In Betsy and Joe, Tib and Betsy begin to worry about Tacy’s marital prospects. She has never exalted over the boys at school. She is uninterested in adopting the latest hairstyles, preferring coronet braids, and refuses to adopt a beauty routine. She is content considering boys to be good friends, even longtime friend Tom Slade, who seems to be interested in her.
One day, Mr. Ray starts telling stories about a salesman who has talked him into stocking a line of knitwear at Ray’s Shoe Store. He claims that this salesman, Mr. Kerr, can talk anyone into anything. Apparently, Mr. Kerr is a quite an impressive man, and Bob Ray wants him to meet the family, so he invites him to Sunday night lunch at the Ray house.
When Mr. Kerr arrives, he seems quite old to Betsy and the Crowd. It turns out that he is 27, 9 to 10 years older than Betsy and her friends. This might otherwise be immaterial, except that he takes an immediate liking to Tacy. Tacy and Mr. Kerr spend the party deep in conversation and give one another their exclusive, undivided attention all night. Betsy immediately notices that Tacy does not seem her usual bashful self. She is animated, relaxed, comfortable.
What does this mean? Does Tacy consider him a father figure? Apparently not. Tacy refers to him as Harry…and on the way out, Harry informs Mr. Ray that he intends to marry Tacy. He steals the prettiest picture of Tacy from Betsy’s photo album, and it occurs to Betsy that something serious could be brewing.
Newly turned 18, Tacy will be the unlikely first girl in the Crowd to establish a romantic connection so serious that marriage is implicated. In 1910, the median age of first marriage was 21.6 for women and 25.1 for men. It dropped steadily until the early 1950s, and then rose to the 2025 levels of 28.6 for women and 30.2 for men. These changes were driven by cultural shifts: women’s relative independence and viability in the workplace, financial considerations, the acceptability of living together in nonmarital configurations.
Mr. Ray warns that if Mr. Kerr can talk him into selling knitwear in his shoe store, he will surely get his way and marry Tacy. Sure enough, Harry Kerr is a presence at Commencement and all the important events to come in Tacy’s life, and they do indeed marry, build a life together, and have children. His support for her is genuine and generous, represented by armfuls of flowers and special attention throughout the important senior year events, and he brings out a new confidence and maturity in Tacy.
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On age of first marriage historically, see: https://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-resources/teacher-resources/statistics-changing-lives-american-women
On the cultural context for age of first marriage, see:
The Digital Betsy-Tacy 