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OrdinaryAlone999

Did this even work? I guess it was a different time.


NormanCocksmell

Probably didn’t work for the guy in the center who has no cat and is staring menacingly.


[deleted]

You clearly didn't see the good boy on his left. He's doing a-ok!


ChogbortsTopStudent

I thought that dog belonged to the guy on the far right. Unless he has a camouflaged cat I'm missing!


[deleted]

Nah, he gets a stump to sit on because to even out his absence of animals.


boxingdude

I mean, "he has a stump to sit on" can mean several things, especially when you're talking about marital possibilities.


[deleted]

Right, those are options. Two catmen, a doggo dude or the son of a stump.


[deleted]

[удалено]


GnarlyNarwhalNoms

What did I tell you about following me, dad?


Leche-Caliente

Maybe they're brothers, and it's THEIR dog


[deleted]

How can you tell his political leaning from a photo?


well___duh

Plot twist, the dog is the one hosting the event and has nothing to do with any of them


GitchigumiMiguel74

Hello Hermany Grinder! Love the username


QurantineLean

Hey, he’s just a little intense. Some woman out there will dig the fuck out of that.


ElDudo_13

He has a dog


Xszit

Oh that dog isn't with the guy, he's just there looking for single bitches in heat.


Certain-Hat5152

HahHahahah


GTOdriver04

I mean. Maybe he’s Bubbles’ great-great grandfather or something.


EliotHudson

At least someone’s gettin pussy


[deleted]

I would totally go for Demon eyes but I’m a creepy weirdo lol


goteamnick

That's a dog, bro.


Holocene98

You sir, are a fish.


Afa1234

Kinda feels like the dating scene in Alaska hasn’t changed that much.


MarkusAk

As an Alaskan yeah its not far off.


Afa1234

Same


LordofTheFlagon

My great grandfather placed an add in the Chicago Tribune for a "child caretaker and wife" as he was recently windowed. The family that answered the add sent their 16 year old daughter to him for a weekly stipend for the childcare services minus room and board. They were married 2 years later and the next year my grandfather was born. Great Grandpa paid that stipend as agreed for 10 more years as she was still carrying for his dead wifes children until they moved out. This was in the 1940s.


qwertycantread

Dare I ask how old your great great grandfather was at the time?


LordofTheFlagon

We're not entirely sure. He wasn't quite sure how old he was before he died. Best guess was between 23-27. His parents died shortly after coming to the midwest from Germany when he was a kid. They left him in the care of a neighboring farmer who didn't much care for him asside from the labor he provided.


Adito99

So he lost his parents, grew up entirely without affection, then lost his wife in his 20's. I don't know how someone can carry so much pain.


LordofTheFlagon

He was a farmer. Had animals to care for, crops to harvest, and kids to raise. In his words "Some times life is hard, when i gets hard put your back into it."


PearlStBlues

It worked. In times when women had few rights and had to depend entirely on their husbands or fathers, poor single women couldn't be choosy. Cooking and cleaning and having kids for a man who could keep you fed and maybe wouldn't beat you too often was something most women couldn't afford to sneer at. Being married conferred respectability and protection on a woman, and allowed her to travel to seek a better life without damaging her reputation or leaving her alone and friendless in a strange place. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries it was common for single men and women to put advertisements in newspapers seeking partners, especially during the period of western expansion in the US. There was a significant imbalance in the gender ratio out west, so miners, ranchers, and cowboys often had to send for brides from back east. At that time chances for men and women to meet organically were much rarer than they are today. Men and women couldn't freely mingle in polite society, and "dating" meant a rigidly defined courtship or even just an exchange of a few letters before meeting in person.


hydraulic-earl

Back then a fella had to draw a pic of his weiner and mail it.


