Enter to win a copy of

Object Matrimony:

The Risky Business of Mail-Order Matchmaking on the

Western Frontier.

Business for matrimonial publications increased substantially whenever stories of successful mail-order connections were made. Editors for periodicals such as Matrimonial News and the New Plan Company shared happy ever after tales with daily newspapers in hopes they would print the romantic adventures of correspondence couples.

Several such stories appeared in newspapers like the Waterloo Daily Courier in Waterloo, Iowa and the North Adams Evening Transcript in North Adams, Massachusetts around Valentine’s Day in 1905.  Advertisements around the mail-order articles consisted of flower shops, jewelry stores, and chocolate makers.  According to a post in the February 6, 1905 edition of the Waterloo Daily Courier, readership for the paper doubled on romantic holidays like Saint Valentine’s Day and Christmas.  “Whenever mail-order love stories are printed, and particularly those that present a high view of matrimony and the fun couples could have in a happy marriage,” the editorial staff at the Courier noted, “the circulation grows.”

An article entitled “Would She Bother Him?” which ran on Sunday, February 10, 1905, was an example of a story that generated significant business for the Iowa paper.

“Martin Perkins, aged forty-one, and Eliza Gulless, aged thirty-seven, sat before an open wood fire, he holding his hands, she knitting. For two years the couple corresponded via mail then came the day Mr. Perkins asked Miss Gulless to come west.  Miss Gulless, now Mrs. Perkins, agreed.  Mr. Perkins resided in the area of Bisbee, Arizona.  The future Mrs. Perkins left her parents and siblings behind in Ohio to join him.  The two met through a mail-order advertisement.

“Twice a week for ten months the pair met. On Wednesday they were together at the church for choir practice and Saturday evenings were spent at Miss Gulless’s home talking and getting to know each other further.  Mr. Perkins lived with his mother and half the people in the Bisbee area said it would be a shame for him to marry and leave his mother alone, the other half maintained he was morally bound to marry Miss Gulless.

“During the ten months they spent together Mr. Perkins was endeavoring to make up his mind that it would be safe for a man of his confirmed habits to enter matrimony. He sat with Miss Gulless engaged in the same occupation every week-holding his hands with the occasional twirling of his thumbs-while Miss Gulless knitted.  But at last he had come to the determination to ask her to become his wife.”

To learn more about Miss Gulless and other mail-order brides read

Object Matrimony:

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

Enter to win a book for history lovers and brides to be who believe the risk is worth it all – Object Matrimony: The Risky Business of Mail-Order Bride Matchmaking on the Western Frontier.

When Carroll B. Rablen, a thirty-four–year-old veteran of World War II from Tuttletown, California, advertised for a bride, he imagined hearing from a woman who longed to spend her life with him hiking and enjoying the historic, scenic beauty of the Gold Country in Northern California. The ad he placed in a San Francisco matrimonial paper in June 1928 was answered by Eva Brandon. The thirty-three-year-old Eva was living in Quanah, Texas when she received a copy of the matrimonial publication.

If Carroll had been less eager to marry he might have noticed the immature tone Eva’s letters possessed. If he’d taken the time to scrutinize her words he might have been able to recognize a flaw in her thinking. According to the July 14, 1929 edition of the Ogden, Utah newspaper the Ogden Standard-Examiner, one of Eva’s first correspondences demonstrated that she not only seemed much younger than thirty-three years old, but also had a dark side. “Mr. Rablen, Dear Friend,” the letter began. “You wrote about a son I have. He has had no father since he was a month old. The father left me. I haven’t seen him. If a man leaves me I don’t want to see them. And I’ll make sure I can’t.”

Eva left Texas for California in late April 1929. She and Carroll were married the evening of April 29, 1929. The dance that followed the nuptials at the Tuttletown school house was well attended by Carroll’s friends and neighbors. They were happy he had found someone to share his life. Eva twirled around the room, dancing with anyone who wanted to join her. She was elated with her situation. Carroll, on the other hand, chose to wait outside for his new bride in the car. According to the Ogden Standard Examiner, Carroll was slightly deaf and despondent over the other physical ailments that kept him from fully enjoying the festivities.

When Carroll’s father, Stephen Rablen, began regaling guests with his rendition of the song “Turkey in the Straw” on his fiddle, Eva excused herself and went outside to visit with her husband. She took a tray of sandwiches and coffee to him. He smiled proudly at her and commented on how thoughtful it was for her to bring him some refreshments. Carroll helped himself to a cup of coffee, blew across the top of it to cool it down then took a sip. He made a bit of a face as if the coffee lacked something. He took another drink to determine what it needed.

Shortly after Carroll swallowed the brew a third time, he dropped the cup and began to scream. Eva watched him slump over in the front seat of the car. Carroll continued to scream. Wedding guests poured out of the building to see what was wrong. Carroll’s father pushed past the people to get to his son. “Papa. Papa,” Carroll repeated, reaching out for Stephen’s hand. “The coffee was bitter … so bitter.”

Emergency services were called to the scene, but by the time they arrived Carroll had slipped into an unconscious state. Attendees at the reception told reporters for the local newspaper that Eva simply stood back and watched the action play out around her. She wore no expression at all; no worry, concern, anxiety, nothing. An ambulance transported Carroll to the hospital and Eva road along quietly in the vehicle with her husband. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

To learn more about the mail-order brides and the ads that lured them West read Object Matrimony: The Risky Business of Mail-Order Matchmaking on the Western Frontier

Enter to win a book for history lovers and brides to be who believe the risk is worth it all – Object Matrimony: The Risky Business of Mail-Order Bride Matchmaking on the Western Frontier.

Desperate to strike it rich during the Western Gold Rushes and eager for the free land afforded them through the Homestead Act, men went west alone and sacrificed many creature comforts. Only after they arrived at their destinations did some of them realize how much they missed female companionship.
One way for men living on the frontier to meet women was through subscriptions to heart-and-hand clubs. The men received newspapers with information, and sometimes photographs, about women, with whom they corresponded. Eventually, a man might convince a woman to join him in the West, and in matrimony. Social status, political connections, money, companionship, or security were often considered more than love in these arrangements.

Complete with historic photographs and actual advertisements from both women seeking husbands and males seeking brides, Object Matrimony includes stories of courageous mail order brides and their exploits as well as stories of the marriage brokers, mercenary matchmakers looking to profit as merchants did off of the miners and settlers. Some of these stories end happily ever after; others reveal desperate situations that robbed the brides of their youth and sometimes their lives.

To learn more about the mail-order brides and the ads that lured them West read Object Matrimony: The Risky Business of Mail-Order Matchmaking on the Western Frontier.

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