15 Unbelievably Racist Antique Valentine’s Day Cards
This collection of V-Day cards circa 1900 to 1930 or so will make you wish Valentine’s Day never existed.
In the early 1900s, racist imagery was widely used in consumer products—even Valentine’s Day cards—and relied on caricatures and stereotypes to create humor. Harvey Young, Jr., an Associate Professor at Northwestern gave a talk last year on racist V-Day ephemera and had this to say:
They capture in a material object the racial discourse occurring at the moment…You can really get a sense of how common and everyday and widely accepted these cards were. It gestures to this past moment when racism was more apparent in society.
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- myl0rd thinks 15 Unbelievably Racist Antique Valent... is WTF
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Cinnamon Broom 2 months ago#1 and #10 couldn’t be any worse if they were props in a Spike Lee film!
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- Kelley OHare thinks 15 Unbelievably Racist Antique Valent... is OMG
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- aprilleigh 15 Unbelievably Racist Antique Valent...
- brittanyg10 thinks 15 Unbelievably Racist Antique Valent... is WTF
- michaelhcruz thinks 15 Unbelievably Racist Antique Valent... is Trashy, Awkward & Fail
- laurent6 thinks 15 Unbelievably Racist Antique Valent... is WTF
- xtalcase thinks 15 Unbelievably Racist Antique Valent... is LOL
- tarao2 thinks 15 Unbelievably Racist Antique Valent... is WTF
- chuyb thinks 15 Unbelievably Racist Antique Valent... is WTF
- thepinkone93 thinks 15 Unbelievably Racist Antique Valent... is WTF, Old & OMG
- tauhids thinks 15 Unbelievably Racist Antique Valent... is WTF
- suemacdonaldk thinks 15 Unbelievably Racist Antique Valent... is WTF
- emilybrooker thinks 15 Unbelievably Racist Antique Valent... is WTF
- Cecilia 15 Unbelievably Racist Antique Valent... and thinks it’s Trashy, WTF & Fail
- wendistaibs thinks 15 Unbelievably Racist Antique Valent... is Fail
- xlinzymmm thinks 15 Unbelievably Racist Antique Valent... is WTF
- erickabvb 15 Unbelievably Racist Antique Valent... and thinks it’s WTF
- donnak3 thinks 15 Unbelievably Racist Antique Valent... is Trashy
- dualitycr thinks 15 Unbelievably Racist Antique Valent... is LOL
- MaryMob85 thinks 15 Unbelievably Racist Antique Valent... is OMG & WTF
- mail.yahoo.com readers just made 15 Unbelievably Racist Antique Valent... hotter
- daisyj2 thinks 15 Unbelievably Racist Antique Valent... is OMG
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Nevernude 3 months agoI really don’t see how #7 is racist. The character isn’t in blackface, and the copy is a cute play on words. Snake charming as a practice has existed in many cultures across North Africa, the Middle East and Asia for thousands of years, so why on earth would one think it’s somehow taboo or offensive to reference it?
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thekingsQueen 3 months ago
its offensive because it portrays east indians as snake charmers. I think its cute. But many seem to think otherwise.
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Nevernude 3 months ago
In this instance, it’s a case of people freaking out for no reason. I think it’s incredily sad that just because this cartoon little guy is wearing shalwar and a turban, people think it’s somehow offensive toward Indians (despite the fact that this “outfit” is worn in many cultures!). Are Bavarians furious when they’re portrayed as wearing lederhosen or a dirndl to Oktoberfest? No. Because they do. Do the Japanese freakout when they see western children practicing martial arts in karategi? Nope. Because it’s just what you wear for that discipline. My (rambling) point is that this isn’t an Aunt Jemima-type case as it is with the deplorable cards featured above…this is just a cute little valentine’s day card that people are trying to pick apart for no reason other than they feel they should.
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- Lisa L. 15 Unbelievably Racist Antique Valent...
- viridianjames thinks 15 Unbelievably Racist Antique Valent... is WTF
- Arica H. thinks 15 Unbelievably Racist Antique Valent... is Fail, Trashy & WTF
- whattafeeling thinks 15 Unbelievably Racist Antique Valent... is Ew, Trashy & WTF
- Sharon13124 15 Unbelievably Racist Antique Valent... and thinks it’s WTF, LOL & Win
- kelseym8 thinks 15 Unbelievably Racist Antique Valent... is OMG
- Benjamin Sapiens thinks 15 Unbelievably Racist Antique Valent... is Fail & WTF
- NeedTheLou 15 Unbelievably Racist Antique Valent... and thinks it’s WTF
- pbayuk thinks 15 Unbelievably Racist Antique Valent... is WTF
- chasityc thinks 15 Unbelievably Racist Antique Valent... is Fail & WTF
- jessali11 15 Unbelievably Racist Antique Valent...
- jessicar14 15 Unbelievably Racist Antique Valent...
- nicoleg29 15 Unbelievably Racist Antique Valent... and thinks it’s Ew
- buttm0nkey 15 Unbelievably Racist Antique Valent...
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- mikemints thinks 15 Unbelievably Racist Antique Valent... is LOL & Ew
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ADignorantium 3 months agoIt seems we will accept anything as long as it has a “This Is Racist” label slapped on it. All are mildly offensive, but #1 is nauseating.
What kind of warped mind finds humor in lynching? Even by early 20th century standards, I can’t imagine the recipient of such a vile greeting finding anything “romantic” about it. I almost feel as though this entire post was an excuse to show the card with the lynching imagery. -
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- Mandy N. thinks 15 Unbelievably Racist Antique Valent... is OMG
- elvisdepressley thinks 15 Unbelievably Racist Antique Valent... is Cute
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- jasonb67 thinks 15 Unbelievably Racist Antique Valent... is OMG
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- xsmall thinks 15 Unbelievably Racist Antique Valent... is Trashy, Fail & WTF
- fossilgoth thinks 15 Unbelievably Racist Antique Valent... is LOL
- ginar9 thinks 15 Unbelievably Racist Antique Valent... is Trashy, WTF & Fail
- annas27 thinks 15 Unbelievably Racist Antique Valent... is LOL
- bntyhuntress thinks 15 Unbelievably Racist Antique Valent... is OMG
- danielflamingo thinks 15 Unbelievably Racist Antique Valent... is WTF
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- zappittyzop thinks 15 Unbelievably Racist Antique Valent... is WTF
- auronlover217 thinks 15 Unbelievably Racist Antique Valent... is OMG
- jaredw6 thinks 15 Unbelievably Racist Antique Valent... is WTF
- smorgasborddd thinks 15 Unbelievably Racist Antique Valent... is WTF & Trashy
- tnl2012 thinks 15 Unbelievably Racist Antique Valent... is WTF & Fail
- Lyle Winters thinks 15 Unbelievably Racist Antique Valent... is WTF
- ebfruchu thinks 15 Unbelievably Racist Antique Valent... is OMG
- Shinythings 15 Unbelievably Racist Antique Valent... and thinks it’s Fail, WTF & OMG
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thephantomcatalyst 3 months ago
Sheesh, these all made me wince. But I’m glad it was published to show the ugliness of it all, and how far we still have to go in 2013.
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- Ijeoma Igbo thinks 15 Unbelievably Racist Antique Valent... is WTF, Fail & Trashy
- lesleyh5 thinks 15 Unbelievably Racist Antique Valent... is Fail
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Pennymerriman 3 months agoEveryone can love or be outraged as much as they want, but it is still a part of history.
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