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Object Matrimony:
The Risky Business of Mail-Order Matchmaking on the Western Frontier
When gold was discovered in the far West during the nineteenth century, a billowing mass of humanity swept toward the setting sun with the swiftness of a tidal wave. Prospectors, businessmen, and explorers came seeking a better way of life and with the hope of amassing a fortune. No matter what riches were to be had or the endless territories yet to be conquered, unattached settlers who made the journey longed for a companion to share the new land.
The need for marriageable women in the West immediately following the Gold Rush was great. At the close of the Civil War, the lack of men in the East was just as pronounced. Capitalizing on that need on both sides of the country were mail-order bride publications.
The lonely-hearts ads placed in mail-order publications and tales of various love affairs found in the book Object Matrimony: The Risky Business of Mail-Order Matchmaking on the Western Frontier reveal how those desperate souls looked for that special someone.
More than 170 years after the first mail-order bride, the same method of choosing a life partner is still being used by some. Object Matrimony contains stories of the origin of the practice and the romantic unions that came about as a result, as well as the disappointments and desertions.
Object Matrimony: The Risky Business of Mail-Order Matchmaking on the Western Frontier by New York Times bestselling author Chris Enss is now available in bookstores everywhere, on amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, and at nbnbooks.com.