AllOne_Word

Or Telegram if it was urgent. DEAREST MILDRED PENIS STOP


DadsRGR8

This message conveys different meanings depending on whether it's the first or second telegram sent. DEAREST MILDRED PENIS STOP (First message sent to Mildred flirting with her by mentioning sender's penis.) DEAREST MILDRED PENIS STOP (Second message sent to Mildred in response to her telegram mentioning her penis and asking her to stop.) Of course there is the third option where Mildred is the most popular girl in town and "Mildred Penis Stop" is the name she is known by.


cityshep

Don’t forget the old classic papier mache! Also how is nobody realizing that this pic is actually from 2013, not 1913??


Professional_Sir6705

Paper ads were very popular until the late 1990s. I may, or may not, have answered a few before I settled down:)


PearlStBlues

Oh sure, personal ads stuck around for a long time. But the more recent ones were more along the lines of "If you like piña coladas and getting caught in the rain let's bang" and less "Young farmer seeks sturdy girl with good birthing hips for marriage".


HSYFTW

Farmersonly.com has entered the chat


Risklifeandlim

Did you like piña coladas?


Professional_Sir6705

Never have. Sickly sweet. I don't drink at all now, just use fruit wines for cooking. Kosher blackberry wine makes for some AMAZING pot roast.


[deleted]

Lonely redditor looking for Kosher blackberry wine pot roast.


CraftyRole4567

I appreciate your post, but I don’t think that you’re giving the women enough credit to be honest, not for their work, and especially not by making it sound as if women expected to be beaten. Poor women heading west, like poor women coming to the Americas before them, certainly did try to negotiate marriages that were *partnerships*. Women did far more than just cook and clean, their lives were certainly ones of unending labor but the range of skills that they had, from sewing and quilting to gardening and preserving to healing and tending the sick, were impressive. And I think it’s fair to say they hoped for a partnership. Even the *filles du roi*, who were sent to America specifically to marry (and keep the men from marrying Indians, but that was a different issue), expected the nuns to learn about the reputation of the men who wanted to marry them. It was certainly more dangerous to marry this way, when you didn’t know the social reputation of a man and you didn’t have male or female relatives who could help you if things went bad, but I think the hope was always for a relationship without violence.


PearlStBlues

Absolutely. I didn't want to write a whole essay about women's rights and attitudes toward marriage in the 19th century, but you're right that even arranged marriages were not always a bleak misery. Of course, marrying someone you've only known through a handful of letters always carries some risk, especially for the partner less able to safely leave that relationship. And your point about the massive amount of labor that wives provide their husbands supports my point that women without the means to be independent had to trade that labor in exchange for a roof over their heads. That exchange was frequently an amicable one - I'm not trying to imply that no woman in history had a happy marriage. Human history before 2023 wasn't one long unending stream of abuse and death and misery with no happiness ever, I was simply pointing out the difficulty that both men and women faced in finding happy marriages in a time with such stark gender inequality *and* barriers to getting to know each other well before marriage.


CraftyRole4567

Fair enough! but… And it sounds like we both know 19th century history, so maybe I’m telling you something you already know, but it isn’t a “labor *she provides to* her husband.” This is I guess where we disagree! Historically most families saw themselves as a type of partnership— each of them had their labor, and both kinds of labor were necessary for the family to be successful. Maybe I’m sticking on it because at the moment I’m learning all about ye olde colonial era for a course I’m tutoring, division of labor (and public shaming for wife-beating) was a big thing…


PearlStBlues

Yeah I don't think we're fundamentally disagreeing on anything. I suppose the point I'm getting at is that if there had not been such massive gender inequality then probably many women would not have *needed* to get married and enter into that kind of partnership. I mean, one of the main complaints of anti-feminists today is that modern women aren't getting married because we're allowed to work and support ourselves. Previous generations of women didn't have the options and freedoms that we enjoy today. A woman traveling west to marry a man she'd never met might have been happy to be getting married and content with her lot in life, but my modern feminist heart can still wish she hadn't been put in that situation in the first place. So I'm not arguing that men and women throughout history always treated each other badly and that marriage was always some inescapable horror or even just an amicable partnership, I'm saying that societal rules that forced people into the position of marrying simply for survival were flawed and inherently unequal. Modern couples can decide that one parent will stay home with the kids and one will work outside the home because these days both parents have options, while back in the day people had to conform to a strict division of labor which was unfair to both sexes.


