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#3
The modern newspaper came out around 1690, and it only took a few years for horny folks to start looking for hot singles in their area. At the beginning of the 18th century, matrimonial agencies were a very serious thing. Men would pay these agencies to post ads in the newspaper on their behalf to recruit a good wife for them.
There was little pride in using this service. Unmarried men and women past the age of 21 would be shamed to no end by society, and if your friends found out you used the services of a matrimonial agency, it would signal your own inadequacies as a wanted suitor.
By the early 20th century, personal ads were much more mainstream. There was less pressure and expectations, and some people really were just looking for pen pals or friends.
#4
Until around the 1960s, personal ads were used mostly by "lonely soldiers" and people looking for pen pals. According to history lecturer at the University of Nottingham, UK, H.G. C***s, it still wasn't as widely accepted. "At that time, advertising for pals or for lonely soldiers was fashionable and contemporary," he explained. "Something done by those who were, as they put it in their ads, 'bohemian and unconventional.'"
For many years (and perhaps until today, even), people associated personal ads with suspicious and seedy folk. "At least that is what the police tended to think, and they only stopped prosecuting lonely hearts ads in the late 1960s — until then, they often thought that they were mainly placed by [adult workers] and gay men," C***s says.
Today, some people equate internet dating sites to the personal ads column. They attract people who have failed to court a partner in the traditional way and are often used by older people. People over 30 still prefer dating apps or meeting people the old-fashioned way.
When asked whether personal dating ads just boil down to "Loser seeking Winner", C***s has a more nuanced view. "I think those opinions are really those of younger people, [such as] those under 30 who see no need for Internet dating. Or of married people."
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#12
We might think that personal dating ads are a thing of the past. You might listen to "The Piña Colada Song" by Rupert Holmes and think: "This is so '70s! Who puts an ad for a hookup in a newspaper?!?" Surprisingly, these types of ads might actually be making a comeback. Lately, experts have noticed a trend where people are craving a slower type of dating – one that Hinge, Tinder, or Bumble can't really provide.
#15
In 2019, several pages dedicated to posting people's personal dating ads began making the rounds on Instagram. One LGBTQIA+ personal ads page even had 60k followers at that time. A similar page still exists today on Twitter and Bluesky – it's the Red Yenta for socialists. The QPOC Personals for queer and trans people of color was going strong until COVID hit, but is still a testament that we're craving another kind of dating experience.
Cincinnati magazine CityBeat also tried bringing back looking for love through personal ads for Valentine's Day 2025. Years ago, the publication ran a section called "CINgles." As co-founder of the magazine Dan Bockwrath explains, they "were kind of the original social media before social media went digital."
"I think there was some authenticity to what it is that we did," he went on. "I think people were very genuinely interested in using the platform for its intended purpose."
#19
