Community Chat

[chiclets]

@KingstonsMom 

Happy 25th Anniversary.

[suzyQ3]

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@mspatmac wrote:

Life was much simpler and safer back in the day. But like now, things change and what was safe and fun to do back then certainly isn't now. Why not use the list to see how far we've come? And maybe what some miss may from back in the day. I'm only relating to the list and husband hunting, not to inequality or other social issues. Now I'm off to find a battleship to sneak on in my high heels and sweater and straight stocking seams LOL

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I was child then. I never thought much about it until the 60s and later, when I realized that it was most definitely not simpler or safer. It was in hindsight and revelations told to me later on that made me realize how lucky we are today (well, maybe not this year). @mspatmac 

[suzyQ3]

@KingstonsMom, I don't that some of the advice was published back then, but I've also seen spoofs. Do you have a link?

As an aside, does anyone remember a book called "Fascinating Womanhood"? Sadly, this how-to book was not a spoof. The author details how a wife, who existed to make life perfect for her husband, could accomplish this goal. The details are are excruciating to read.

[suzyQ3]

Oh, and this list reminds me of the articles I used to see in Cosmo.

[KingstonsMom]

@suzyQ3 

It was from McCalls Magazine.

[suzyQ3]

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@beckyb1012 wrote:

So many just wanted to live the life of June Cleaver.  Some still do and nothing wrong with that at all.  Freedom of choice and will.

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@beckyb1012, I remember an article about "Father Knows Best" that included comments from Jane Wyatt (the wife). She was nothing like her character at all. She basically that that was not her preferred lifestyle.

The point is that 50s TV shows were not real, even for the 50s.

[suzyQ3]

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@KingstonsMom wrote:

@suzyQ3 

It was from McCalls Magazine.

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Thanks, @KingstonsMom. Do you have a link or someway that I can find it?

[NickNack]

Some of these are really funny--amazing, too.  Whoever wrote this, though, must not have realized that contact lenses weren't around for correcting vision in 1958.  That came about in the '70's.  #49 says to wear better looking glasses or think about contact lenses.

From allabouteyes dot com

Making Contacts Practical

The final step came in the 1970s with the invention of gas-permeable contact lenses, which allowed oxygen to freely reach the surface of the eye, and allowed contacts to be worn comfortably for extended periods of time.

[SuhseK]

How in the world, would carrying a hat box, or getting a sunburn, help you catch a husband? 

And scaling and cleaning fish? Note in several lifetimes 🥴🤣👿

[suzyQ3]

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@NickNack wrote:

Some of these are really funny--amazing, too.  Whoever wrote this, though, must not have realized that contact lenses weren't around for correcting vision in 1958.  That came about in the '70's.  #49 says to wear better looking glasses or think about contact lenses.

From allabouteyes dot com

Making Contacts Practical

The final step came in the 1970s with the invention of gas-permeable contact lenses, which allowed oxygen to freely reach the surface of the eye, and allowed contacts to be worn comfortably for extended periods of time.

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@NickNack, that's why I'd like to see the source. There have been parodies of lists like this. That said, I could very well imagine that many of these recommendations would have fit right in back then.