Legislation once proposed to levy a $50 tax on single Alaska women

DAVID REAMER

HISTORIES OF ALASKA

“The odds are good, but the goods are odd.” How many times have you heard that said, or more like grumbled, by Alaska women? Meanwhile, men in Alaska have complained about a supposed shortage of women, regardless of quality, for more than a century. Back in 1921, a group of desperate Anchorage bachelors formed the Bridegroom Club, which essentially subsidized the hunt for matrimony. “We’ll revolt and import some brides,” said one member. The group shared the costs of bride shipping, hotel suites, and wedding banquets. Or, they would have if they ever managed to convince a woman to move north for their sake.

In 1949, the future honorable Gov. William A. Egan (1914-1984), then the humble Territorial Rep. Bill Egan, introduced a bill into the Legislature. “Braving the snarls of spinsters,” as the anonymous Associated Press scribe wrote, Egan called for a tax of $50 on every single woman in Alaska. His stated intent was to “further the institution of matrimony, relieve the housing shortage and levy a special tax on the privilege of being single.”

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