1955 Rules For A Good Houswife (wives, movies, married, women)

[kwflconch]

If you think the way your husband expects you to do things is bad, look at this! Boy, has life changed a lot since the 1950s. This is a set of rules for "good housewives" from Good Housekeeping magazine from May 13, 1955

1955 Rules For A Good Housewife

1. Have dinner ready. Plan ahead, even the night before to have dinner ready on time for your husband's return home from work.

2. Prepare yourself. Take 15 minutes to rest so you'll be refreshed when he arrives.Touch up your makeup, put a ribbon in your hair.

3. Be a little gay (happy) and a little more interesting for him. His boring day may need a lift and one of your duties is too provide it.

4. Clear away the clutter in your home.

5. Gather up schoolbooks, toys, paper, etc. and then run a dustcloth over the tables.

6. Prepare the children, take a few minutes to wash the children's hands and faces, comb their hair, if necessary, change their clothes.

7. Greet your husband with a warm smile and show sincerity in your desire to please him.

8. Listen to him. He may have a dozen things to say. Let him talk first---what he has to say is more important than what you have to say.

9. Make the evening his. Never complain if he is late or goes out to eat, even if he's been gone all night.

10. Arrange his pillow and offer to take off his shoes. Speak in a low, soothing, and feminine voice.

11. Don't ask him questions about his actions. Remember, he is the master of the house, and you have no right to question him.

12. And finally, a good wife always knows her place.


http://www.laszlo.com/Hobbies/Internet/Stuff/Rules_For_A_Good_Housewife/ (broken link)

[Twinkle Toes]

Somebody gave me a photocopy of the actual Good Housekeeping article of this and I thought it was so funny! But apparently, according to my older aunties, that was really how it was back in the day!

[bby07]

I would be like, "uh excuse, but I'm a human being, I have rights, I'm not some maid." These rules are just too crazy. It seems like women in the 1950s were brainwashed. It just seemed like women were treated like a maid only to make the MAN happy. But that's the way it was then.

[CountryLuvinWoman1]

I would of been a very bad wife indeed during that time..lol

[Twinkle Toes]

I would have probably been on death row for murder!

[PeachyMJ]

In the same era - meeting your husband at the door wearing Saran Wrap. Anybody remember who wrote that book?

[Twinkle Toes]

Originally Posted by PeachyMJ

In the same era - meeting your husband at the door wearing Saran Wrap. Anybody remember who wrote that book?

I don't know, but wasn't there a scene like that in Misery or one of those movies starring Kathy Bates?

[pnc66]

Originally Posted by PeachyMJ
In the same era - meeting your husband at the door wearing Saran Wrap. Anybody remember who wrote that book?

Posted by Twinkle Toes
I don't know, but wasn't there a scene like that in Misery or one of those movies starring Kathy Bates?



I think it was Fried Green Tomatoes and it was Kathy Bates.

[PeachyMJ]

Could it have been Kathy Bates in Fried Green Tomatoes? The name of the author who wrote about the saran wrap was something Morgan I think.

[ChessieMom]

I would never have stayed married long...if that was the expectation. But I think that was an extreme. My parents had just married around that time, so I showed this to my mom to see what she thought.

She cracked up. Her words? "When pigs fly."