Family and marital values of urban residents of Russia at the beginning of the XX century: creation and statistical analysis of the database of marriage announcements

Soldatenkova Veronika Vyacheslavovna Graduate student; Department of Historical Informatics; Lomonosov Moscow State University 119991, Russia, Moscow, Lomonosovsky ave., 27 building 4, office G- 423 vsoldatenkova2002@mail.ru

Introduction

The traditional marriage model in Russia developed in basic terms by the end of the XVII century. and up to the beginning of the XX century . It was the main one for the majority of the population. Speaking about the family and marital values of urban residents, it is important to note that at the beginning of the XX century. About 15% of the country's population lived in the cities of the Russian Empire, but most of them were of peasant origin, so the model of marital behavior of a significant number of citizens was determined by peasant traditions. According to them, marriage was an indicator of a person's social weight – unmarried young people did not have a social status and, moreover, were considered to deviate from the predestinations of God, who created a man and a woman so that they would join their lives in marriage, give birth and raise children ^{[12, pp. 160-162.]}. However, despite the fact that peasant traditions significantly determined the marriage model of the townspeople, the living conditions in the city, of course, had a significant impact on their marital behavior. For example, urban brides and grooms were on average three years older than newlyweds in the countryside, and in large cities they were older than in medium or small ones. This difference was related to the type of occupation – where they were mainly engaged in agriculture, parents sought to get new jobs as soon as possible, in the same place where the main occupation was industrial or commercial activity, they were in no hurry to take an extra eater into the house ^{[12, p. 169]}. Moreover, the marriage rate in the city was lower than in the village, which was caused by the imbalance between the sexes in favor of men due to rural migrants ^{[12, p. 173]}. In addition, it was mainly among the urban population that formal divorces began to occur. Their significant increase reflects serious changes in the psychology of citizens that occurred as a result of the Great Reforms of the XIX century ^{[12, p. 176]}. In addition to objective socio-economic reasons, changes in marital behavior were initiated by educated people, primarily nobles and clergy. The changes in the marriage model were most noticeable in St. Petersburg, as it was there that the proportion of the upper strata of society was high. The traditional model of marriage was changing under the influence of new views on family life among literate segments of the population, who became more lenient towards celibacy and divorce. By the beginning of the XX century. The proportion of bachelors and girls increased, the average age of first marriage increased, and the first hundreds of divorcees appeared ^{[12, p. 177]}. The transformation of the traditional marriage model has led to the emergence of non-traditional ways of finding a partner to create married couples. One of these methods was the publication of advertisements in periodicals in order to find a marriage partner.

This method became possible, of course, because in the late XIX – early XX centuries. The role of the private periodical press has increased in Russia. Throughout the XVIII and the first half of the XIX century. newspapers in Russia were distributed mainly in a narrow noble circle, which had a monopoly on education and enlightenment. Private newspapers were not distributed, since there was no wide readership during this period, and strict prohibitive measures, for example, the ban on the publication of private commercial advertisements, imposed serious material restrictions on the development of private newspaper business ^{[9, pp. 28-29]}. However, the abolition of serfdom, the lifting of the ban on the publication of paid advertisements in private newspapers, and Russia's entry into the path of capitalist development changed the nature of the periodical press. Since the 60s of the XIX century. Private newspapers are beginning to spread ^{[9, p. 29]}. Until the 90s of the XIX century. The material side of the newspaper business was based on the cost of subscriptions and small amounts from retail sales. The revenue from the publication of paid ads was insignificant ^{[9, p. 30]}. However, gradually the material base of private newspapers began to strengthen both by increasing circulation and by increasing the number of paid publications ^{[9, p. 31]}. At the turn of the XIX–XX centuries, the volume of publication revenues in the budgets of newspapers increased significantly. By this time, ads were placed not only after the main text of the publication, but also before it ^{[9, p. 32]}. It was during this period that marriage advertising appeared in Russia, one of the first publishers of which was the newspaper Novoye Vremya by A.S. Suvorin ^{[13, p. 189]}. Gradually, marriage announcements became a constant and highly sought-after column in newspapers ^{[14, p. 76]}.

