Monkey Girl Marries Alligator Boy

Posted By: Paul - Mon Sep 09, 2024 - Comments (0)
Category: Human Marvels, Marriage, 1940s, Circuses, Carnivals, and Other Traveling Shows

Waited Too Long

Birmingham Post Herald - July 31, 1964

Posted By: Alex - Sat Aug 03, 2024 - Comments (0)
Category: Divorce, Marriage, 1960s

Candidate for Harem

Aug 1964: Marie Miller, a 23-year-old divorcee, announced that in return for $50,000 per year she would be willing to join the harem of Sheik Suleiman el-Haseil who lived in Israel's Negev Desert. She explained that she was responding to a magazine ad apparently placed by the Sheik seeking an American wife.

The Sheik responded that he didn't want her in his harem. He explained that he had placed an ad for an American wife back in 1958, but he was no longer interested in one.

Chillicothe Gazette - Aug 18, 1964

In fact, in December 1957 Sheik Suleiman had been reported to be seeking not just any American wife. He was hoping to marry Eleanor Roosevelt (widow of FDR).

Newsweek - Dec 16, 1957

The stress of the media frenzy following Marie Miller's offer seems to have overwhelmed her, and she ended up in the hospital with a bad back. She was also kicked out of her church.

Dayton Daily News - Aug 27, 1964

Sheik Suleiman (right) with reporter Paul McMahon (1961)

But where exactly did Miller get the idea that Sheik Suleiman was seeking an American wife? I think it traces back to a February 1964 article in HQ magazine by Trevor L.M. Maynard, "I Buy Brides for Arab Sheiks." It described Maynard's lucrative business as a finder of western wives for Arab sheiks, including Sheik Suleiman. He claimed to have arranged 117 marriages between young western women and Arab sheiks.

Click to read full article (pdf)

Posted By: Alex - Sat Dec 09, 2023 - Comments (5)
Category: Marriage, 1960s

The First Woman to Marry a Hologram

Back in 2018 we posted about Akihiko Kondo, a Japanese man who married a hologram. His holographic wife floated inside a desktop device.

Now Spanish artist Alicia Framis has announced she'll also be marrying a hologram. Her holographic partner is a life-size, three-dimensional projection powered by AI. His name is AILex.



Whereas Akihiko Kondo married a hologram because, by his own admission, he had trouble forming relationships with flesh-and-blood women, Framis is marrying a hologram as a piece of performance art which she's titled "The First Woman to Marry a Hologram."

She previously lived with a mannequin named Pierre.

More info: ElPais.com, AliciaFramis.com

Posted By: Alex - Thu Dec 07, 2023 - Comments (0)
Category: Technology, AI, Robots and Other Automatons, Performance Art, Marriage

Electrify Your Wife

In a similar vein to other ads from that era, such as "Recipe for boiled wife" and "Beat your wife tonight (at bowling)."

Life - Dec 12, 1969

Posted By: Alex - Tue Nov 21, 2023 - Comments (2)
Category: Advertising, Wives, Marriage, 1960s

Bob’s Marriage Repair Kit

Preacher Bob Harrington's guide to a successful marriage, released in 1974. Three years later he got divorced. Info from wikipedia:

Posted By: Alex - Sat Oct 14, 2023 - Comments (3)
Category: Divorce, Marriage, 1970s

Honeymoon attack

Aug 1993: Frannie Snite was convicted of sneaking up behind her new husband as he sat watching the sunset during their honeymoon, then attacking him with a tire iron. Apparently she was hoping to get a life insurance payout. That's gotta be in the running for the worst honeymoon ever.

And yet, it seems like there must be more to the story. I don't think her husband (who survived the attack) ever identified her as his attacker. Her 2013 obituary doesn't mention any of this, nor her five-year prison sentence.

More info: Seattle Times

Lancaster New Era - Aug 18, 1993

Posted By: Alex - Sat Sep 09, 2023 - Comments (1)
Category: Crime, Wives, Marriage, 1990s

Aleck the deluded gander

Details from Life magazine (May 18, 1953):




I haven't been able to find any info about what became of Aleck after the Life article made him famous. How long did he live? According to google, geese in captivity can sometimes live for as long as 40 years. So Aleck might have been standing guard by that oil drum for many years.

Posted By: Alex - Wed Jul 05, 2023 - Comments (0)
Category: Animals, Husbands, Marriage, 1950s

How to quit your job and get married on $25 a week

The 1940s answer, according to the Forum Cafeteria in St. Louis, was to save money by eating at their restaurant. Based on the menu, it sounds like it was decent food.

I don't think you'd ever save money by eating out nowadays, unless you're ordering from the dollar menu at a fast food restaurant.

St. Louis Post Dispatch - May 1, 1941

Posted By: Alex - Wed Jun 07, 2023 - Comments (0)
Category: Restaurants, Advertising, Marriage, 1940s

Hypnosis Test for Divorce

Uncertain about whether to get divorced? Dr. Herbert Mann promised that hypnotism would provide an answer.

Passaic Herald-News - Oct 18, 1965

Posted By: Alex - Wed Mar 08, 2023 - Comments (2)
Category: Hypnotism, Mesmerism and Mind Control, Divorce, Marriage, 1960s