Hilarious newspaper clippings reveal how people found love before dating apps - from saucy poems to hilarious lonely hearts ads

Finding love in the modern era seems to be largely reliant on dating apps like Tinder and Bumble. In fact, today's young adults – who were born just as online dating really started to take over – wouldn't know it any other way. But for hundreds of years, the job of matchmaker largely fell to the internet's ink-and-paper predecessor – the local newspaper. In the run-up to Valentine's Day, hilarious, sad and often poignant clippings reveal how people found a romantic match in times past. Ranging from articles to lovestruck poems and lonely hearts columns, they might provide an unlikely source of inspiration if you've someone to woo.