He knows her street, her height and roughly her age, and asks her to answer if she recognizes him.
Transcribed from original newspaper scans. Published by AseeksB.
A milkman is in love with a hired girl who lives on Jarvis street. She is about medium height and weight, dark, and say 21 years old. If she should recognize the advertiser from this advertisement, do please answer this, and let the Editor bring about an introduction directly. Address soon to Box 1053, Matrimonial Journal Office, Toronto.
| Newspaper | The Anglo-American Matrimonial Journal, Toronto |
|---|---|
| Date | December 1886 (Vol. 1, No. 1), page 3 |
| Section | Lower class (masculine), at one cent a word |
| Written by | A milkman, unsigned |
| Addressed to | One woman, a hired girl on Jarvis Street |
| Where | Replies to Box 1053, Matrimonial Journal Office, Toronto |
The Anglo-American Matrimonial Journal was a paper of marriage ads, run from an office in Toronto. Canadiana, the Canadian Research Knowledge Network’s digital collection, holds one issue: Vol. 1, No. 1, December 1886. Its ads are sorted by class and sex, and the price rose with the class: a cent a word for the lower class, two for the middle and three for the upper. Replies went to numbered boxes at the Journal’s office, and a few box numbers are printed twice.
This is a missed connection, placed in a marriage paper. In the 1880s Jarvis Street was one of Toronto’s grandest addresses, lined with mansions, and a hired girl was a live-in domestic servant. Instead of asking her to write to him, he asks the Editor to make the introduction; the same issue advertised that the Editor arranged matches privately for clients who preferred not to advertise. Toronto still has missed connections; see our guide to personal ads in Toronto.
Public domain: published in 1886.
Transcribed from the page image on Canadiana and checked against the original; spelling and punctuation are as printed, and words broken across lines are rejoined.
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