A Thrifty Wife to Be
This vintage Valentine’s Day card isn’t one of the more romantic ones we’ve seen but it does have a certain charm to it. A little girl cleverly creates a table from a pair of chairs and a bookshelf. What’s not clear is if she is trying to sell the items on her table or if she is trying to use them to make something.
The front of the Valentine greeting says:
What a bargain you will be,
Just the very wife for me!TO MY VALENTINE
The little girl has apparently lost one of her shoes which adds even more charm to this vintage holiday postcard.
The illustration is signed E. Curtis. The postcard bears a copyright notice from Raphael Tuck & Sons Co. Ltd of New York. The date is 1903. It bears a postal mark from 1907. Perhaps the young fellow who sent it had to wait four years until he was sure the girl he sent it to was truly the wife of his dreams.
I found a number of references for other postcards illustrated by Curtis but nothing about the artist.
Raphael Tuck & Sons was once one of the leading manufacturers of postcards. Adolph Tuck, when interviewed by a trade publication estimated that by 1907 there were between 12 and 14 hundred million picture postcards being produced and sold each year. It’s no wonder the early years of the 20th century were known as the “postcard boom.”
This vintage Valentine greeting is another great free printable from FreeVintageArt.com.
