Matrimony, Inc. by Francesca Beauman

Matrimony, Inc.
From Personal Ads to Swiping Right,
a Story of America Looking for Love
by Francesca Beauman

Published: 2020
Publisher: Pegasus Books
Hardback: 208
Rating: 4
History, Courtship | Goodreads | Website

First sentence(s):
I met my husband through a personal ad.

Have you ever used a dating app or website? Then you have more in common than you know with lonely homesteaders in 18th century New England. At once heartwarming and heartbreaking, Matrimony, Inc. reveals the unifying thread that weaves its way through not just marriage and relationships over the centuries, but American social history itself: advertising for love.

Amazingly, America’s first personal ad appeared in the Boston Evening Post as early as 1759. A “person who flatters himself that he shall not be thought disagreeable” was in search of a “young lady, between the age of eighteen and twenty-three, of a middling stature, brown hair, of good Morals…” As family-arranged marriages fell out of fashion, "Husband Wanted" or "Seeking Wife" ads were soon to be found in every state in the nation.

From the woman in a Wisconsin newspaper who wanted “no brainless dandy or foppish fool” to the man with a glass eye who placed an ad in the New York Times hoping to meet a woman with a glass eye, the many hundreds of personal ads that author Francesca Beauman has uncovered offer an extraordinary glimpse into the history of our hearts’ desires, as well as a unique insight into American life as the frontier was settled and the cities grew. Personal ads played a surprisingly vital role in the West: couple by couple, shy smile by shy smile, letter by letter from a dusty, exhausted miner in California to a bored, frustrated seamstress in Ohio. Get ready for a new perspective on the making of modern America, a hundred words of typesetter’s blurry black ink at a time.

“So anxious are our settlers for wives that they never ask a single lady her age. All they require is teeth,” declared the Dubuque Iowa News in 1838 in a state where men outnumbered women three to one. While the dating pools of 21st century New York, Chicago or San Francisco might not be quite so dentally-fixated, Matrimony Inc. will put idly swiping right on Tinder into fascinating and vividly fresh historical context. What do women look for in a man? What do men look for in a woman? And how has this changed over the past 250 years?

My two-bits:

Looking for love. In all the places. Always.

Enjoyed reading individual accounts of why an advertisement was placed with the earliest from 1765.

Includes old newspaper personal ad clippings and photos of individuals who participated.

~*~

* review copy courtesy of publisher

Lovely Books and Things - 10.11.20

Lovely Books and Things
My Weekly Books and Films Update

Linking up with:
Sunday Post (details)
Mailbox Monday (details)

~*~

HAPPY THINGS:

1. Crocheting my first granny squares for colorful blanket project. They look a little scrawny, but I will perfect them by the end of the project :-)

2. Enjoying fashion photos on instagram from young French couple, Young Emperors (here) and old Chinese couple, WantShoWasYoung (here)

3. Spooky-ish pumpkin patch at Trader Joe's

~*~

Library: audiobook

His Hideous Heart
edited by Dahlia Adler
Short Stories, Horror, YA, Edgar Allan Poe stories re-imagined | Goodreads
authors include:
Kendare Blake, Rin Chupeco, Lamar Giles
Tessa Gratton, Tiffany D. Jackson, Stephanie Kuehn
Amanda Lovelace, Marieke Nijkamp, Emily Lloyd-Jones
Hillary Monahan, Caleb Roehrig, Fran Wilde

His Only Wife
by Peace Adzo Medie
Contemporary, West Africa, Ghana, Reese's Book Club October pick | Goodreads

Patron Saints of Nothing
by Randy Ribay
YA, Mystery, for October Filipino American History Month | Goodreads

For Review:

Mary
The Adventures of Mary Shelley's Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Granddaughter
by Brea Grant
illustrated by Yishan Li
Paranormal, YA, Graphic Novel | Goodreads
courtesy of publisher -Thanks!

Matrimony, Inc.
From Personal Ads to Swiping Right, a Story of America Looking for Love
by Francesca Beauman
History | Goodreads
courtesy of publisher -Thanks!

~*~
Virtual Author event: hosted by Green Apple Books
Check out their calendar for future free author events (here)

Be Water, My Friend
The Teachings of Bruce Lee
by Shannon Lee
Philosophy, Sprituality | Goodreads
~*~
AND watched: online theatre - Coalition of South Asian Film Festivals
films can be seen for free until October 17 (details here)

Mee Raqsam (2020)
Director: Baba Azmi
Writers: Husain Mir, Safdar Mir
Stars: Juhaina Ahsan, Shivangi Gautam, Danish Husain
Drama, Dance, India, Muslim | imdb | my rating: 4
It revolves around a young girl's aspiration to become a dancer, but coming from a small village like Mijwan, everyone questions her dreams and choices. It's only her father who trusts, supports and helps her in this journey of achieving her dream.

LOVED the fight for dance.

~*~
* comment and TELL me what you have acquired for your shelves recently

*** THANKS to those on the front line during these times ***
Shelter In Place - Day 209, Week 31

Stay healthy! Be safe!

Thanks for stopping by :-)

Happy Release: Matrimony, Inc. by Francesca Beauman

Matrimony, Inc.
From Personal Ads to Swiping Right, a Story of America Looking for Love
by Francesca Beauman
History | Goodreads
Release date: October 6, 2020
Have you ever used a dating app or website? Then you have more in common than you know with lonely homesteaders in 18th century New England. At once heartwarming and heartbreaking, Matrimony, Inc. reveals the unifying thread that weaves its way through not just marriage and relationships over the centuries, but American social history itself: advertising for love.

Amazingly, America’s first personal ad appeared in the Boston Evening Post as early as 1759. A “person who flatters himself that he shall not be thought disagreeable” was in search of a “young lady, between the age of eighteen and twenty-three, of a middling stature, brown hair, of good Morals…” As family-arranged marriages fell out of fashion, "Husband Wanted" or "Seeking Wife" ads were soon to be found in every state in the nation.

From the woman in a Wisconsin newspaper who wanted “no brainless dandy or foppish fool” to the man with a glass eye who placed an ad in the New York Times hoping to meet a woman with a glass eye, the many hundreds of personal ads that author Francesca Beauman has uncovered offer an extraordinary glimpse into the history of our hearts’ desires, as well as a unique insight into American life as the frontier was settled and the cities grew. Personal ads played a surprisingly vital role in the West: couple by couple, shy smile by shy smile, letter by letter from a dusty, exhausted miner in California to a bored, frustrated seamstress in Ohio. Get ready for a new perspective on the making of modern America, a hundred words of typesetter’s blurry black ink at a time.

“So anxious are our settlers for wives that they never ask a single lady her age. All they require is teeth,” declared the Dubuque Iowa News in 1838 in a state where men outnumbered women three to one. While the dating pools of 21st century New York, Chicago or San Francisco might not be quite so dentally-fixated, Matrimony Inc. will put idly swiping right on Tinder into fascinating and vividly fresh historical context. What do women look for in a man? What do men look for in a woman? And how has this changed over the past 250 years?

Peekabook:



About the author:
After a decade as a T.V. host, Francesca Beauman is now a writer, historian and part-time bookseller at London’s most beautiful bookstore, Persephone Books. Francesca is the author of six books, including a history of the pineapple and a history of British personal ads. She also runs the popular book forum “Fran’s Book Shop” (@fransbookshop).
Website | Instagram | Twitter | Fran’s Book Shop