The marriage advertisements came to the Russian periodicals from the foreign press. The first marriage announcement was published in England in 1695 in Lord Goughton's collection "How to improve farming and trade" ^{[10, p. 22]}. In Germany, the first marriage announcement appeared in the Frankfurt news print edition in 1738 ^{[10, p. 22]}. In France, the first marriage announcement was published in 1892 in the magazine "French Hunter" ^{[15, p. 524]}. In the Russian Empire, the first marriage announcements appeared only at the turn of the XIX—XX centuries ^{[10, p. 22]}. Such a late penetration of marriage announcements into Russian periodicals is due not only to the reasons mentioned above, but also to the fact that in Russia open discussions of a large part of interpersonal relationships were taboo. The penetration of the interpersonal sphere into newspapers began from the legal side. Initially, some lawyers published announcements about their assistance in divorce proceedings, then public participation in interpersonal affairs began to gain new momentum, and the issue began to be discussed openly. By the beginning of the XX century. the most diverse and wide coverage of morals and everyday life became possible: divorces and marriages became the subject of public discussion ^{[13, p. 189-190]}, and the appearance of marriage announcements, and then specialized publications such as, for example, the Moscow "Marriage Newspaper", answered the formed request.

Specialized publications began to appear in large numbers at the beginning of the XX century. in many cities of the Empire, which is also connected with the liberalization of the press after 1905. In November 1905, new "Temporary Rules on Periodicals" were introduced. They abolished pre-censorship, and obtaining permission for a new publication was no longer a difficulty, as a result of which there was a sharp increase in the number of new newspapers ^{[9, p. 36]}. In Russia, the ancestor of publications publishing marriage announcements was the magazine "Matchmaker", published in St. Petersburg from 1905 to 1906. By the 1910s, the market for marriage publications had expanded significantly. For example, the following publications appeared: St. Petersburg Marriage Leaflet (1910), Odessa Marriage Leaflet, Marriage Gazette of the South (1910), Pyatigorsk International Marriage Gazette (1911), Siberian Marriage Gazette (1910-1911) and many others ^{[11, p. 222-223]}.

The practice of introducing the materials of marriage announcements into scientific circulation is quite widespread in the social sciences and humanities. This demonstrates the great possibilities of studying on their basis the social processes associated with the transformation of family values, gender roles, stereotypes in the field of marriage, partner choice and others. However, researchers pay the most attention to modern marriage ads, or rather, the so–called dating ads. The possibilities of studying marriage declarations in historical science have not been fully disclosed, therefore, the purpose of this article is to consider family and marriage values at the beginning of the XX century. based on such a source in dynamics.

In this article, the Moscow "Marriage Newspaper", published from September 1906 to May 1918, was chosen as a source for the study of family and marital values. As noted above, similar publications appeared in many cities of the Empire at the beginning of the XX century. Special attention is paid to the Moscow "Marriage Newspaper" due to the fact that it was the largest and most informative publication among all publications of this type. In addition, she is a commercially successful model, which was targeted by some provincial publications. An example is the Siberian Marriage Newspaper (1910-1911), which, however, could not "take root" on Siberian soil, since the local market in the field of marital relations was more traditional ^{[11, p. 231]}.

The program of the Moscow "Marriage Newspaper" was diverse: an extensive department of not only marriage, but also other ads, including commercial ones, serious articles on the issue of marriage, descriptions of weddings among other nations, articles on the women's issue, novels, short stories, poems, jokes, skits, illustrations. All these materials were necessary to attract a wider audience, to interest people who did not seek to marry, but were looking for entertaining reading ^{[11, p. 223]}. Each issue of the "Marriage Newspaper" had a certain structure: the first and last pages were filled with marriage and advertisements. In addition, illustrations were periodically placed on the front pages. The second and third pages (newspaper spread) were filled with a wide variety of material (articles, short stories, poems, etc.). This structure was preserved until the end of the publication.

