A Good Wife
In the 1950’s young women were taught to be good wives in home economics classes and through magazine articles like the one below on the left from Houskeeping Monthly, February 13th, 1955. On the right are my comments from a good wife in the year 2007. Have dinner ready. Plan ahead, even the night before, to have a delicious meal ready on time for his return. This is a way of letting him know that you have be thinking about him and are concerned about his needs. Most men are hungry when they get home and the prospect of a good meal is part of the warm welcome needed. Unload the car and then change into something more comfortable. Everyone pitch in to put dinner on the table and sit down for dinner. Clean up the dishes and put a load of laundry in the washer, help the kids with homework, run the vacuum and finally lay out the kids clothes for school tomorrow.
Try to leave work on time so you can stop at the deli to pick up a ready cooked meal for 4, pick up the dry cleaning and stop by the ball field to watch the last half of practice. Meet your husband there and ask him to take home the meal and the kids while you check in on his grandmother because she’s really old and still living on her own.
Prepare yourself. Take 15 minutes to rest so you’ll be refreshed when he arrives. Touch up your make-up, put a ribbon in your hair and be fresh-looking. He has just been with a lot of work-weary people.
Be a little gay and a little more interesting for him. His boring day may need a lift and one of your duties is to provide it.
Remember that his day was as tough as yours so focus dinner conversation on something positive to cheer you both up.
Clear away the clutter. Make one last trip through the main part of the house just before your husband arrives. Run a dustcloth over the tables.
During the cooler months of the year you should prepare and light a fire for him to unwind by. Your husband will feel he has reached a haven of rest and order, and it will give you a lift too. After all, catering to his comfort will provide you with immense personal satisfaction.
During the cooler months turn up the heat and put on your footie pajamas to keep warm because you’re both too tired to make a fire.
Minimize all noise. At the time of his arrival, eliminate all noise of the washer, dryer or vacuum. Encourage the children to be quiet.
This is total crap. I cannot imagine a time when either of us wouldn’t want to hear the noise of the appliances - it shows the work is getting done.
Be happy to see him.
Be happy to see him.
Greet him with a warm smile and show sincerity in your desire to please him.
Greet him with a warm smile because you’re still in love with him.
Listen to him. You may have a dozen important things to tell him, but the moment of his arrival is not the time. Let him talk first - remember, his topics of conversation are more important than yours.
Listen to him so you can learn what pressures and stress he’s under and then tell him about your day or you go first. Neither of you is more important in this relationship but conversation and sharing is.
Don’t greet him with complaints and problems
.Leave complaints til later - coming home should feel like a haven.
Don’t complain if he’s late for dinner or even if he stays out all night. Count this as minor compared to what he might have gone through at work.
If he’s late for dinner and he hasn’t phoned and this is not the first time, dump his dinner in the bin. You are not a doormat.
Make him comfortable. Have him lean back in a comfortable chair or lie him down in the bedroom. Have a cool or warm drink ready for him.
Make him comfortble, have him lean back in a comfortable chair or lie him down in the bedroom and unzip his pants and perform oral sex. Nothing says I love you like a blow job at bedtime.
Arrange his pillow and offer to take off his shoes. Speak in a low, soothing and pleasant voice.
Gag-o-matic. I’m gonna spew on this one. Slavery was outlawed a long time ago.
Don’t ask him questions about his actions or question his judgment or integrity. Remember, he is the master of the house and as such will always exercise his will with fairness and truthfulness. You have no right to question him
Have an open and honest relationship where you can say or do anything. You are not owned by this man, nor should you feel that you can’t do as you please. You’re married him but you didn’t surrender your brain.
A good wife always knows her place
. A good wife knows she’s married a good husband and together they have a good life.
“During the cooler months of the year you should prepare and light a fire for him to unwind by…”
Why couldn’t I have been born in 1930?
This is a great take on the article…now where’s the one on a Good Husband?
Standing ovation! Yay! Thank you!!
Wow! Times have changed huh? I am totally with your opinion. LOL…
Too funny, and TRUE.
Everything was so simple back then.
This is really the best wife any man would dream of. I wish to have one like that but I don’t really want someone who do so many things just for me.
A good wife to me is a wife who can work in partnership with me. We can go for dreams and goals together as a perfect partner.
While I try to imagine myself in either one of the 1950’s roles (I am a girl), it seems entirely too unbalanced for either person. If you are the guy, you are going to feel frustrated because you are coming home to what is basically a robot, and the frustration level for the woman is fairly obvious.
Although I think what the article was trying to do was give women a slight bit of control in a world where they were really not allowed to do much of anything.
I agree with Alex’s 2nd statement. In addition, it just goes to show you that the good life was put on hold when both spouses started working outside the home. Quality time went from 24/7 to a few minutes, the job and housework to 24/7, and relax time few and far between.
THEN: ‘Don’t complain if he’s late for dinner or even if he stays out all night.”
TODAY: Because it will give you time to spend with your own lover.
This is a nice comparison… I appreciate that not all of it was sarcasm or beating down the concept of a happy family, but that through comparison I really got a concept of how the family and the expectations of being a wife have evolved.
You know, this might have been good had you not completely negated the rest of what you said with the comment about the blowjob before bedtime.
Because while it’s not the woman’s job to keep house any more, apparently it’s still her job to keep her man happy in bed while expecting nothing in return?
Nice.
I knew granpa had it made.Granny even had an allowance and had to be excused from the dinner table!Granpa ruled!
that is so not true grama totally has granpa wipped!!! He He!!