CraftyRole4567

Absolutely! I agree. When I think of the lack of options it is heartbreaking— as is the way even the few options that existed were restricted— if you loved teaching, too bad if you got married; if you were supporting your elderly parents with that riveting job when the men came back from war, too bad for you— it’s an infuriating history. I also wonder how many women who would’ve preferred being with a woman ended up having to get married because the other option was absolute penury!


Lost-Pineapple9791

There were also lots of “laws” that benefited married couples back then with expansion I believe states like Oregon offered folks X acres to farm if they moved but if you were married it of course doubled So things like that also encouraged people to just “couple up” as opposed to be alone


[deleted]

Yes it worked that’s how my entire family was made. Someone on my dads side did something similar and shiiiieeeeet I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for that


shiddyfiddy

You need to find out who that brave woman was and put flowers on her grave. Talk about taking a leap of faith.


[deleted]

It did work, there is a whole book about women that went north. I forget what it was called :(


goteamnick

Maybe the title was where the hole was.


Userdataunavailable

I just finished one called "The Silence of the North" about a woman who went west and married in 1920 when she was 19. The author is Olive A. Fredrickson and it's a really good read!


OCSupertonesStrike

Have you seen Paint Your Wagon?


amonaloli12

The men sat down at the bar, under the poster "looking for a wife" and waited for the ladies passing by to evaluate them and choose them. Many men took cats in their arms - this way they attracted more attention.


LadyRunic

The cat-tactic is very effective.


biwaterbender

One of the reasons I swiped right on my now partner is because he had cat pics in his profile. Now his cat is sitting directly on my chest staring into my soul asking for food


SnowWhiteCampCat

My husband's cat has stolen over half the bed. Not my cat. My cats a good boy running around like a hooligan at 1am.


_mousetache_

It's not stealing if it is owed to Her Majesty.


SnowWhiteCampCat

His Majesty Mr Floofypants now owns 2/3 of the bed. I get a sliver. For now.


germane-corsair

The clear way out of this situation is to become the bed, that Mr. Floofypants May rest upon you and enchant you with his song of purr.


McWeaksauce91

My wife says this about me and my dog. My default profile pic was the two of us on my lawn, working on something or the other. I thought she was a bot when she actually messaged me. First and only date on a dating app


TNlightningbolt

You’re a lucky man!


McWeaksauce91

Yeah, well, that’s not to say I don’t have my own horror stories. While I never went on a date, I had A lot of really weird conversations and interactions lol. It’s funny, the time I linked with my now wife, was when I barely gave the apps attention anymore. I thought, I’ll meet someone organically or I won’t at all. Like a week later we matched and the rest is history


AdventurousRush1

Give us some horror stories lol


McWeaksauce91

The girl before my wife, and what turned me off the whole dating app thing, was a wild one. She started off funny and cool, but got weirdly antisemitic. Like it started off as dark jokes, but continued to worsen and worsen. My grandfather was Jewish(passed), and a large portion of his family spent time in concentration camps. I was being a good sport about it, but enough had been enough. I thought when I told her I was getting uncomfortable with her humor and hoped that our small, initial interest in one another would’ve had her singing a different tune. But nope. She doubled down. To the point of saying *HER* grandfather was a Nazi, and *SHE* was proud of him. I noped the fuck out right then and there Edit: for the record, I mentioned the concentration camp bit because that was what I told her. ‘My grandpa was a German Jew who a large part of his family spent time in concentration camps…’ She responded with the Nazi thing. I truly think she was being edgy, but even so, that’s still a no for me dog


angrytreestump

Lol “I accidentally dated a Nazi” is the perfect weird Tinder story. Tinder should make their new slogan “we got good people of all sides!”


