Puck’s valentines for 1894
Subject(s): Civil service reform, Cleveland, Grover, 1837-1908, Columbia (Symbolic character), Corruption, Croker, Richard, 1843-1922, Dana, Charles A. (Charles Anderson), 1819-1897, Depew, Chauncey M. (Chauncey Mitchell), 1834-1928, Handshaking, Harrison, Benjamin, 1833-1901, Hill, David B. (David Bennett), 1843-1910, Hobbyhorses, Lease, Mary Elizabeth, 1850-1933, Liliuokalani, Queen of Hawaii, 1838-1917, Malby, George Roland, 1857-1912, Manley, Joseph Homan, 1842-1905, McKinley, William, 1843-1901, Napoleon I, Emperor of the French, 1769-1821, Parkhurst, C. H. (Charles Henry), 1842-1933, Peffer, William Alfred, 1831-1912, Platt, Thomas Collier, 1833-1910, Public opinion, Publicity, Pulitzer, Joseph, 1847-1911, Reed, Thomas B. (Thomas Brackett), 1839-1902, Supervisors, Tammany Hall, Tariff, Uncle Sam (Symbolic character), Valentines
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At center, Uncle Sam and President Cleveland shake hands, with a portrait of Liliuokalani, Queen of Hawaii, in the background. The surrounding vignettes feature a cast of characters, identified or referred to in the text as “Croker,” “Parkhurst,” and “Tammany” reform, “Iago Manley” and “Othello Reed,” “Peffer, Lease, Dana, Pulitzer, [and] Depew,” Harrison sitting in his over-sized top hat, and Thomas Collier Platt turning a crank that manipulates George R. “Malby” as “Speaker” of the New York State Assembly, David B. Hill sitting in an over-sized “Senatorial Chair N.Y. State,” and “McKinley” dressed as Napoleon I, riding a “War Tariff” rocking horse. Each scene includes “Valentine” text, such as this for “Peffer” and “Lease,” each holding papers labeled “Speech”: “From bleeding Kansas’s wind-swept plains, / Where whiskers take the place of brains, / You come with all your verbose strength / Of speeches of unending length. / Here, take the hint Puck gives – resign! / Let Mary be your Valentine”; and this for McKinley: “McKinley Bill! McKinley Bill! / Why do you ride that hobby still? / The cause of pool, combine and trust, / And idle mill-wheels red with rust. / Mistaken Man! We’ll never pine / For you to be our Valentine.”
Collection
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
Creation Date
1894-02-14
Creator(s)
Opper, Frederick Burr, 1857-1937
Language
English
Period
Civil Service Commissioner (1889-April 1895)
Repository
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division
Page Count
1
Record Type
Image
Resource Type
Rights
These images are presented through a cooperative effort between the Library of Congress and Dickinson State University. No known restrictions on publication.
Citation
Cite this Record
Chicago:
Puck’s valentines for 1894. [February 14, 1894]. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs.
https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o289316. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
MLA:
Opper, Frederick Burr, 1857-1937. Puck’s valentines for 1894. [14 Feb. 1894]. Image.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. January 22, 2026. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o289316.
APA:
Opper, Frederick Burr, 1857-1937., [1894, February 14]. Puck’s valentines for 1894.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o289316.
Cite this Collection
Chicago:
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/collection/library-of-congress-prints-and-photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
MLA:
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. January 22, 2026. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/collection/library-of-congress-prints-and-photographs.
APA:
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/collection/library-of-congress-prints-and-photographs.