As the goals of the publication of the Marriage Newspaper, the editors noted the need to affirm the high importance of marriage in the public consciousness, to spread in Russia the method of its conclusion already adopted abroad through newspaper advertisements ^{[1, p. 1]}, as well as "... strengthen the family foundations that have been shaken recently, under the influence of various reasons..." ^{[2, p. 1]}. They argued this need by saying that "... the settlement of the marriage issue goes hand in hand with the development and improvement of the state" ^{[2, p. 1]}. In addition, the editorial board of the newspaper explained the need to spread this method of dating, since it allowed to expand the circle of people who are among the ranks of potential partners, as a result of which everyone had the opportunity to find their ideal couple ^{[2, p. 1]}. The results of her activities were often shown on the pages of the "Marriage Newspaper". The editors published the thanks of the readers:

"Ms. Editor! I consider it my duty to express my and my future husband's gratitude to you and your newspaper. In February of this year, I placed an advertisement in your newspaper about my desire to get married. My ad was answered by a person who is quite suitable for my aspirations and desire for a quiet, cozy, family life. And our wedding is scheduled after Easter. I wish your newspaper due success, and once again I express my gratitude to you. Kyiv. April 6th, 1910" ^{[4, p. 1]}

The structure of the marriage announcements themselves was very diverse. The ads differed in their volume (small, large) content (touching/ sensual/ presented without emotion) and the form of presentation (for example, ads in verse) (see Fig. 1-5).

The analysis of the content of the marriage announcements makes it possible to assess the matrimonial values of the townspeople, since the authors gave such a description of themselves and made such demands on the partner, which, in their opinion, were fundamental to the creation of a married couple. To study marriage announcements, technologies and methods were used that could be used to analyze mass material especially effectively. Database technology was chosen as the most promising source processing technology, statistical methods were used to analyze database information in the study. Using mechanical sampling, several issues of the newspaper were selected for the most detailed analysis: 1906. (№1), 1906 (№16), 1910 (№1), 1910 (№23), 1914 (№1), 1914 (№23), 1917 (№1), 1917 (No. 23). The sample includes two issues of the newspaper for every four years. It covers the entire period of the newspaper's publication and includes both calm and the most turbulent years in the country's history. All marriage announcements were taken for analysis, except those whose purpose was to find a matchmaker. The number of ads gradually increased and the following numbers are presented in the numbers under consideration: 1906 (No. 1) – 19 ads; 1906 (No. 16) – 34 ads; 1910 (No. 1) – 37 ads; 1910 (No. 23) – 48 ads; 1914 (No. 1) – 59 ads; 1914 (No.23) – 59 ads; 1917 (No. 1) – 78 ads; 1917 (No. 23) – 73 ads (in total 407 ads are considered). After performing a mechanical sampling, the structure of marriage ads was studied and a number of the following categories were identified, repeating at the content level: 1) Age; 2) Education; 3) Class/class; 4) Profession/occupation; 5) Means; 6) Appearance/ health; 7) Personal qualities/character; 8) Hobbies/skills/aspirations; 9) Nationality/Religion; 10) Marital status; 11) Purpose dating besides starting a family. The identification of these categories determined the choice of the database structure. For the study, a relational (tabular) model was chosen, which represents data in the form of tables, in the rows of which there are records that differ in the values of a unique key (in our study, this is the ad number), and in the columns there are data attributes (information related to the categories indicated above) both for the authors of the ads and for potential partners. The database schema defines relationships between tables with author characteristics and tables with partner characteristics. Cross-queries were built on the basis of these tables, which made it possible to identify the conjugacy of self-presentation and partner presentation in certain categories.

For a detailed statistical analysis of the materials of Marriage announcements, four of the above eleven categories were selected: "Age", "Personal qualities/character", "Means", "Appearance/health", and the category "Gender" was also considered as the basic category. The choice of categories is explained by the fact that they are more common than others on the source pages. During the analysis of these categories, it was necessary to solve the problems of unification of various descriptive characteristics, reducing them to more structured categories. This will be discussed in more detail below.

