These twelve postcards are from the ‘Garden Patch’ series, illustrated by Edith Curtis in 1907. They were typically used as Valentine’s Day greetings. The novelty illustrations feature an exaggerated-size vegetable or fruit as the head of a boy or girl with a related pun displaying around the image.
The postcards were published by Raphael Tuck & Sons, a London-based publishing business that was one of the most well-known during the ‘postcard boom’ of the late 1800s and early 1900s. The company headquarters, Raphael House, was destroyed during the Blitz of the Second World War.
1. DEAREST VALENTINE, YOU DO beet ALL THE OTHERS
2. DEAR HEART, WHAT A peach YOU ARE
3. DEAR LOVE, I WOULD LIKE TO PUT AN 18- carrot ON YOUR FINGER
4. LET ME TWINE- orange BLOSSOMS 'ROUND YOUR HEAD
5. lettuce BE MARRIED, DEAR-
6. SWEETHEART, I LOVE YOU THO' YOU HAVE A TEMPER LIKE- hot pepper
7. WE ARE TOO YOUNG, DEAR, WE cantaloupe
8. WE WOULD MAKE A HAPPY pear
9. YOU ARE THE apple OF MY EYE
10. YOUR HAIR IS A LITTLE radish SWEETHEART
11. YOUR NOSE IS A LITTLE- turnip
12. YOUR UNKINDNESS MAKES ME melon -CHOLY
The postcards were published by Raphael Tuck & Sons, a London-based publishing business that was one of the most well-known during the ‘postcard boom’ of the late 1800s and early 1900s. The company headquarters, Raphael House, was destroyed during the Blitz of the Second World War.
Edith Curtis was born in Gloucestershire, England, in 1881. After a blessed and pleasant childhood with loving parents, Edith was enrolled in a ladies private college and concentrated her studies in preparation for a career in drawing and illustrating. As destiny for some, the muses create situations that make talent more necessary than experience, and so it was when Curtis came upon employment at Raphael Tuck & Sons just before a major expansion of the company in 1904.
Curtis loved the idea of making people smile at her visual creations which often hinted at the absurd and ridiculous. St. Valentine’s Day was her favorite holiday and the Tuck brothers had enough wisdom to give her a free hand. It is unsure, but the postmark dates suggest that the Valentine Garden Patch Series #2 was created for distribution in February 1907. There are twelve cards in the set. All twelve are available with and without a green border, but all (at least those found so far) have divided backs.
1. DEAREST VALENTINE, YOU DO beet ALL THE OTHERS
2. DEAR HEART, WHAT A peach YOU ARE
3. DEAR LOVE, I WOULD LIKE TO PUT AN 18- carrot ON YOUR FINGER
4. LET ME TWINE- orange BLOSSOMS 'ROUND YOUR HEAD
5. lettuce BE MARRIED, DEAR-
6. SWEETHEART, I LOVE YOU THO' YOU HAVE A TEMPER LIKE- hot pepper
7. WE ARE TOO YOUNG, DEAR, WE cantaloupe
8. WE WOULD MAKE A HAPPY pear
9. YOU ARE THE apple OF MY EYE
10. YOUR HAIR IS A LITTLE radish SWEETHEART
11. YOUR NOSE IS A LITTLE- turnip
12. YOUR UNKINDNESS MAKES ME melon -CHOLY
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