In 1889, Tit-Bits magazine offered prizes to single, female readers who sent in the best answers to the question: ‘Why Am I A Spinster?’ Here are some highlights...
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The inclusion of readers' addresses makes it possible to find them in the census. Florence Watts, for example, worked as an 'artist / painter' in 1881. However, one year after entering Tit-Bits' competition, she abandoned spinsterhood and married a writer named Herbert Flowerdew!
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Here's the census record for Florence Flowerdew (née Watts) from 1911. No occupation listed for her, but women's work was often under-reported. Sadly, her husband died 6 years later after reportedly struggling with depression and (possibly) a suicide attempt.
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I ended up recording a short version of this story for 's 'Time Traveller' segment. You can catch up here, if you like!
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"Men, like three-cornered tarts, are deceitful. They are very pleasing to the eye, but on closer acquaintanceship, prove hollow and stale..."
Dr Bob Nicholson introduces us to some witty and independent Victorian women.
More on Essential Classics: bbc.in/2IWa9gH
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One of the reasons I enjoyed the witty, self-confident responses to Tit-Bits’ competition is that Victorian depictions of spinsters were usually the exact opposite. Take this joke from Answers magazine (1891), for instance...
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A small addition to one of my favourite threads — 'An Old Maid's Diary', which concludes with her reaching the ripe old age of... THIRTY-SIX?!
- Answers (1906)
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Me too! It's not in the volume I have with me at home, and my other ones are at work. I'll see if I can dig it out next week, but my collection of Tit-Bits is a bit patchy.
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Indeed! In fact, I've just written a book chapter all about this. In 1880s & 1890s lots of 'American Girls' (as they were usually titled) married British men. They were typically imagined to be rich Yankee heiresses marrying impoverished British aristocrats; dollars for titles.
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I suspect it was submitted by a reader, but deliberately written as a parody of working class dialect/literacy. Cooks often appeared in 19thC jokes, and usually with comic dialect like this. The competition invited funny/witty responses; think this is an attempt at a joke.
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