It be the recipien. will gues from
whom il came. There ere Others Who send
elaborate and costly productions Of the
class ss = presenL openly avowiue the
thing, just - they would in sending around
. gift Of a,wen. A. . rule these more
costly valentines are modelled upon the
same design ~ the cheaper els~, excellinR
only in variety Of pattern snd niceness Of
texture and colosirg. but shove certain
price there sppsss no limit TO the line oI
fancy. A brsnse dog with seniimtnisl in
scription cut on the collier would, under
the modern Interpretation, be valentine
One curious style shown in the stor. {
consisted simply Of . sheet Of white
elk With q wonderful colored de-
sign about The borders and the
sentiment printed upon the silk in the
centre. Another common pattern wAs
made Of number Of figures lying pressed
upon each other, which could be dr.~n
Out, changing the appearance Of The thing
10 real Landscape with foreground and
background effects nicely proror,ioned. 81
through all grades o: expenditure wiihou.
much prospect - setura the ssati@eotal
styles run.
| Itis curious feature Of even the 6ner
valentines that the poetry r.. io this eeun
try, never up TO The ssyIs Of the mechsai.
cal work. To exsnine hep OF beautiful
valentines carefully II to persoa Of taste
. issk really painful. The mechanical
work il frequently something artistic bu'
the prin,ed eeses are the veries, dcggrel
The idea Of the vaIeoiioe manufacturer
serm usually to have been that clever vers.
i6csiion msy be bought % readily % neat
work in over painting. or combinations OF
attractive formr, At least the literature Of
the letters besr evidence Of the theory. and
the result 10 something checking. P-shap.
il doesa't make much didesence. though
the people who mostly send vrleniines
and large mi 'riiy Of those sho receive
them. ar- not hyPsreri,ical. exceptions
10 this rule h to be msde Of cour>e cher
the valentine h comic or persousI. Posi-
bly, The sssdes aPpe~ei.tes the fscs. -
/ An R1nRR11EMT i.