The valentines for children in the 1940s are an interesting study of the times — they contained child-like themes such as playtimes, toys, animals, but also World War 11 scenes, fairs, social situations, etc and often contained a statement of commitment by a youngster in an adult role, such as the “cop” in this particular valentine. In the 1940s, there were more cars on the road after some prosperity returned to the North American society following the Depression years of the 1930s. More women began driving cars. Of course, this brought on a trend of teasing and critical comments by men usually summarized with the description “woman drivers.” The illustrator of this particular valentine does bring out this particular theme with the youthful cop who stopped a young woman driver for some unknown traffic violation. Seeing it is Valentine’s Day, he offers her a solution in lieu of a ticket-he will also keep other cops away if she will be his valentine! Today, we can still laugh but this theme is of course now “politically incorrect.”
(Source of the card: my own personal souvenir box.)