Analysis of the main components of the content of marriage announcements and interpretation of the results

The gender composition of the authors of the ads

On the pages of the Moscow "Marriage newspaper" the number of ads, the authors of which are men, prevails (see Fig. 6).

Fig. 6. Distribution of authors by gender

The dominance of the number of ads from men can be explained primarily by socio-psychological stereotypes, according to which the initiative of dating belonged to men. The commission of such a step by a woman was considered as not quite a worthy action from the point of view of morality. However, about a third of the addressees are women. And this percentage ratio (70% of male ads and 30% of female ads) can be considered stable, since it is observed in all relatively quiet periods (December 1906, January 1910, June 1910, January 1917). This may indicate that by the beginning of the XX century. Although entrenched gender stereotypes were strong, they were subjected to some deformation, and the social role of women increased. The dominance of the number of ads from women in the first issue is due to the fact that female persons interested in this method of dating reacted to the appearance of the new edition faster. Men gradually joined the list of authors of ads, perhaps being more skeptical about this method of dating. However, over time, the number of ads from males began to increase significantly, as the popularity of the newspaper began to increase, and the dating initiative was still mainly inherent in men.

Age: specified and preferred

The "Age" category is the second most common – in marriage ads it accounts for 89%, that is, in 89% of ads it occurs either in the author's self-characterization, or in making demands on a partner, or jointly. The analysis of this category allows us to assess the age preferences of representatives of different sexes. The pre-specified ages of the addressees and the preferred ages of the partners were divided into three groups. The first "Young" group included people aged 18 to 25, the "Middle–aged" group included people aged 26-39, and the "Elderly" group included people aged 40 and over. In addition, there is also a "No information" group here, which concerns those who have decided to keep silent about their age.

Based on Figure 7, it can be seen that female authors are mainly represented by young and middle-aged people, while the "Elderly" group and the group that includes people who did not indicate their age lag far behind them.

Fig. 7. Comparison of results by age of female authors

Men (Fig. 8) are mostly represented by middle-aged people. The remaining groups are distributed more or less evenly in frequency.

Figure 8. Comparison of the results by age of male authors

As for the authors' requirements regarding the age of partners, men (Fig. 9) most often do not indicate the preferred age of their potential chosen one, and if they do, they prefer young ones. The omission of age requirements cannot be reduced to the fact that the age of the partner was indifferent. It is possible that the authors have already laid down certain expectations from the age category of the addressees in the indication of their age category. That is, the male author, who indicated his age — 20 years, was only slightly likely to expect a response from ladies aged 50 years.

Fig.9. Comparison of results by age of female partners

Regarding women's preferences, the following can be noted (Fig. 10): in most cases, they also prefer not to indicate the desired age of the partner. However, if they do, they mostly prefer older men.

Fig. 10. Comparison of the results by age of male partners.

We see that the pages of marriage ads reflect the traditional gender characteristics of the search for a partner – men are looking for younger brides, women are looking for older grooms. This can be explained by the fact that male persons want to find external beauty in young ladies, and female persons hope to find a man with wealth in the face of an older man. The analysis of the three main components of the content of marriage announcements will allow us to substantiate or refute these assumptions.

The economic aspect of the content of marriage announcements

At the stage of conducting a preliminary analysis of the structure of marriage announcements, it can be noted that the issue of financial well-being of a potential partner is one of the main ones. In 80% of the ads, the author indicates either his level of security, or notes the necessary level of well-being of the partner. Omission of mentions of funds is often specifically stipulated by such clarifications.:

"Seriously respond to the purpose of marriage, an intelligent, young man, not interested financially, but striving to create a family hearth" ^{[8, No. 2235]}. "A bored, intelligent young man is looking for an acquaintance with a pretty person who is also bored, I don't count my years. All material and conditional things are mutually excluded. The goal is marriage" ^{[3, No. 16]}.

The percentage of representation of this category for each number is shown in Fig. 11. It can be noted that in each of the reviewed issues, the proportion of ads affecting the material issue does not fall below 76%. As for the dynamics of the frequency of occurrence of the economic component of personal characteristics, Figure 11 shows that it reveals a weak negative trend.

