AN IMPROVING LECTURE
Before dating, before hooking up, and LONG before Netflix and chill, there was the “improving lecture.”
By the late 19th century, most parents weren’t arranging marriages for their children, and people had some expectation of a love match. But the rules for proper behavior, especially for unmarried females, were even stricter than when the Pilgrim farmer handed over his fifteen-year-old daughter to the neighbor’s son. So how on earth did people get together?
If you were a member of the 400, you’d hang around the family ballroom and hope that a likely-looking Marquess wandered through in search of a well-dowered bride. For most folks, the options were a bit more limited.
You might meet a good prospect at church; all denominations had a vested interest in pairing off the flock, so there were plenty of formal and informal opportunities to mix. If you were a shopgirl, a clerk or a secretary, you might meet someone at work, or nearby. Or there just might be an attractive new person in the neighborhood.
That’s often the start of a marriage plot in a book, after all!
But however you meet them, you now have to get to know them…and that’s more of a challenge, considering all of the chaperonage associated with “honorable intentions.”
A well-supervised night at the opera (provided it wasn’t an overly romantic production) might be acceptable on occasion, but for most people that was still too pricey for a frequent outing. Walking-out was always good, if rather dull. Eventually, you would get pretty sick of traipsing around the park, no matter how interesting the company.
Which brings us to the “Improving Lecture.” The Victorians loved all things “improving.” Usually that meant something with a moral or spiritual lesson intended to make you a better person.
Also to bore you silly.
And indeed, many Improving Lectures were just that. Not to mention entirely public and very appropriate. So it was a perfect venue for a courting couple. You could sit together, exchange meaningful glances, and even perhaps surreptitiously touch hands if no one was looking. Not bad.
Occasionally, some Improving Lectures might even be interesting. When explorers returned from their thrilling expeditions, they would often give talks about what they’d seen, perhaps with some of their finds on display. It was still a very appropriate event, but unlike a discussion of temperance or Bible verses, it was actual entertainment. Almost a fun night out.
Attending an Improving Lecture together served another important purpose: it was a public announcement of courtship. Not enough to damage anyone’s reputation, of course, but enough to make it clear that there was an interest and it was being mutually pursued.
That’s all in play when two of my favorite characters in A FATAL FIRST NIGHT go to an Improving Lecture on the Arctic. They have a wonderful evening out…and come home talking about polar bears and penguins. It’s more than enough to convince us that these two belong together…and that we may soon need to buy them a book on the Frozen North as a wedding present!
No more…and no spoilers here!
Got a Throwback Thursday idea? Drop it in the comments!
By the late 19th century, most parents weren’t arranging marriages for their children, and people had some expectation of a love match. But the rules for proper behavior, especially for unmarried females, were even stricter than when the Pilgrim farmer handed over his fifteen-year-old daughter to the neighbor’s son. So how on earth did people get together?
If you were a member of the 400, you’d hang around the family ballroom and hope that a likely-looking Marquess wandered through in search of a well-dowered bride. For most folks, the options were a bit more limited.
You might meet a good prospect at church; all denominations had a vested interest in pairing off the flock, so there were plenty of formal and informal opportunities to mix. If you were a shopgirl, a clerk or a secretary, you might meet someone at work, or nearby. Or there just might be an attractive new person in the neighborhood.
That’s often the start of a marriage plot in a book, after all!
But however you meet them, you now have to get to know them…and that’s more of a challenge, considering all of the chaperonage associated with “honorable intentions.”
A well-supervised night at the opera (provided it wasn’t an overly romantic production) might be acceptable on occasion, but for most people that was still too pricey for a frequent outing. Walking-out was always good, if rather dull. Eventually, you would get pretty sick of traipsing around the park, no matter how interesting the company.
Which brings us to the “Improving Lecture.” The Victorians loved all things “improving.” Usually that meant something with a moral or spiritual lesson intended to make you a better person.
Also to bore you silly.
And indeed, many Improving Lectures were just that. Not to mention entirely public and very appropriate. So it was a perfect venue for a courting couple. You could sit together, exchange meaningful glances, and even perhaps surreptitiously touch hands if no one was looking. Not bad.
Occasionally, some Improving Lectures might even be interesting. When explorers returned from their thrilling expeditions, they would often give talks about what they’d seen, perhaps with some of their finds on display. It was still a very appropriate event, but unlike a discussion of temperance or Bible verses, it was actual entertainment. Almost a fun night out.
Attending an Improving Lecture together served another important purpose: it was a public announcement of courtship. Not enough to damage anyone’s reputation, of course, but enough to make it clear that there was an interest and it was being mutually pursued.
That’s all in play when two of my favorite characters in A FATAL FIRST NIGHT go to an Improving Lecture on the Arctic. They have a wonderful evening out…and come home talking about polar bears and penguins. It’s more than enough to convince us that these two belong together…and that we may soon need to buy them a book on the Frozen North as a wedding present!
No more…and no spoilers here!
Got a Throwback Thursday idea? Drop it in the comments!
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