Romantic relationships between young men and their young ladies have been the subject of many humorous photographic tableaux since the earliest days of the Victorian carte-de-visite in the early 1860s. Subjects as serious as love and marriage, and life and death, were inevitably treated in a light-hearted manner.
Many of the series of cartes and stereocards were the photographic equivalent of the comedy sketches which could have been seen in contemporary music halls, or the cartoons found in magazines. ‘Before Marriage’ and ‘After Marriage’ (below) were typical of many studio tableaux which explored the difference between the thoughtfulness of the hopeful suitor and the callousness of the husband once the ‘catch’ had been secured! That tradition continued well into the picture postcard era, with many images perpetuating age-old stereotypes about the inevitable rituals of courtship and marriage.
Many series of light-hearted 3D stereocards on the subject were produced and marketed from the 1850s through to the 1880s, many of them a little risqué, and dealing with such subjects as the wily but feckless husband flirting with the maid while his wife was out of the house.
In the Edwardian era, tinted postcards were sent by friends either to the suitor or the young lady, invariably with a wry message about the likelihood of impending nuptials!
