by Kristin Holt | Aug 21, 2015 | Articles
Victorian attitudes, being what they were, separated the sexes. Women should be nurturers, mothers, wives, and homemakers. Men should be protectors, breadwinners, and if either partner in marriage were to engage in business or education, it would be he.
Many single women hoping to find a spouse between 1865 and 1869 attended college. Ambitious women enrolled in schools across the eastern portion of the states were seeking to become doctors, lawyers, and journalists. Unfortunately for these ladies, men viewed female college graduates as poor homemakers, and the few eligible bachelors around kept their distance from educated ladies.
~ Object: Matrimony, The Risky Business of Mail-Order Matchmaking on the Western Frontier, by Chris Enss, p 36
by Kristin Holt | Jul 7, 2015 | Articles
19th Century young ladies (and gentlemen) learned a great deal about etiquette from their mothers, finishing schools, and from the societal expectations around them. The true art of conversation was a significant skill taught and expected within society, whether Philadelphia’s Old Money or the rural frontier. After all, conversation was a key element of an evening’s entertainment, courtship, and the Victorian Era’s social expectations.
by Kristin Holt | Jul 1, 2015 | Articles
Fans of Mail Order Bride historical romances know that many of these marriages of convenience involved letter-writing for a couple to become acquainted and perhaps eventually marry. The curious thing is that writing and love letters between a courting couple wasn’t a phenomenon for those separated by distance. Couples in the Victorian-Era United States often sent love letters to one another as part of their courtship, even when the other party resided nearby.
by Kristin Holt | Jun 13, 2015 | Articles
The ritual of courtship in the days of the American Old West is very different from today’s dating. Courtship used to always mean an intention to marry–if the couple found they were indeed as compatible as they believed. Courtship followed specific rules and standards, even in the less-than-stuffy western territories and states. I provide a list of courtship rituals that are an intrinsic part of the fabric of the American West history.
