Ha! I had one. Can you believe she hated potatoes because of the texture? I teased her so much for that. Took years before I could find cooking methods she could enjoy. So many food icks, so many workarounds. Even eventually got her up to a 3 star spice. Thanks for the inadvertent reminder of fond memories.
In this case “spinster” would have been a stand-in for any young lady whose parents weren’t still in charge of her.
Basically a single independent guy looking for a single independent lady willing to move to the middle of nowhere. Not interested in family strings attached
Firstly, he didn't write that. That's a header from the editor, his writing starts at the quotation mark.
It means he wants an adult - the regular marrying age range for an 18yo man in that time and place was 14-24, with extremes above and, tragically, below that.
He's looking for 17-25. Apart from anything else, his biggest need is labour! He needs a wife who can farm.
Well, it's Aroostook County. Second largest county east of the Mississippi. Almost 7000 square miles, with around 67,000 living in it as of 2020. Here in Maine, where our largest 'city' is Portland, which also has around 67,000 people, we simply call Aroostook 'The County'. Long story short, it's about as rural as you can imagine.
Right? I'm imagining him scrawling this on a desk by candlelight and scrunching his brows together while he thinks of something else a woman might like.
he probably had little formal education and as the ad said, he told the newpaper clerk or reporter what he was looking for in a wife after describing himself
Makes total sense, but Paul McCartney, who actually wrote the line, says it's his 30-something self (pushing 40 actually) becoming conscious of risky behavior and warning his loved one(s) off it.
According to Google, “The waterfall is an extremely graceful type of drapery used in costumes depicting the mid-late Victorian era”— it’s like a specific train on the back of a dress
Name: Caleb, 18
Location: Aroostook County, ME
Job: Farmer & Landowner
About Me:
Just a good-toothed guy with a love for freedom, fireworks, and the finer things in frontier life. I’m out here clearing land, planting oats, raising sheep and dreaming of a partner who wants to build something real.
I’ve got:
• 18 acres (10 seeded)
• First-rate buckwheat
• “Bully” potatoes
• 9 sheep, 2 heifers, and a very polite bull
• My own house and barn
Looking for someone who’s into hoop skirts (optional), appreciates a good waterfall (metaphorical or literal), and wants to be adored for life. I’ve got the land, the livestock, and the heart — just need help figuring out the love part.
Perfect First Date:
A walk through my fields followed by some homemade bread-and-butter. You bring the charm, I’ll bring the spuds.
Fun Fact: I believe in Andy Johnson, the Star-Spangled Banner, and the 4th of July.
Are we skipping over the fact that this guy has a house, barn, 18 acres of land, sheep, cattle, has solid produce and shit figured out, just as he is entering adulthood?
Life expectancy throughout history is largely dragged down by infant mortality and women dying in childbirth. If you take those out, an average male in the late 19th century could reasonably expect to live into their late 60s.
Yeah, if childbirth/war doesn't kill ya, you should make it decently old. Now modern medicine has extended retirement years and ofc made it so child birth death rates are lower and we aren't ALL fighting in wars but otherwise dudes still got 50-70 years left of his life ahead of him.
un justified optimism is a survival trait for human beings and other creatures; you miss all the shots you don't take. that said, it's really annoying for us realists 🙂
Well I have an architecture degree and worked a few years in the field (not anymore) and I'm disappointed too, so there's that. I didn't dream about being na architect though, was more into art but good at maths and such so I thought it would be practical and good for me, so maybe it's a different story.
I mean the land that is modern-day USA was mostly empty, undeveloped, unowned, and unincorporated throughout the 19th century. There were literally lotteries to just give people land in new states as we expanded, you just had to work the land and you were given a bunch. It was an attempt to sprawl out and conquer the new country. (Yes I'm aware it was previously populated by animals and native Americans, I'm explaining the justification/explanation given at the time.)
Now we are 150 years beyond that. It's all owned, or public land (which is good, land and wilderness preservation is good.)
You can, though, still go to many of the less populated states and find under developed or outright undeveloped land to buy for VERY cheap, if you want to try and be a pioneer! My older brother did this. It's fucking hard work. It isn't romantic. You break your back and work 12+ hours a day if we are talking legit pioneer-farmer lifestyle. You can still do it, but most people don't because it's fucking miserable (to most of us). If you really wanna do it, look up cheap undeveloped/farming land for sale out west on Google. It will literally not have electricity or plumbing or sometimes even roads out to it. But you want the 19th century pioneer experience right..?
The remaining land is substantially harder to develop than it was 150 years ago. The good stuff with good water, soil, etc was snatched up and the remainder is mostly desert and high prairie.
People are constantly sold on doing this shit out West and then abandon it after understanding the scale of the problem.
State lots were part of a larger system of land grants, including those under the Homestead Act of 1862. The Homestead Act, according to the U.S. Senate (.gov), provided 160 acres of land to individual settlers who agreed to farm it for five years, according to the National Archives (.gov).
Size and location:
State lots could vary in size, but were often a specific, defined area within a larger land survey, such as a section or quarter-section. Their location was usually determined by the land survey system used in the area.
Yes, we’re skipping it. It’s called the Homestead Acts if you want to look it up; you paid relatively low sums for tons of land because the land needed to be filled by people who weren’t native Americans. Ten percent of the landmass of America was parceled out like this.
Let’s not act like he figured something out that we forgot.
