This 1865 Ad of an 18-Year-Old Man Looking for a Wife Is Hilarious!

Tuesday, July 14, 2020

In 2017, Max Roser, a researcher for the University of Oxford, shared a snippet of a dating ad published in a newspaper in 1865. The ad, titled “CHANCE FOR A SPINSTER,” featured a young man touting his best traits in the hopes that he would find a wife.

And this young lad really had it all going for him. He’s patriotic (he believes in the Star Spangled Banner!), he’s well-off (he has nine sheep, a bull, and 2 heifers), he wants to buy you a hoop skirt, and he even has a good set of teeth! Your Tinder date could never.

Here is the endearing transcript in full:

“I am eighteen years old, have a good set of teeth, and believe in Andy Johnson, the star-spangled banner, and the 4th of July. I have taken up a State lot, cleared up eighteen acres last year, and seeded ten of it down.

My buckwheat looks first rate, and the oats and potatoes are bully. I have got nine sheep, a two-year-old bull, and two heifers, besides a house and a barn.

I want to get married. I want to buy bread-and-butter, hoop-skirts, and waterfalls for some person of the female persuasion during life. That’s what’s the matter with me. But I don’t know how to do it.”

We’ll never know if this young man found the love of his life, but we have to applaud his effort… and at the very least his buckwheat.

(via INSIDER)

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The Face of Shrewsburys Trade: Amazing Vintage Photographs Captured Shropshire Shop Fronts in 1888

Saturday, April 27, 2019

An extraordinary set of photographs from the Victorian era provides a glimpse into Shrewsbury’s rich history of independent retail, as entrepreneurs pose outside their companies. The photos shows every shop front imaginable selling everything from cheeses and chocolates to shovels and shoes.

Joseph (Lewis) Della Porta was from a family of shopkeepers. His father, also called Joseph, was an immigrant from Northern Italy. He settled in Shrewsbury in about 1848 and established a small shop on Princess Street. The business prospered and expanded into adjoining shops including Lloyds Mansion, the Tudor building which stood on the corner of the Square. The store sold a wide range of goods such as hardware, furniture, bedding, china and boots and shoes. By the time of Joseph senior’s death in 1904, it was an established and thriving department store, especially noted for its Christmas displays.

As well as being a partner in the family business, Joseph (Lewis) Della Porta was also a keen photographer. Architects plans show that his new house, to be built on the Mount in 1892, included a darkroom. These amazing photographs were taken by Joseph in 1888.

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