Blondes Are Favorites

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In the late-nineteenth century, a newspaper article addresses the question: Who makes the best (Victorian) wives? Blondes are favorites, he learns.

Matrimony is serious business. Victorian marriages are forever. How will a man make the right choice? What physical characteristics indicate good character?

One distinct and certain characteristic: blonde! will assist a swain in finding the right girl. Why? A phrenologist said so. Blondes are Favorites. Especially of the man is brunette.

A journal article titled The Power of Women’s Hair in the Victorian Imagination states: “While women’s hair, particular when it is golden, has always been a Western preoccupation, for the Victorians it became an obsession.” I want to read the entire article by Elisabeth G. Glitter.

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A Phrenologist Said So

I happened across this vintage newspaper article while researching late-Victorian Era attitudes about marriage, courtship, and who makes the best wives. This article is titled: “Blondes Are Favorites. They are Declared by a Phrenologist to Make the Best of Wives.” This vintage article appeared in Pittsburgh Daily Post of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on December 20, 1890.

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Let’s define one archaic term before we continue: Hymeneal. As in, “I think nature is the best hymeneal guide.“

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Now, let’s dive in and see why “Blondes are Favorites. Note the familiar tune: “… many youthful enthusiasts who make up their minds too quickly.”

Many vintage writers agree. Examples:

Brief Victorian Engagements

Rapid Wooing: Courted and Married All Inside of Twenty-four Hours (1891)

Modern Lovers Have New Ways: Twentieth Century System is Bizarre and Usually Hurries Matters (1902)

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Is This Love?

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I admire the writer’s opening argument against marrying for love. “A fellow usually mistakes fascination for love.”

And yet the presented alternative makes sense too. “Nature is the best hymeneal guide.”

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True or false?

Please scroll down and give your thoughts. Have you seen men behave as if fascinated? Has love faded far too quickly? If Nature, that “best hymeneal guide” led to marriage, does that infer nature cannot be trusted?

I find this question fascinating. Hence two of my first four brides in Prosperity’s Mail-Order Brides learn this unpalatable “truth.”

With all this in mind, is “Nature” trustworthy? Can one wed the object of their affections, and do so with confidence?

Read on!

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Phrenologist’s Work

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In Part 2 the writer explains a bit about the New York phrenologist’s work:

I had often heard of him as a man who had brought about changes in people’s dispositions by caressing the bumps of their craniums, digging deep into the scientific roots and rudiments of their locks and picturing to them from his investigations their faults, telling them they must turn over new leaves if they wished to have finely shaped heads.

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~ Blondes are Favorites:  They are Declared by a Phrenologist to Make the Best of Wives (Part 2)

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Phrenology has become old-fashioned (and debunked) by today’s standards. Nevertheless, our Victorian-era American ancestors showed a wide range of reactions to this “pseudomedicine.” Some held evening entertainments at home. Employed phrenologists demonstrated to and “treated” guests. Others took phrenology seriously. It’s true. Well-informed people turned to phrenologists. They sought cures, treatments, and information when hiring employees.

During the earlier part of the Victorian period, around the 1820s – 1840s, businessman and employers alike required prospective employees a character reference from a local phrenologist. This demand was to ensure that the employee would not be honest and hardworking but also mentally and psychologically healthy to fit the job.”

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~ Victorian-Era.org: Victorian Era Phrenology

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Continuing now, with the 1890 newspaper article~

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Beauty Defined

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If you’ve wondered how a Victorian-American would define beauty, search no further. I’ve not read a more flowery, Victorian definition. Ever. First, note the length of the sentence. Seventy-five words. In one sentence. How gloriously Victorian.

Our Ideal Woman:

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…People know something of what beauty is, but the beauty that satisfies most and most completely is that which comes from the harmony of the motive temperament, which gives to the face firmness of frame, of vital temperament, which gives it smoothness and plumpness and grace of form and mobility of motion and enough of the mental temperament to give it intelligence and inspiration; then every movement is grace, every expression is winning and admirable.” (emphasis added)

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~ Blondes are Favorites:  They are Declared by a Phrenologist to Make the Best of Wives (Parts 3 to 4)

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Woman of Genius

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Did you notice the lighter pink highlight in Part 4?

… but the woman of genius has qualities inborn, which, without being intentionally against the laws of nature, are adverse to marital congeniality.”

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~ Blondes are Favorites:  They are Declared by a Phrenologist to Make the Best of Wives (Part 4)

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This concept– that educated women cannot make good wives or mothers–through Victorian-America continues to fascinate me. Probably because so much has changed from Victorian-America’s attitude that education caused women harm and was unnatural. Today women enjoy many more options and choices. Because this subject fascinates me, I’ve posted other articles about various parts of “Don’t Educate Your Daughters.”

Brief List of Titles (with links):

Victorian Professional Women Do not possess the brain power to succeed

Victorian Attitudes: The Weaker Sex and Education

Firsts in Female Education, 19th Century American West

Victorian Lady Lawyers

Female Dentists 1889: Man Haters Without Maternal Instincts

Victorian Attitudes about Female Education (and Conflict in the Historical Romances we Love!)

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Affable, with Vitality

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At last! Descriptive, precise information as to why blondes are preferred. Generally. Kindly recall each man does have his own ideal.

The blonde is usually affable, and has plenty of vitality, while a genuine brunette possesses force and great nerve power.

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Then the ideal woman conceived by the largest number would be of blonde complexion.

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Usually they make the best wives. There is more truth than fiction in the old adage, ‘Blue eye beauty always does her duty.’ A black-eyed woman will win fame, wealth, nay, may even bring the world to her feet with admiration, but the blue or gray-eyed woman will a far more restful wife and genial companion.”

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~ Blondes are Favorites:  They are Declared by a Phrenologist to Make the Best of Wives (Parts 4 to 5)

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Conclusion

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Victorian-American wisdom suggests that blondes make the best Victorian wives. Affability and pleasantness rank highly among Victorian men. While many voices argued the validity of other traits and physical attributes, our one New York phrenologist convinced, it seems, one newspaperman.

What about you? Convinced? Do you find blondes to be more loving, patient mothers? Better wives and companions? Do you believe blondes are favorites (at least then) for good reason?

Do you find the arguments in my companion post Who Makes The Best (Victorian) Wives? to contain stronger advice?

Please scroll down and comment. Your thoughts are important!

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By Kristin Holt

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Copyright © 2019 Kristin Holt LC