How the first computerized dating service came to be : NPR
In the 1960s, a few Harvard students had an idea. Taken from Radio Diaries, a look back at the creation of the very first computerized dating service.
AILSA CHANG, HOST:
Looking for love is an art, not a science. And yet people have been trying to crack the code for so long, whether through matchmakers, speed dating, or, these days, AI. In the 1960s, a few Harvard students had an idea. Businesses had started using a new technology called computers, and at the time they were the size of an entire room. They could have been used for important tasks, like processing a company’s payroll. What if those bulky computers could be used to get an appointment? From Radio Diaries, this is the story of the first ever computer dating service called Operation Match.
JO MARGOLIS: My name is Jo Margolis, and in 1966 I found myself at a single-sex college on the outskirts of Philadelphia, and it was like being in a convent. Of course you wanted to meet guys. But the way you met guys was that someone would fix you up, or you’d go to these horrible – like dances, what they called the stoners.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
J MARGOLIS: They would take us on a bus to Lafayette College or Lehigh. These guys would just line up. I mean, it was like a cattle show. It was like a meat market. But that’s what you did. If you didn’t do it, what were you going to do?
JEFF TARR: My name is Jeff Tarr and I was one of the co-founders of Operation Match, the first computer dating service in 1965. We came up with the idea mainly because we weren’t having many matches. I went to Harvard, had some math background, and I got a job that summer for the National Bureau of Casualty Underwriters, and they had these computers.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: That’s quick. It’s powerful. It’s versatile. The all-new IBM 1401 data processing system.
J TARR: So we thought, well, you get a computer to find someone who’s interested in exactly the same things as you. We developed a questionnaire. We charged $3 and sent them. My main goal was to meet women.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
SHELLY BEASER: My name is Shelly Beaser.
MARTY MARGOLIS: My name is Marty Margolis.
LARRY BEASER: My name is Larry Beaser.
PATSY TARR: My name is Patsy Tarr. And in 1966, I was a freshman in college.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
S BEASER: This is the questionnaire. The first part asked your gender, your race.
MR MARGOLIS: Do you have strong religious beliefs? Do you believe in a god who answers prayer?
J MARGOLIS: Interests: folk music, rock’n’roll or popular music.
S BEASER: Do you consider yourself sexually experienced? Does intensive sexual activity prepare you for marriage? I was so embarrassed by that. One of the guys called and he wanted to know how I answered that question. I didn’t go out with him.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
M. MARGOLIS: Members of the opposite sex consider me beautiful or attractive, attractive, average or unattractive.
P TARR: I think I probably lied. I mean, I wanted to tell the truth because I wanted to be loved for myself. On the other hand, I wasn’t that stupid. I wanted to have a good date.
L BEASER: So I filled it out. I wrote my check for $3, folded it, and sent it to Cambridge.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
J TARR: The first time we did it, we probably gave out 30,000 surveys, and probably a third of them came back with $3. We would get the information typed in on the keyboard and then it would be put into the IBM machine. And we matched people.
Mr. MARGOLIS: I remember getting an 8 1/2 x 11 page printed on a computer printer. There were, I think, six names and phone numbers.
L BEASER: And because you had a computer introduction, I was a lot less nervous about calling someone. The computer said you were a match. Let’s find out.
S BEASER: I took notes. When Larry called, I said excellent. I could tell I loved him, so I put my heart next to his name. Next to another, very doubtful one. Another, excellent one. The ones that were excellent, I went out with.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: If you want to eliminate blindness on your next blind date, one of these young men might help you.
J TARR: They put me on “The Today Show,” “The Tonight Show.” I was on a game show called “To Tell The Truth.” And so I became famous for a few minutes.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: Jeff, let me ask you something. Do you plan to continue this path after you graduate from college?
J TARR: Yes, sir, I do.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: Do you – your business has grown to this extent that you can make it a business?
J TARR: It went very well. It’s all over the country and we have offices in Chicago and Boston, New York.
The second year we had, say, 200,000 applicants. And I didn’t take any classes during my senior year.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: We need our next team of challengers.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
J TARR: The third year we printed these things and sent them out, and most people didn’t want to do it again. It was really like Hula-Hoop. Everyone was excited to do it for a year or two, but then they realized it wasn’t really working.
P TARR: I met a lot of young men. They too had lied. Beautiful, tall, muscular (laughs) – then a naive little guy appeared (laughs). I never clicked on any of them. Honestly, it was a really bad way to meet people.
J TARR: The concept made sense, but there were no images. And also between the time you filled out your questionnaire and the time you got the answers, it was probably six weeks. As you know, these days you can fill out the paperwork in the afternoon and have an appointment for that night. So it was a lot of fun and I’m surprised how many people got married because they loved each other.
M. MARGOLIS: So I graduated, and the Operation Match envelope with the names ended up in a box somewhere and reappeared when I moved. And that’s when I decided: well, here’s one I haven’t tried yet. So why don’t I try to get in touch with Jo?
J MARGOLIS: He wrote me a letter.
Mr. MARGOLIS: We agreed that we would meet, and that’s…
J MARGOLIS: I remember you walking through the door. Yeah, I remember the first time I saw you.
Mr. MARGOLIS: You know, we’ve been married 57 or 58 years – yeah, 58 years. It’s long. So, do I think Operation Match really measured what is essential about finding yourself? I doubt it. I don’t know. What do you think?
J MARGOLIS: I mean, I’m just glad it happened.
CHANG: Although it was short-lived, Operation Match led to a number of marriages, including Jo and Marty Margolis and Larry and Shelly Beaser, whose voices we just heard. This story was produced by Alissa Escarce and edited by Ben Shapiro of Radio Diaries. You can hear more stories on the Radio Diaries podcast.
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