The concept of dating through the use of a computer didn’t really catch on for most of society until around the 1990s, but one Philadelphia couple can thank the advent of the computer for helping jumpstart their relationship in 1965.

That year, Shelly Beaser (then Bronstein), from Broomall, was a sophomore and commuter student at Temple University and her now longtime husband Larry Beaser, was a junior at the University of Pennsylvania. 

Both came across an ad in their respective school newspapers from Operation Match, the first computer dating service in the United States, which launched earlier that same year.

“You had a form to fill out,” Larry said during an interview. “First, you filled it out how you thought you were and then you filled out what you wanted your date to be.”

The questionnaire featured questions such as age, race, height, religion, social class, grade average, family income, and more. Then each prompt had to be weighed on a scale in terms of importance. 

The ad piqued both their interests as they filled out the questionnaire with an open mind.

“I wasn’t thinking about marriage or anything like that, just that I could meet people from other places and people I hadn’t met yet,” said Shelly. “I’d have a new circle of people in my life.”

Larry shared a similar sentiment, noting: “I was looking for dates, and it was a really good way to meet people.”

Once completed, they sent the questionnaire along with a $3 check in the mail and waited a couple weeks to receive a list of names — and phone numbers — of individuals who were potential matches.

Each made it on the other’s list, along with a handful of other matches. 

Operation Match became a huge fad for college students nationwide over a three-year period. 

The man would call the woman, and if the initial phone conversation went well, the two would go on a date. 

That was exactly the case for Shelly and Larry. They found that they had many interests in common — as both were political science majors — and each found the other very fun to talk to. 

They continued dating on and off throughout the spring of 1966, while also going on dates with others they matched with. 

That summer, Larry went back to his native in Bethesda, Maryland, while Shelly remained in Broomall.

Shortly thereafter, Operation Match put out another ad, which the two of them, unbeknownst to the other, filled out the questionnaire and sent the $3 check again.

“We thought we’d done well and certainly we could do better,” said Larry. 

This time around, Operation Match would send a new list of names and numbers every two weeks.

“My name was always on hers and her name was always on mine,” Larry said, adding that the two of them started dating again that same fall.

Operation Match was eventually sold and discontinued within a few years after its launch, and the concept of computer dating basically vanished until the emergence of the internet and Match.com more than a quarter-century later.

However, Shelly and Larry can attest to just how a computer can match two people, as they started dating exclusively.

Larry graduated from Penn in 1966 and later went on to Harvard Law School, while Shelly graduated from Temple in 1967 before going on to earn a master’s degree in education at Tufts University. 

In June 1969, the two of them got married and are still going strong more than 50 years later.

When asked what has helped their relationship last so long, Shelly emphasized two words.

“Honesty and humor,” she said. 

The Beasers have two daughters together, along with four grandchildren.

“And they would not be but for computer-assisted dating,” said Larry. 

Their oldest daughter also met her husband with the use of a computer, on Match.com. 

While society today may see the concept of computer dating or the use of dating apps as commonplace, it was something new, exciting, and groundbreaking in the 1960s.

Feb. 11, 2024, marked the 58th anniversary of the Beasers’ first date.

As the two of them reflect on their long journey together, both Larry and Shelly have the same thoughts about how it’s gone.

“So far, so good,” they both said with a laugh.

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