The 25 Stages from Courtship to Marriage

A charming set of twenty-five hand-tinted stereographs showing the various stages from courting to marriage — focused mainly on a rumbled midnight tryst on the third date and the wedding itself which takes place in a rather luxuriant tropical setting. There is no date given on the cards, but they are most likely from the late 19th century. Unfortunately the eleventh card is missing from the uploaded set — perhaps a wedding night come early and the resulting card too saucy for public consumption? Perhaps. Though the couple most likely waited and the missing card is simply sat somewhere in the Harper Stereograph Collection of the Boston Public Library — we shall enquire — but for now, at least, the twenty-four stages from courtship to marriage.

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