"A Swell Clerk" - a Vinegar Valentine

"The Swell Clerk" (a Vinegar Valentine's Day Card)

The Swell Clerk.

Go away you homely little dude, or I’ll hit you with a feather.

I really think t’would make you wilt, though I’d prefer it leather.

As for your natty suit of clothes, that you love to sport about,

You’ll stick it in a pawn-shop before the month is out.

The girls think you are silly, or what is even worse,

A dude who has an empty head, and owns an empty purse.

“The Swell Clerk” (a Vinegar Valentine), from the Norcross Greeting Card Collection of the Smithsonian Institution, NMAH.AC.0058, AC0058-0000045.tif (AC Scan No.).