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Post by Ozarks Tom on Dec 22, 2018 17:57:30 GMT
Don't know why this story came to mind, but it did, and I thought y'all might enjoy it. It was told to me by my grandfather on my father's side when I was about 12 years old. My grandparents came to this country in 1892 from Sweden on the promise of 40 acres in North Dakota free if they'd improve it and live there five years.
They had a friend, another Swede, who lived not too far, but was single. The reason he was single was he was the ugliest man they'd even seen. Oddly shaped head, huge nose and ears, but a good hard working man who was lonely and wanted a wife. Since there was no likelihood of finding one in the N Dakota prairie or the little town nearby, he commissioned an ad in a Swedish newspaper offering travel and expenses to any woman who'd come marry him in N Dakota, in other words, a mail order bride.
Well, he corresponded with a woman over a period of time, and finally offered her the deal. My grandparents went with him to Superior Wisconsin to meet her at the train station. When she got off the train, lo and behold, the ugliest woman they'd ever seen. After a perfunctory greeting, the man was walking next to grandad and said, "My God, she's ugly!". A few steps behind the woman was walking with grandma and said "My God, he's ugly!"
Grandpa said they married, and he spent half his time adding onto their little house to accommodate their 12 children.
There is indeed someone for everyone.
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Post by gran29 on Dec 22, 2018 20:27:19 GMT
Don't know why this story came to mind, but it did, and I thought y'all might enjoy it. It was told to me by my grandfather on my father's side when I was about 12 years old. My grandparents came to this country in 1892 from Sweden on the promise of 40 acres in North Dakota free if they'd improve it and live there five years.
They had a friend, another Swede, who lived not too far, but was single. The reason he was single was he was the ugliest man they'd even seen. Oddly shaped head, huge nose and ears, but a good hard working man who was lonely and wanted a wife. Since there was no likelihood of finding one in the N Dakota prairie or the little town nearby, he commissioned an ad in a Swedish newspaper offering travel and expenses to any woman who'd come marry him in N Dakota, in other words, a mail order bride.
Well, he corresponded with a woman over a period of time, and finally offered her the deal. My grandparents went with him to Superior Wisconsin to meet her at the train station. When she got off the train, lo and behold, the ugliest woman they'd ever seen. After a perfunctory greeting, the man was walking next to grandad and said, "My God, she's ugly!". A few steps behind the woman was walking with grandma and said "My God, he's ugly!"
Grandpa said they married, and he spent half his time adding onto their little house to accommodate their 12 children.
There is indeed someone for everyone.
That story made me laugh, pictured in my mind! They most likely had 12 beautiful children. My dad used to say "beauty is only skin deep; ugly goes to the bone; beauty fades away and ugly holds its own" Not sure in what conversation that came up, it was a long, long, time ago. Maybe he knew that couple 
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Post by Ozarks Tom on Dec 22, 2018 20:32:54 GMT
I've always had a hunch the guy was really Norwegian, everyone knows all Swedes are handsome.
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Post by paisley on Dec 22, 2018 23:13:36 GMT
Ozarks Tom, dang right tom...we swedes know that your right right!!!!! And that's not my drunken Irish side speaking!
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Post by joebill on Dec 23, 2018 0:30:33 GMT
From time to time my folks used to observe couples who both had some major problem either in the intelligence department, ugliness, being spendthrifts, cheating on spouses, amazing how often defective people seek out mates pretty much exactly like themselves.
In such cases, the folks would comment "at least the marriage did not ruin TWO families"......Joe
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Post by BrewDaddy on Dec 23, 2018 1:52:27 GMT
From time to time my folks used to observe couples who both had some major problem either in the intelligence department, ugliness, being spendthrifts, cheating on spouses, amazing how often defective people seek out mates pretty much exactly like themselves. In such cases, the folks would comment "at least the marriage did not ruin TWO families"......Joe Unrelated, but I was told once that 'a study showed' that the taller a man was, the shorter his wife was. It seemed to not make sense but I was shown examples of 7 footers with 4'8" wives etc.
I've dated tall women (the tallest was 6'3") but as it turned out at 6'7" I ended up marrying someone 5' (barely).
As we started dancing around the idea of dating (we had been good friends for quite a while) we actually got on the bed fully clothed and just kinda tested if/how things would work out... Good enough, so we started a relationship a short time later.... 
tall brew
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Post by themotherhen on Dec 23, 2018 3:35:39 GMT
BrewDaddy,, my Dad is 6'2", my Mom is 5'1". They made 3 daughters and made it work.
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Post by joebill on Dec 23, 2018 12:29:22 GMT
I have seen several extreme examples of that...more than a few, in fact. We are 6' and 5'2". Still hard for me to believe that at our wedding I was 6' tall and 125 pounds. Gained 75 pounds in 52 years......Joe
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Post by Jolly on Dec 23, 2018 13:33:48 GMT
I went to college with a guy nicknamed Goose. Goose was what the basketball coach called a "sweater". Goose was 7 feet tall in his socks and should have dominated the court, but even though he tried very hard, he always seemed to trip over his own feet or be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Heckuva nice guy, though.
He married a gal from my community. She's probably around 5'5". All of their kids, and now their grandkids, are just average in height.
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Post by Thtwudbeme on Dec 23, 2018 18:22:34 GMT
I've always had a hunch the guy was really Norwegian, everyone knows all Swedes are handsome.
I had always heard that the Swedes that were sent to the U.S. were part of a gene pool cleansing program.
At least that is what I heard when I spent a year in Sweden.  |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 23, 2018 22:28:39 GMT
BrewDaddy ,, my Dad is 6'2", my Mom is 5'1". They made 3 daughters and made it work. An acquaintance from undergrad, Dave, is 6'5" (6'9" in heels). His wife is 5'3". He jokes that, in their relationship, deodorant is more important than breath mints. |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 23, 2018 22:30:19 GMT
Ozarks Tom , dang right tom...we swedes know that your right right!!!!! And that's not my drunken Irish side speaking! I grew in Chicago's Scandinavian neighborhood, Andersonville.
The Swedes would agree with you and Tom. The Norwegians would say that, like all Swedes, you and Tom are crazy.
Being 75% Irish, I know that y'all are nuts. |
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Post by Jolly on Dec 24, 2018 16:42:43 GMT
Well as an old buddy of mine once told me, "I don't mind how tall or short a woman is, since they're all the same height laying down. I'm a lot more worried about their sense of humor and if they can cook a decent biscuit".
Hard to argue with logic like that.
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