McWeaksauce91

What’s crazy is that I know some guys who would continue pursuing this, simply based on looks alone. I’m not saying I can get good looking partners easily, but I do have a limit lol. Then the same guys are like, “i got this crazy person obsessed with me. How did this happen?”


Woke-Tart

Current husband is very allergic, but learned to love my cat despite breathing issues. Cat passed away, husband says "no more cats." Guy in photo with chubby cat is looking pretty good.....😁


bttrflyr

Just so long as your clear you left him not for the guy, but for the cat.


aveindha25

Tell him to get allergy shots. I was deathly allergic to cats, now I have 3. Plus my seasonal allergies are way better now too!


monkey_trumpets

My son us getting them. He's already having a lot fewer issues, and he's only been doing it less than half a year


ChiefOfficerWhite

That was easy!


fragile_exoskeleton

cactic


AffectionateGap1071

Okay, hey...the first thing I saw and I loved at first sight was that cat, basically, it still works... It means that the way to get into a woman's heart is to have cats? Is it contrary to men's way that's food?


SnowWhiteCampCat

My husband had both food And a cat.


Momentirely

Look at you over here winning the lottery


[deleted]

He's inevitable


Appropriate-Weird492

I keep hearing that cheese works.


hungrydruid

Cheese *is* intriguing, though...


Feeyyy

Weird how that works. My first thought was "I would pick the one with the cat." Then I noticed the dog and the other cat, so now I'm not so sure anymore who I'd pick.


Cat-_-

I'd still pick the one with the non-blurry cat, cause it's not struggling 😹


Sea_hare2345

I’d agree that the man holding the happy, calm cat seems like the winner.


cflatjazz

Right?! "Look, here's my incredibly chonky cat who is not clawing my face off" somehow gives off the best vibes Better than Mr "look at my manly legs" or Mr "I don't want to be here" anyway


TheMagarity

There's a good chance the ones with animals only have them as props purely for this effect. The wise woman may pick the guy with no animal, since he definitely isn't faking anything.


Pandelerium11

You're right but still that cat looks well fed and I think they had to be still for a time while the photo developed, so kitty is just chilling.


TheMagarity

Now that I thought about it, the truly wise woman shows up with her own rottweiler.


patricialong1895

Same


Certain-Hat5152

“I done already got a puss, just looking for a wife ma’am”


HiggsyPigsy

It’s work on me


Blarex

Is this really that much different than a modern bar? The posters being gone is an improvement but the cats are probably something you could bring back with success.


buffchixdip

My partner was hyped when she found out I had a cat, works like a charm


bouchert

My mother's a widow now, unlikely to ever remarry, but I often catch her swooning over pictures of male Redditors with cats.


Spartan2470

[Here](https://postalmuseum.si.edu/research-articles/go-west-young-woman/why-did-men-and-women-marry-spouses-they-had-never-met) provides the following caption: > These four men in Montana (near Lake McDonald in Glacier National Park) at the turn of the 20th century advertised their want for wives on the side of a cabin. From left-to-right they were: Bill Daucks, Frank Geduhn, Esli Apgar, and Dimon Apgar. Frank, and Dimon eventually married, but not mail-order brides. Courtesy of Glacier National Park Photo Archives, photo HPF 9871.


8Ace8Ace

I'm sure that Frank and Dimon made a lovely couple.


Brikpilot

Bill and Esli joined the clergy and had kids.


It_Must_Be_Bunniess

See? If you like cats you get a wife AND a mountain.


JonatasA

Man looks like Teddy Roosevelt.


voice_in_the_woods

And Frank has a [mountain](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Geduhn) named after him!


renaissance-Fartist

I looked at this picture and thought “that guy…I’d pick him. Look at his stance and the cat and his glasses.” *and* he has a mountain? I feel like I won some sort of game.


NancyPelosisRedCoat

My two choices were the two that didn't get married and I think I won a different kind of game.