Fig.11. The proportion of ads in the content of which there is a category of "Funds" in relation to the author or partner

Information about the level of financial viability on the pages of marriage announcements is presented in quite a variety. Some people designate the financial side of their lives with fairly general phrases: "secured", "slightly secured", "not secured". For girls, the criterion of solvency is the presence of a dowry, which is determined either by general phrases: "dowry", "small dowry", "without dowry", or by a specific amount or content (for example, dowry – real estate). Security is also determined by the availability of capital, pensions, real estate and movable property, cash and savings, where specific amounts are indicated or their presence is simply indicated. The amount of monthly or annual income is often indicated. The unification of the information provided in marriage declarations is the main difficulty in analyzing the "Means" column. If the authors of the ads indicate the general level of their security, then it is not difficult to group the data, but when we are dealing with specific figures, it is quite difficult to do this, since it is necessary to determine which indicators are considered the boundaries of average, high and very high income. Based on the source, the following conditional limits of solvency were determined (see Table 2). Based on these criteria, the authors' level of material well-being was assessed for each individual issue.

Table 2.

The financial situation of the addressees of marriage announcements

The levels of security of the addressees of ads in dynamics are reflected in the graph below (see Fig. 12).

Fig.12. Levels of security of the authors of ads in dynamics

It can be noted that the leading group in all numbers is the "No information" group. The second largest is the "Secured" group, the third place is occupied by the "Slightly secured" group. The smallest is the "Not secured" group. This ratio of security levels is quite stable. Consequently, the authors of the ads are mainly represented by two groups: a group of those who conceal their wealth and a group with good security. There are not so many people who indicate the presence of a small amount of security or even its absence.

The expected financial situation of potential partners of marriage announcements

Having determined how the financial situation of the authors of the ads is presented, it is necessary to consider what level of well-being they want to see from their partner. As noted above, the "No information" group is one of the most common. These results suggest the following thoughts: this group may include those who: a) are not motivated by material intentions in finding a partner; b) hide their financial situation because it is at a low level. As already noted, the "Funds" category is completely excluded only in 20% of cases, which means that there are very few authors of ads belonging to the "a" group. Consequently, the "No information" group mainly includes those who are financially in need. This is also evidenced by the presented conjugacy tables (see Appendices 1-8). They show a high correlation between the "No information" group of the authors and the "Secured" group of the partners. This can be reflected in the ads as follows:

"I am 44 years old. We need a rich bride to finish university..." ^{[4, No. 1452]}

The second most common of the total number is the "Secured" group. This group has the highest frequency of occurrence with the groups "No information" and "Secured" (see Appendices 1-8), that is, it speaks of the equally expressed intentions of financially successful authors of ads to tie the knot with both partners who match themselves and with partners who may not have wealth. Below is an example of an ad from a wealthy young man who does not specify any level of security in the requirements for a potential chosen one:

"Who will respond to my announcement? A young, disillusioned man (23 years old), intelligent (final anthem.), well-off (2 thousand annual income), wants to find a suitable couple for him in order to get married. He dreams of a beautiful brunette who is healthy, cheerful, intelligent, and accommodating, who would resurrect his faith in people..." ^{[1, No. 68]}

Individuals belonging to the "Slightly well-off" group often either do not indicate the desired level of well-being of the partner, or demand the rich (see Appendices 1-8). Unsecured authors, of course, more often indicate a desire to marry a secured partner, but there are cases when they do not indicate the preferred level of security of the partner (see Appendices 1-8), which is rather due to already obvious intentions, because the poor are unlikely to respond to the poor's announcement. Having considered the general patterns of use of the "Funds" category, it is important to analyze this category taking into account gender specifics.

The category of "Means" and the gender specificity of its use

The assessment of the well-being levels of people of different sexes allows to identify the gender specifics of the use of the category. In Figure 13, which shows the level of material well-being of female authors, we can see that among all women indicating their level of security, the share of the unsecured in different periods ranges from 14% to 57%. In addition, ads for women without income are found in every issue of the newspaper. Slightly well-off female authors are represented in small numbers: they account for from 9% to 33% and they are found in only half of the issues under consideration. The proportion of well-off women varies from 0% to 86%, and they are not found in all the rooms under consideration.

