TBT: Before Tinder, locals looked for love in Orlando Weekly's personals section

By Colin Wolf on Thu, Oct 15, 2015 at 5:32 pm

This year we're celebrating our 25th year in existence. And, so, every Thursday we'll be taking a look back at a few of our favorite highlights while covering the vibrant Central Florida scene.

Back before Craigslist, Tinder and Grindr (and well, most of the Internet for that matter), if you lived in Orlando and you wanted to throw yourself into the dating pool, you might've considered posting an ad in Orlando Weekly's personals section.

Hey, everyone was doing it.

The personals section sat at the back of every issue, and usually spanned about 4 or 5 pages, which is a lot for any newspaper. Even if you weren't looking for love, this shady side of OW was always good for a laugh.

What you see here is a sampling of just a few of the personal ads that we ran on this exact week in 1997. Enjoy.

click to enlarge

One of the many weird 1-900 ads that lived in this section.

click to enlarge

Tags:

WE LOVE OUR READERS!

Since 1990, Orlando Weekly has served as the free, independent voice of Orlando, and we want to keep it that way.

Becoming an Orlando Weekly Supporter for as little as $5 a month allows us to continue offering readers access to our coverage of local news, food, nightlife, events, and culture with no paywalls.

Join today because you love us, too.