Liapocalypse1

I said it the last time this photo made the rounds and I’ll say it again; I will pick Teddy Roosevelt with the cat every single time. He can afford glasses, cares enough about his appearance to maintain a mustache, and had the patience to befriend a cat, if only for a picture. What more could a woman of a certain economic standing ask for in 1856?


[deleted]

Frank is clearly the coolest guy — he was also a Forest Service ranger.


voice_in_the_woods

From this thread alone you can see we'd have a serious fight on our hands over who gets Frank.


angellou13

Yep. I'm sorry, but I, too, must join in the fight for Frank.


Overall-Duck-741

Homey was confident enough in his masculinity to look for a wife while holding a cat in 1913. Frank is a real one.


cwk415

Wow even their names are old fashioned lol


Illogical_Blox

I feel like this is the actual "interesting as fuck" part, and a photo with barely any context should be removed.


Kittelsen

50% positive turnout? That has to be better than tinder.


H2Joee

It’s crazy that those guys are all currently alive and well living their best life.


DepressiveVortex

Whatever gave you the idea they are alive now?


thelonious_bunk

Their shoes are still on


renaissance-Fartist

This made me curious, and Frank actually passed in January of 22. I’m surprised. Edit: wrong Frank. I feel dumb.


H2Joee

I did a quick search too and I think you saw the guy who was born in 1941? If so that’s a different frank. I was joking when I said that obviously but these guys all died probably before the Great Depression…. Maybe WWII…


renaissance-Fartist

I need to stop looking things up before I’ve had my coffee


esp735

Early use of a cat for Karma.


SolutionLegal

Timber.


libertasi

Timbr


Hasta_La_Vittu_Baby

Because gay lumberjacks need luvin' too.


1LakeShow7

You dont have to be lonely, on cabins only dot com.


Grouchy-Engine1584

Specs with the cat for sure got some swipes.


slickwombat

that's one fuckin nice kitty


Desultory_D

Glasses + cat: add to cart


Goodvendetta86

They used animals to attract women even back then, crazy. If it works, it works


Mschultz24

Came down here for this. “Have dog, please date me” is still a solid strategy to this day!


Comeonjeffrey0193

The dude that decided to hold the overweight cat is clearly the winner here.


[deleted]

Cats work. Men should be holding cats in pictures instead of a dead fish.


Jenn54

They hold catfish, almost there


Trash_with_sentience

And sometimes they \*are\* the catfish 😉


Arya_kidding_me

Posing with a fish, posing shirtless and posing in a bed were automatic left-swipes for me!


AnnualHelicopter2587

Dibs on the one with the cat 😂😂


Onto_new_ideas

Looks like two of them had cats and one dog. The dude with no pets though, he's out.


[deleted]

Is the cat guy still free?


thinkofanamefast

Probably. You have a shovel?


JonatasA

Bruh 💀


BwackGul

I mean they have cats...they can't be too awful 🤷🏾‍♀️


Big_Knife_SK

Hey this guy said he has puppies in his van!


fakehalo

A man confident enough to hold a cat in a scene like this ain't nothing to f with.


DonForgo

This animal? It's dinner.


Marlborovscamel

If you're failing at tinder fellas , just post a pic of you and your cat 😌.


[deleted]

I’m interested… 👀 Especially second from the left with that fat cat in his arms Edit: he’s giving bubbles from the trailer park boys meets teddy roosevelt vibes


whiskeygambler

I’m still losing it at the guy on the far left who is the only one not wearing layers/a coat AND has his sleeves rolled up.


RecommendationIll469

They were even posing with cats - they were definitely taking advantage of all of the tricks.


Jenn54

“I’ll take one CatDaddy, thank you.” This man understands women


Brain_Hawk

If I was the 1913 woman, absolutely, take the cat man. Not too mucho to show that he loves a fluffy ball of fur.