Fig. 13. The level of material well-being of female authors

Figure 14, demonstrating the level of material well-being of male authors, shows a contrasting picture compared to female ads: unsecured men are found in only half of the ads and their share is small: it varies from 7% to 23%. Slightly well-off men are more common: they are represented in six out of eight rooms, and they account for from 13% to 57%. The most common group is the group of wealthy men: they are found in every issue, and their share does not fall below 43%.

Fig. 14. The level of material well-being of male authors

Thus, both women and men could belong to all three groups, characterizing different levels of security. However, the female addressees are mostly represented by two groups: "Not secured" and "Secured", while the "Secured" group significantly prevails among male authors.

As for partners, Figures 15 and 16 demonstrate that both primarily need partners with wealth. However, men are more likely than women to consider women with little or no money as a potential choice.:

"I wish you to marry a beautiful, slender, penniless woman. I am young, handsome, home-educated, earn 2000 rubles a year, a matchmaker is acceptable..." ^{[4, No.1506]}

Whereas female authors only rarely admit that their potential spouse has a low level of security, and they absolutely do not consider the absence of any wealth.

Fig.15. The required level of material well-being of female partners

Fig. 16. The required level of material well-being of male partners

Regarding the dynamics of the frequency of the appearance of the economic component of personal characteristics, taking into account gender specificity, Fig. 17 and Fig. 18 show that it reveals a negative trend in the self-characterization of persons of both sexes, and in the requirements for potential partners of both male and female.

Fig.17. The percentage of female and male authors resorting to the use of the "Means" category

Fig. 18. The percentage of female and male partners in relation to whom the "Funds" category is used

Based on the above analysis of the "Means" category, it can be concluded that the material motives for finding a partner were of great importance. According to our observations, a large proportion of those who did not mention their wealth demanded a certain level of prosperity from their partner. Those who did not make demands regarding the partner's wealth often indicated their security, which means they sought to attract potential partners with this fact, which indicates the great role of the economic aspect in the content of marriage announcements. An analysis of the gender characteristics of the use of the category showed that the ads trace the features of the traditional marriage model, according to which it was on men's shoulders that responsibility for the material well-being in the family lay. This is demonstrated to us by the results showing the level of security of the authors. However, paying attention to the expectations of the level of well-being of partners, we see that men, although they admitted the possibility of a lack of prosperity for their potential bride, were still looking mainly for the well-off. Consideration of the economic component in dynamics shows that attention to the material component in the period from 1906 to 1917 is gradually decreasing.

The aesthetic aspect in the content of marriage announcements

The "Appearance/Health" category is also one of the most frequently mentioned categories – it is represented in 59% of ads. The way it is represented in dynamics is shown in Fig. 19. It can be noted that in each of the reviewed issues, the proportion of ads that address the issue of external data and the health of the author or partner does not fall below 50%. Regarding the dynamics of the frequency of appearance of the aesthetic component in marriage ads, we see that it reflects a weak negative trend (see Fig. 19).

Fig. 19. The proportion of ads with the category "Appearance/health" in their content in relation to the author or partner

Most often, the category "Appearance / health" is used by women for self-characterization. The frequency of use of this category is more inherent in women, because, as we found out earlier, they were more likely than men to note the lack of any funds, and, of course, they needed to offer something in return:

"Young. elegant. good. the blonde, possessing everything to be considered an interesting woman, but ... completely unsecured, wants to end her dreary loneliness by entering into correspondence with a wealthy, well-off gentleman who is able to build a quiet family happiness..." ^{[2, No. 59]}

As for partners, men are much more likely than women to pay attention to the external data of their future partner. This can also be explained by the fact that they admit the insecurity of their potential bride, but require at least beauty from her:

