Golden Era? In 1955, for who?

[Jedburgh OSS]

The highlights are not mine! This is how the article was when I found it. So amusing it's hard to believe it's real.
I haven't seen something this funny since William H. Macy walked through his house asking "Where's my dinner?" in Pleasantville.
Poll time: okay, "gentlemen," how many of you will print this and post it on the Kelvinator?

 

[Dixon Cannon]

Wha...........????

..that's the way it is in my castle now! What's so different?!

-dixon cannon

 

[docneg]

My gosh, that's so funny. I guess it's a good thing every now and then to realize that the good old days weren't good for everybody.

 

[Widebrim]

Wow! I wonder how many women took this seriously...A few of the points are good, but "You have no right to question him"?? Do you think that maybe, just maybe, it was the man of the house who did all that underlining? (And did anyone notice that in the first paragraph, the author [a man?] used the British spelling of favourite?)

 

[The Wolf]

This was posted before. It is actually a modern mock-up to look like it is from the 1950s.
It is close to to how my mom felt the house should be kept though.

Sincerely,
The Wolf

 

[Orsini]

Wow! I wonder how many women took this seriously...A few of the points are good, but "You have no right to question him"?? Do you think that maybe, just maybe, it was the man of the house who did all that underlining? (And did anyone notice that in the first paragraph, the author [a man?] used the British spelling of favourite?)

I did not bother to read the article, but the old man should not do anything that the queen would have to question.

 

[zetwal]

This was posted before. It is actually a modern mock-up to look like it is from the 1950s.

Reminds me a bit of America's Finest News Source, THE ONION. Has anyone seen that satirical publiction?

 

[Fleur De Guerre]

Yup, it's a proven hoax. But still funny. And, I love the Onion!

 

[Jedburgh OSS]

Yes, it does sound too ridiculous to be true. Those tips are apparently designed to push some buttons. Old American Century has a great gallery of satire posters from both world wars and the homefront at http://www.oldamericancentury.org/galleries.htm

 

[LizzieMaine]

There was never any such publication as "Housekeeping Monthly," but Googling this piece is extremely educational in showing how willing people are to believe fakes that in one way or another uphold their beliefs.

 

[Jedburgh OSS]

Whew! I'm glad to hear that. To clarify, I found this in my email box not through a search engine. Some real vintage magazines have Van Husen ads that are probably the inspiration for this. I saw a book titled Safe Counsel published in 1925 that was a lot like this fake ad.

 

[Peacoat]

I had a feeling it was too good to be true.

 

[julia]

I remember a while back they actually had an article about this in either Elle or Vogue (American.) The author basically said that he thought it would be awful if it was true because he would never want his wife to treat him like either a child or an insane person who every one has to humor and keep from making sudden noises or movements around. It was an ok article, but the guy writing it seemed to think before the 1980's women all acted and thought like that.

 

[Caity Lynn]

I've been looking for this article!!!!

my teacher read it to the class wen we were going over the 50's lol
my mother wants to read it, sadly, she actually does most of this as much as she can after she gets home from work.

 

[LizzieMaine]

A fascinating discussion of this piece appeared in a museum-curation newsletter a few years back -- pointing up that this exaggerated, fictionalized depiction of "the typical fifties housewife" carries much more resonance with people today than the actual, far more complicated reality of the era. An unfortunate sign of just how influential media depictions can be.

 

[Peacoat]

I remember a while back they actually had an article about this in either Elle or Vogue (American.) The author basically said that he thought it would be awful if it was true because he would never want his wife to treat him like either a child or an insane person who every one has to humor and keep from making sudden noises or movements around. It was an ok article, but the guy writing it seemed to think before the 1980's women all acted and thought like that.

The guy is wrong. I came of age in the 60s, and none of the girls/women I went out with even came close to this imaginary model.

 

[Widebrim]

Something in the back of the rational part of my brain said that it was way too off to be true...:eusa_doh: If my mother had read that back in the '50s, she likely would have gone ballistic (and she was an excellent "homemaker").

 

[Shirin]

What a relief to know that this is fake. I can't even imagine what sort of woman would even adhere to rules like that! You know this HAD to be written by a man.:cry: :whip:

 

[AtomicEraTom]

They handed this out in history class to the students, and I put it right on the Icebox here at home!

 

[Chas]

I don't know...it looks pretty golden to me.

"woman, this martini isn't quite right.....I need my slippers, too."