History of the Mail Order Brides Concept

Where does the mail order bride concept originate from?

The concept of mail order brides as we know them today is by no means a new one.  It is believed that the early settlers on the American continent, the majority of whom were men, could not find brides locally and would write to Europe with the hope of securing a bride. 

Many years later, during World War 2, American GIs would write love letters to women they had never met with the same goal in mind.

Arranging marriages in this way has been done for thousands of years and its success continues to flourish.

How did it develop into the phenomenon we know today?

The beginning of modern mail order bride practices

In the early 1980s, there was an increased trend for Western men to look further field than their own country to find their soul mate, understanding that extending the search would only speed up the process of meeting that special someone and ensuring the perfect match.

To begin with the women advertising themselves as mail order brides were predominantly Asian, with Thailand and the Philippines being the main source and it is from these origins that the false preconception of the typical mail order bride transaction being a Westerner ?buying? an Asian woman stems.  (This issue is dicsussed in greater detail in our article about the social stigma that used to be associated with the mail order bride concept)

Development of the concept

The fall of the Iron Curtain saw the beginning of a whole new source of mail order brides, seeking the advantages of meeting a Westerner with a view to settling down.  The number of Russian brides participating in the mail order concept has exploded in recent years.

The mail order bride system in place was initially paper catalogue-based, which, as catalogues were often only printed once, was a limited system attracting mainly blue collar workers.

The introduction of the internet in the 1990s revolutionised the mail order bride system, making introductions faster, more time-efficient and more enjoyable than the previous system, as well as attracting a higher percentage of affluent males.

The future of the mail order bride industry seems certain to move over to the internet entirely as this is becoming an increasingly popular means of meeting people, ideally suited to our time poor lifestyles and resultant expectations.  Only time will tell if another system will take over to better accommodate our ever changing lifestyles.

Article by Emma Newlands
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