"A young, rich count, wants to enter into correspondence with a beautiful lady or maiden for the purpose of marriage..." ^{[3, No. 4340]}

Within the "Appearance/Health" category, several subcategories were identified, reflecting different characteristics of a person's appearance: 1) beauty; 2) hair color; 3) eye color; 4) physique; 5) height; 6) taste; 7) health; 8) youthful appearance. The first subcategory includes characteristics that generally reflect the attractive appearance of a person (pretty, handsome, handsome, etc.), the second and third contain comments on the color of hair and eyes (blond, blue–eyed), the fourth includes descriptions of the human figure (thin, full, slender), the fifth - a description of height (medium high), by the sixth – the presence of taste, for example, in clothes, by the seventh – indications of good health or lack of physical disabilities (not sick), by the eighth – an indication that a person looks younger than his years.

In Fig. 20 and Fig. 21, it can be seen that both men and women prefer to celebrate their beauty almost equally to describe their appearance. The next most common characteristic of external data is hair color. Its designation also appears almost equally among men and women. The third most common place for women is occupied by descriptions of physique and height, for men – only height. We see that men neglect to describe their figure. The remaining subgroups of women are represented in small numbers. In men, in turn, there is another sign that is used almost as often as the designation of growth – health. Other parameters of appearance in men are rare.

Fig.20. The percentage of appearance characteristics that female authors apply to themselves

Fig.21. The percentage of appearance characteristics that male authors apply to themselves

As for partners, in Fig. 22 and Fig. 23 we see that men indicate their requirements regarding appearance in more detail than women. Men use six out of eight possible parameters to describe their appearance, women make do with three. Men are most concerned about the beauty and growth of their future chosen one, while women are concerned about beauty and health.

Figure 22. The percentage of appearance characteristics that male authors apply to female partners

Fig.23. The percentage of appearance characteristics that female authors apply to male partners

Regarding the dynamics of the frequency of appearance of the aesthetic component in marriage ads, taking into account gender specificity, Fig. 24 and Fig. 25 show that female authors of ads begin to describe their appearance less, in addition, the frequency of occurrence of the aesthetic aspect among the requirements for female partners decreases.

Figure 24. The frequency of occurrence of the category "Appearance/health" in the ads of men and women separately

Figure 25. Frequency of occurrence of the category "Appearance/health" as requirements for male and female partners separately

Thus, both women and men equally consider it necessary to highlight the details of their appearance and health, and do so in sufficient detail. When listing requirements for partners, men, of course, use the category "Appearance" more often, which traces traditional gender stereotypes when choosing a marriage partner. However, even for women, although less often, certain external data and the quality of health of their potential spouse are important. Consideration of the aesthetic component in dynamics allows us to conclude that attention to it gradually decreased in the period from 1906 to 1917.

The psychological aspect of the content of marriage announcements

The category containing information about the personal qualities and character of potential brides and grooms is the second most common in marriage ads – it is represented in 82% of ads. Figure 26 shows that in each of the reviewed numbers, the proportion of ads addressing the issue of personal qualities and character of the author or partner does not fall below 73%. Regarding the dynamics of the frequency of occurrence of the psychological component in marriage ads, we found that it reflects a positive trend (see Fig. 26), that is, attention to it gradually increased in the period from 1906 to 1917.

Figure 26. The proportion of ads with the category "Personal qualities/character" in their content in relation to the author or partner

For self-presentation, this category is more often used by women. The share of women's ads, which use the description of character traits as self–characterization, accounts for from 64% to 83%, while in men's ads - from 33% to 68%. The frequency of occurrence of this category in relation to partners has shown that in half of the considered issues of the newspaper, requirements for female partners are more often imposed. The remaining numbers are represented by an almost equal number of ads that contain any requirements for the partner regarding his personal qualities and character. This leads to the conclusion that both men and women were almost equally interested in certain personal characteristics of their future partner.

The dynamics of the frequency of the appearance of a psychological component in marriage ads, taking into account gender specificity, Fig. 27 and Fig. 28 shows that with self-practice, both men and women begin to resort to its use more often.

