"Astrology is the practical part of the science of Astronomy."

It’s 1863, you’re in the Boston area, you’re down to your last 50 cents and you need someone to cause a speedy marriage. What do you do? You get yourself over to the temporary Winter Street offices of Professor Baron, a presumably preeminent practitioner in the field of astrology.

This print ad from that year doesn’t state where Mr. Baron earned his Ph.D. in astrology, but it touts his amazing abilities. In the incredibly sexist spirit of that time, women were charged only 50 cents for a reading whereas men had to fork over a dollar.

The Professor’s quarters were located “above Mr. Emerson’s Trimming Store.” An excerpt from the copy:

“Has profound knowledge of the rules of the Science of the Stars, and as the hand of fate has marked out the path of each individual, so Professor Baron unfolds its meanderings of the past, present and future, covering the whole field of all that relates to your happiness or misery, through life. If you wish to know whether you will be successful and prosperous in any undertaking, or to hear from an absent relative or lover, call on Professor Baron. He will reveal unto all who consult him secrets that no living mortal ever knew before, and those who call will be sure to be more successful through life. The Professor can bring success out of the most perilous undertakings.”

See other Old Print Ads.