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Object Matrimony:

The Risky Business of Mail-Order Matchmaking on the Western Frontier

Deacon Joe Sleet’s correspondence with widow Nellie Wallace was full of promise for the future.  When they began writing one another in late 1925, Mrs. Wallace had hoped to find a man who would love and care for her as her deceased husband once had.  When she placed an ad in the “Get Acquainted” section of a western magazine and the deacon responded she believed he was the answer to her heart’s longing.  “I’m not a flapper,” her advertisement read, “but I would like to exchange letters with a man between the age of twenty-five and thirty-two.  I want a husband good and true, there is a chance it might be you,” the notice concluded.

Twenty-two-year-old Nellie Wallace lived in Tchula, Mississippi 1,500 miles from Joe Sleet’s home in El Paso, Texas.  Of all the letters she received in reply to her ad, Joe struck her fancy completely.  In a short time, Nellie was writing Joe to the exclusion of anyone else.  Through his letters she learned that he was a deacon in the Baptist church and that he was a widower.  Nellie confided in him that she too was the victim of a sad romance, her husband having died some years ago.

The correspondence was hardly a month old before Joe had been granted permission to call his fair correspondent “Sweetheart.”  Another week and respective photographs were exchanged; still another and a row of x’s appeared at the bottom of their letters.  Another month passed and more letters were delivered at the Sleet home.  In one of those letters Nellie admitted there was a “spark of love aglow,” in her heart.

The fervor of the letters increased with their frequency.  Then came the inevitable exchange of locks of hair with Nellie giving an accurate description of herself.  She informed Joe she was five feet, eight inches tall, weighed 180 pounds but being tall, did not look obese.  “And goodness knows,” the account concluded, “I like to eat.”  Her devotion to the truth did not quench the flame of Joe’s growing love for Nellie.  “Sweetheart,” he replied, “your age, weight, hair, eyes and everything is all right with me if you will only make some suggestion about the ‘yes’ part of it.  Say ‘yes’ now, Nellie.  Your loving Joe.”

To learn more about mail order weddings and divorces read

Object Matrimony:

The Risky Business of Mail-Order Matchmaking on the Western Frontier

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Object Matrimony: 

The Risky Business of Mail-Order Matchmaking on the Western Frontier

The New Plan was a mail-order catalog/newspaper that was in circulation from 1911 to 1917.  The following are a few samples of advertisements found in the September 1917 edition of the periodical.

Ad #101  Everybody says that I’m fine looking for my age; am honest, intelligent, neat and clean, kind-hearted and have a good character.  Age, 58; weight, 120; height 5 feet 2 inches; blue eyes; brown hair; fine homemaker.  Income, $200 per year.  Have real estate worth $4,000.  Object matrimony.  Will answer all letters.

Ad #102  A winsome miss of 22; very beautiful, jolly and entertaining; fond of home and children; from good family; American; Christian; blue eyes; golden hair; fair complexion; pleasant disposition; play piano.  Will inherit $10,000.  Also have means of $1,000.  None but men of good education need to write from 20 to 38 years of age.

Ad #103  Would like to get married, because I’m lonesome.  Am considered rather good looking and of a lovable disposition.  Age, 35; height, 5 feet 5 inches; weight 145; hazel eyes; brown hair; American; occupation, stenographer and bookkeeper.  Will inherit a few thousand.  Will answer all letters.

Ad #104  Lonely in Pennsylvania.  Society has no charms for me; prefer a quiet life.  Am an American lady, with common school education; well thought of and respected; age 25; height 5 feet 9 inches; weight, 155; blue eyes; light hair.  Have means of $3,000.  Wish correspondence with good natured, honest, industrious man.

Ad #105 A perfect blonde; trained nurse, wishes to make the acquaintance of a nice young gentlemen, view to matrimony; age 23, weight 124, height 5 feet 3 inches; German-American; college education, very neat dresser; will answer all letters.

To learn more about lonely hearts in the Old West read

Object Matrimony: 

The Risky Business of Mail-Order Matchmaking on the Western Frontier

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Object Matrimony: 

The Risky Business of Mail Order Match Making on the Western Frontier.

In the early days of westward travel, when men and women left behind their homes and acquaintances in search of wealth and happiness, there was a recognized need for some method of honorable introduction between the sexes. The need was readily fulfilled by the formation of a periodical devoted entirely to the advancement of marriage. Throughout the 1870s, 80s and 90s, that periodical, to which many unattached men and women subscribed, was a newspaper called Matrimonial News. Here’s a sample of one of the advertisements that appeared in the publication:

No. 236: A gentleman of 25 years old, 5 feet 3 inches, doing a good business in the city, desires the acquaintance of a young, intelligent and refined lady possessed of some means, of a loving disposition from 18 to 23, and one who could make home a paradise. Must like biking.

To learn more about mail order brides and the advertisements they placed in various publications read 

Object Matrimony:  The Risky Business of Mail Order Match Making on the Western Frontier.

Enter now to win a copy of

Object Matrimony:

The Risky Business of Mail Order Match Making on the Western Frontier

In the early days of westward travel, when men and women left behind their homes and acquaintances in search of wealth and happiness, there was a recognized need for some method of honorable introduction between the sexes. The need was readily fulfilled by the formation of a periodical devoted entirely to the advancement of marriage.

Throughout the 1870s, 80s and 90s, that periodical, to which many unattached men and women subscribed, was a newspaper called Matrimonial News. Here’s a sample of one of the advertisements that appeared in the publication:

No, 228 – If there is a gentlemen of honor and intelligence between the age of 35 and 50 who wants a genuine housekeeper, let him write to this number. I am a widow, 34 years old, weight 110 pounds, 4 feet and 5 inches in height: am brunette and have very fine black hair.

To learn more about mail order brides and the advertisements they placed in various publications

Object Matrimony: The Risky Business of Mail Order Match Making on the Western Frontier.