Fig.27. Frequency of occurrence of the category "Personal qualities/character" in the ads of men and women separately

Figure 28. Frequency of occurrence of the category "Personal qualities/character" as requirements for male and female partners separately

The analysis of this category is limited to a general assessment of its presence in the "Marriage Newspaper" and finding out the frequency of occurrence in relation to authors and partners of both sexes. The category under consideration is one of the most voluminous in its content. The largest part of the place in marriage announcements is devoted to detailing the description of personal qualities, whether it's yourself, whether it's a potential partner. A deeper analysis of the content of the category under consideration will not give any interesting observations corresponding to the tasks of the study, since absolutely all personality characteristics are reduced to positive descriptions: kind, decent, intelligent, loving family life, not drinking, etc. As an example, here is one of the most informative ads in relation to this category (Fig. 29):

Fig. 29. Marriage newspaper of 1910 No. 1 (4361)

Conclusion

An assessment of general trends in the reflection of values regarding the family and marriage issue showed that when choosing a partner, the greatest attention is paid to three aspects: economic, psychological and aesthetic. Consideration of the frequency of occurrence of the main personality characteristics in all selected issues of the newspaper revealed that both the most calm and the most turbulent years in the period from 1906-1917 were generally characterized by general trends. That is, we observe such stable stereotypes of family and marital values, which are practically not influenced by the economic, political and social changes taking place during this period in the life of the state. However, an assessment of the general trends in the dynamics of the frequency of use of the three main components of ads allowed us to find that the dynamics of the use of the economic component is characterized by a weak negative trend. A weak negative trend is also present in the dynamics of the aesthetic component. However, the frequency of occurrence of the psychological component shows a noticeable increase. That is, we see that at the beginning of the XX century. in the value system that influences the motivation of the marriage choice of citizens, economic considerations are beginning to yield slightly to psychological ones. People are increasingly beginning to look at marriage not only through the prism of money, but strive to find a kindred spirit in this union.

The revealed gender stereotypes allow us to describe the peculiarities of the perception of the marriage model separately by men and women. They can be seen in the peculiar "portraits" of male and female authors and male and female partners compiled on the basis of the research results:

· The male author is middle–aged, well–off, in rare cases a little well-off, in extremely rare cases not well-off, a detailed description of appearance, a detailed description of character traits (exclusively positive features)

· The female author is young or middle–aged, the level of security can be completely different, a detailed description of appearance, a detailed description of character traits (exclusively positive features)

· A potential male partner is elderly, the presence of a different level of security, in addition to high, is not allowed, a description of appearance is infrequent, and if it occurs, it is not detailed, a detailed description of character traits (exclusively positive features)

· A potential partner woman is young, mostly well-off, but a small level of security is also allowed, and sometimes the absence of any funds at all, a detailed description of appearance, a detailed description of character traits (exclusively positive features)

These "portraits" of the authors and potential partners reflect a fairly traditional perception of the marriage model by men and women, except for the fact that, regarding the material aspect, men's expectations did not differ much from women's expectations. Although they were sometimes ready to marry a penniless woman, the "demand" for well-off brides was greater, that is, material interests were peculiar to both women and men.

The author expresses gratitude to I.M. Garskova, PhD, Associate Professor of the Department of Historical Informatics at Lomonosov Moscow State University, for her help in working on the article.

Application

Appendix: in the headings of the rows – the financial situation of the authors, in the column headings – the required level of financial situation of potential partners.

Table 3. The ratio of the levels of security of authors and partners in 1906 No. 1

Table 4. The ratio of the levels of security of authors and partners in 1906 No. 16

Table 5. The ratio of the levels of security of authors and partners in 1910 No. 1

Table 6. The ratio of the levels of security of authors and partners in 1910 No.23

Table 7. The ratio of the levels of security of authors and partners in 1914 No. 1

Table 8. The ratio of the levels of security of authors and partners 1914. g. No.23

Table 9. The ratio of the levels of security of authors and partners in 1917 No. 1

Table 10. The ratio of the levels of security of authors and partners 1917 No. 23