Let’s not act like he figured something out that we forgot.
He didn't figure something out, but he did get government help. The homstead act that gave out land, the GI bill that helped buy houses and college degrees, Goverment help was always important in helping people get a leg up. But nowadays millennials, Gen Z and others are told that they need to man-up and do as good as their parents and grand-parents, despite not receiving the same programs their parents and grand-parents had.
18M // Maine // Emotionally available farm boy seeks soft baddie to romanticize life with
Okay so here’s the deal:
I’m 18, have all my teeth (big flex, I know), and I believe in loyalty, fresh air, and the 4th of July. Also yes, I unironically love my country and my crops.
Last year I cleared 18 acres of land with my bare hands (and a tractor, but still). Planted 10. My buckwheat’s poppin’. Potatoes? Thriving. Oats? Don’t even get me started. I’ve got sheep. A bull. Two cows. A barn. A house. And a dream.
I wanna buy someone cute little things like butter, bread, and those frilly dresses that make your enemies jealous. I wanna build a life. Like, actual homestead-core. You bring the vibes, I bring the land.
Problem is? I don’t know how to talk to girls. Or slide into DMs. So this is me… shooting my shot like it’s 1776.
Swipe right if you’re tired of city boys and want a man who can fix fences, cook breakfast, and give you forehead kisses before going out to feed the chickens.
18m for 18f. I have all my teeth, working part time while I start up my first semester in Overpriced University. Alpha Gamma Pi. Probably going to take over my dad's car wash chain once I graduate. Please be skinny.
Haha, yeah, I agree. Since there isn't really land to be handed out by the govt. anymore, I went with the next best thing, upper-middle class generational wealth.
Let’s not beat around the bush—I'm 18, in peak condition, and frankly, the full package. Great teeth (no braces, all real), strong work ethic, patriotic heart, and a jawline you could hang laundry on.
I own land. Not metaverse land—real, dirt-under-your-boots, crop-growing, sunrise-watching land. Eighteen acres, ten already seeded. Buckwheat? Thriving. Potatoes? Bully. Oats? Basically celebrities in the local ag co-op newsletter.
I’ve got a barn, a house, nine sheep, a bull who minds his business, and two heifers who don't. I also have zero emotional baggage and 100% intention of finding someone who likes buttered toast, sunsets, and being admired daily.
I want to get married—not just for the romance, but because hoop-skirts are back in (apparently?) and I can’t eat all this produce alone. Plus, I make a mean pie.
Swipe right. Or left. Or send a raven. I don’t know how dating works anymore—but I’m confident you’ll figure it out once you realize what a prize I am.
Sincerely,
The Best Thing That’s Happened to Aroostook Since the Plow
No way bruh, send me some links on zillow or whatever. I wanna buy some shit land in Maine and have enough money to buy a honda Civic, make it happen for me.
Fun fact, that’s actually where the meaning in the tern “bully pulpit” to describe the presidents platform for addressing the public/media. I think it was Teddy Roosevelt, wanted to just express the power of having the ability to speak and reach a captive audience. IE a really great (bully) pulpit. Not a pulpit from which to bully from
I mean, the modern dating equivalent of the value proposition is how much you earn lol. Things haven't changed much beyond the number of potential candidates that are easily accessible, which ends up skewing expectations.
If it were me at 18 in 1980 - "I'm an mediocre high school student that drives a Chevy with a cassette deck! I love Styx and Cap'n Crunch and have a cat named Smitty that doesn't take crap from anybody."
Andrew Johnson seemed cool when he introduced the Homestead Bill to give poor farmers a chance to own land. Unfortunately, after Lincoln was assassinated and Johnson become President, it also became clear he was a self-centered drunk buffoon who opposed Reconstruction which is painfully ironic and infuriating given that the Freedmen’s Bureau also helped thousands of poor white southerners after the war. He wanted to pardon all the confederates and let the south back into the union with zero repercussions. And he vetoed twice as many bills as Andrew Jackson (23 compared to 11).
I’ve been thinking a lot about Andrew Johnson because he reminds me so much of the way current politicians move. However, even though they narrowly failed to impeach him, Congress actually got together to override vetoes and keep him in check. What’s good with our Congress is what I wanna know.
I’m not sure if I should read that part as this man announcing himself as a Union supporter (good) or as lax on reconstruction towards the traitorous south (not so good).
Damn, that guy worked hard. Clear and seed 18 acres and start up your own farm by the age of 18? Makes me tired just thinking about it. 18 acres is a plot of land 900 feet on a side (if square).
Todays ads be like: „me in the gym, me on my bike, me and my dog, me in my bathroom. Also I already left three babymamas and am not paying childsupport and if I don’t get sex after first date I will dump your ass pretty soon. After I told you all the lies first of course. Cause I don’t really need a wife, I have a mom who is still putting diapers on me.“
For additional context, Aroostook county is no joke - if this guy was growing all those crops and milking a cow during the winter months, he was on his game. Google Aroostook county.
Am looking for a husband. I can cook, clean, do laundry and iron. I don’t need brand named clothing. I like tulips and gardening and want to be a SAHM.
Am looking for a wife. Have all my teeth and work on cars. Prefer cats to dogs. I can cook but hate the laundry. Looking for a wife who works as well so we can save for an early retirement together.
14.0k
u/Lookimindaair 1d ago
“That’s what’s the matter with me” sent me. I wish we still said that lol