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Wednesday, January 4, 2017



I'm a big fan of mail-order brides stories, such as Mail-Order Mayhem in Seven Brides for Seven Texans. I've written several such stories, because I find them so interesting. Just image leaving all that is familiar--home, parents, siblings, friends--to travel across the country via train, stage coach, freight wagon, and/or horseback to marry a stranger. 

We're all familiar with the mail-order brides of the 19th century, but did you know they still exist? They do. Just try Googling the term: Mail-Order Brides. Or maybe, it's better if you don't.



Early residents at Lake McDonald posed with “Wives Wanted” sign, ca. 1901

During the peak years of overland migration, hundreds of thousands of white women traveled west, but the majority were already married. It was thought that "suitable" single women should not go west alone, so what could have caused a woman to put aside conventions and seek a husband so far away? A woman must have been pretty desperate to consider such a thing.

Did you know that other cultures also have a form of mail-order brides?

* Plains Indians arranged sight-unseen marriages. They were often set up with the help of a middleman and could involve the payment of a "bride price," which was to compensate the woman's family for the loss of her labor.

* Russian immigrants brought with them the tradition of koopla, whereby marriage brokers were paid a fee to pair men with potential spouses from the Old Country

* Chinese and Japanese men obtained "picture brides" from their homelands--women whom they had come to know only through grainy photographs. According to historian Glenda Riley, Asian women entered such relationships because of parental pressure, to escape poverty, or to hide a sullied reputation. It was customary for the men to bear all costs, including the woman's passage and any wedding expenses incurred.


The Civil War was a big factor in women traveling west in the later part of the 19th century. By 1865 it was estimated that there were as many as 30,000 single women back east. With the plentitude of bachelors in the Plains and so many women needing husbands, you can see how becoming a mail-order made sense to so many. 

If you'd lived in the 19th century, do think you would have considered becoming a mail-order bride? What circumstances could cause you to have considered it? Have you ever known a mail-order bride?


 

Word Search puzzle - Be sure to visit my post on January 2nd and get a copy of the Seven Brides for Seven Texans word search puzzle. Work it and then email me to let me know you did, and I'll enter you in my drawing for a copy of the Texas Boardinghouse Brides series.

And don't forget to vote in the polls in the sidebar.

Come back next week. Erica Vetsch will be here talking about her fabulous characters, Bowie and Elise.












12 comments:

  1. This sounds like a great series and I love the fact that the stories center around a family, so they are interconnected. I didn't realize mail order brides were still a practice. That would be a scary venture in my opinion, and I don't know that I could have done something like that, but who knows, circumstances have a way of changing things.

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    1. The modern mail-order brides are one mostly from Russia and Asia. I believe the woman hope to better themselves by coming to America. You're right about circumstances changing. It's hard to say now what we might have done in the 19th century, but things were not nearly so good for women back then.

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  2. Mail-order brides stories are my all-time favorite kind. That said, I couldn't imagine agreeing to marry a man I'd never met. The women who did so had courage.

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    1. You're so right. I can't imagine be married to someone you didn't know. It gives me the shivers, although I do enjoy putting my poor characters in such a position.

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  3. Today, at least in America, being a mail-ordered bride might be easier than in 19th Century. Women have more rights a humans than back then.

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    1. That's for sure. Back in the 1900s, about the only work a decent woman could do was cook, clean, or sew.

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  4. I didn't realize that there were still Mail Order Brides in this day and age. I don't know if I could have been a mail order bride. I guess it would have depended on the circumstances of life.

    I have your Texas Boardinghouse Brides series. It is a great series! I love reading that time era! :)

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    1. It is hard to believe there are still mail-order brides, but I guess some woman are willing to risk marriage to a stranger in order to live in a better country than they currently do.

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  5. I love mail order bride stories and i have enjoyed learing about the history involved.
    When i lived in Tulsa back in the 1980's i had a friend who was a mail order bride. She was Asian and thankfully made a great match. She came from poverty so this was a means of escaping that, getting to come to America and having a great life. Her husband and her were great friends to me and fell deeply in love and were very happy.

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    1. It's good to hear that some mail-order marriages do work out. Hey, did you know I'm also from Tulsa?

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  6. I have met a few mail order brides, but did not get to know them well. 2 were from Romania. One I met about 45 years ago was a young woman from the Philippines whose family arranged for her to come to the US and marry a much older Navy retiree who was also from the Philippines. The thought in so many of these countries is that all Americans are wealthy and life is so easy. I recently met a young asian bride who met her american husband when he was stationed in her country. She was not adjusting well to life here. She felt she was being mistreated by her husband and in-laws because she was expected to do cooking and housework. Most people in her country have household help to do all household chores.
    I think the similarity between mail order brides of the 1800's and today is they wanted to improve their prospects for a husband and a family. The main difference is back then they expected to have to work and build their lives. Today, the impression that all Americans live lives of luxury and are wealthy leads many brides to be disappointed and cheated.
    In the 1860's I may have considered being a mail order bride. It would have depended on how desperate my situation was at home.

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