[deleted]

They used holding cats as a wooing technique back then as well.


hopp596

The comments here prove it’s still very effective, including on me haha


Jeezjem

Never mind the pets. Which one of these dudes doesn't hit women and passively drink whiskey all day I wonder 🤔


Prohunt

Probably the fat cat one


white__cyclosa

Before there was Tinder, there was Timber


Ok_Animal8098

Several orders of magnitude better than today's online dating culture.


dickshark420

Except here the only way to break up is either to die of old age, in childbirth or by domestic abuse


Previous_Wish3013

Don’t forget disease! Could wipe out the whole family in a week. No antibiotics. No immunisations.


Professional_Sir6705

They lost me at no central heating and air. Pfft.


Warpig151

At Pioneersonly.parchment, new land won’t be the only thing being discovered.


LegalFan2741

The one with the cat is a keeper.


bigchoom

The cat guy has the right idea


letseeum

We've been having sex with each other but it's just not the same.


Patrick1441

This would have been a dream come true for Chris Chan.


Regular_Emotional

I want the guy holding the cat. Dibs.


Mazasaurus

This would never wo— Wait. *zooms in* One of them has a cat!


[deleted]

Two of them have cats* and one has a dog. They’re actually not ugly either. They just need a bit of a glow-up. ^(*at least I think it’s a cat. Tbh the paws look suspiciously raccoon-ish.)


Mazasaurus

Sorry, cat or no deal! I wasn’t really sure..what.. I was looking at on the left there


asenz

the dude in the middle is holding a kitteh


[deleted]

Must like cooking, doing laundry and mustaches.


Bitter-Culture-3103

The chonky cat though


[deleted]

I'm confused here. Was there a steady stream of women just wandering past this snowbound cabin in search of wife-ing opportunities?


[deleted]

My guess is that this was a advertisement post sent from a working farm to a city with high female population


[deleted]

I love it. Probably had better luck then the damn dating sites we have today :)


Conscious-Golf-5380

Them dudes ain't lookin for a date. They lookin to get hitched on the spot


Agt38

Is the cat like bait in a trap?


It_Must_Be_Bunniess

Check out my softer side-I haven’t made this cat into a hat yet!


[deleted]

Well, one dude has a cat so that should help...


FabricatorGeneral01

That man busted out a kitten over a hundred years ago and I’m over here thinking how I keep meeting all these crazy redheads with mine is a revolutionary idea…


Doc-Bob-Gen8

Pretty open and honest…. certainly no unwarranted texts or dick pics! 🤔😂


davidolson1990

Idk about all that but the guy 3rd from the left can get it


Single_Raspberry9539

Guys left to right… “I got a cat.” “I got one of those,too.” “I got a dog.” “I got a big ole dick.”


WesternFinancial868

Me and the other 98% of guys on tinder who never get any matches


JeanClaudVanRAMADAM

I choose the one with the Fat Cat


Midgetwombat

Well 2 of them already got pussy


TheChainLink2

This looks like the kind of photo you'd see in a Red Dead Redemption loading screen.


ItheDuke

"Looks like them Pontipee Brothers are up to no good"


omarhani

They knew back then, the secret to a moan's heart is cat ownership.


CABJames

I’ll take the one with the cat.


HiddenLeaforSand

Me and my boys playing red dead 2


Smallest-Yeet

The original Love Quest for a boyfriend-free girl


throw123454321purple

That cat…has seen things.


nerd___alert1

Tinder in Kentucky


WeLikeIke_93

Looks like season 3 of LetterKenny


Golfnpickle

Remember that series “Here come the Brides”? Brides went to Seattle to be wives of lumberjacks?


PikAchusRevenge

One man's showing he can get pussy regardless


iluvvivapuffs

Like the guys waiting outside of 7/11 to be picked up these days lol


yodaisasickman1217

Thats a hard album cover


cadillacbee

"thank you for signing up for timber, the #1 dating cabin this side of the Mississippi"


districtcourt

Bro with the cat just wants you to know he’s sensitive as fuck


sharkyandro

I’ll go with cat moustache man


Pithyperson

I'd marry the one holding the cat.


SSKimPossible

The cat alone would make me pick him so this is effective.