The Good Wife's Guide (5/13/55 Houskeeping Monthly)

Housekeeping Monthly May 13, 1955 | May 13, 1955 | Un-Named

[Go Gordon]

The Good Wife’s Guide

1. Have dinner ready. Plan ahead, even the night before, to have a delicious meal ready, for his return. This is a way of letting him know that you have been thinking about him and are concerned about his needs. Most men are hungry when they come home and the prospect of a good meal (especially his favorite dish) is part of the warm welcome needed.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. Clear away the clutter. Make one last trip through the main part of the house just before your husband arrives.

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

6. Over 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 for his comfort will provide you with immense personal satisfaction.

7. Prepare the children. Take a few minutes to wash the children’s hands and faces (if they are small), comb their hair and, if necessary, change their clothes. They are little treasures and he would like to see them playing the part. Minimize all noise. At the time of his arrival, eliminate all noise of the washer, dryer or vacuum. Try to encourage the children to be quiet.

8. Be happy to see him.

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

10. 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.

11. Make the evening his. Never complain if he comes home late or goes out to dinner, or other places of entertainment without you. Instead, try to understand his world of strain and pressure and his very real need to be at home and relax.

12. Your goal: Try to make sure your home is a place of peace, order and tranquility where your husband can renew himself in body and spirit.

13. Don’t greet him with complaints and problems.

14. Don’t complain if he’s late home for dinner or even if he stays out all night. Count this as minor compared to what he might have gone through that day.

15. Make him comfortable. Have him lean back in a comfortable chair or have him lie down in the bedroom. Have a cool or warm drink ready for him.

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

17. 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.

18. A good wife always knows her place.

[Go Gordon]

While I don't agree with everything in the article(e.g. I'm never hungry when I first get home from work), in the 50's a wife respected her husband. Nowadays, most wives truly don't know how to treat their husbands with respect, dignity and compassion.

[Leroy S. Mort]

Be a little gay and a little more interesting for him.

Things were kinky even in the 50's......

[Grut]

Moslem, are you?

[nathanbedford]

Sage advice.

[Burn24]

"Don't complain .. even if he stays out all night."

Just call the cops.

Is this article serious?

[Centurion2000]

wow

[Pan_Yans Wife]

Dr. Laura

[ladyinred]

. Be a little gay and a little more interesting for him.

At least this brings it into the 2000's! :-)

Actually, I do all of these things every single day, honest I do! :-)

[Nea Wood]

I've gotten this in emails. I thought it had been exposed as a hoax or urban legend.

[CaptainK]

Don’t complain if he’s late home for dinner or even if he stays out all night

ah...right.

A man had to have written this list.

[musical_airman]

Wow...kinda old school.....definitely......but I do see a lrger point here. The point is for a woman to treat her husband as a blessing, not a curse......and if she does, he will do the same. Show me a woman where I live (mid GA) that isn't completely self-centered B****, a single mommy, or just a slob in general and I'll change my mind.

[mollynme]

A man had to have written this list.

That was my first thought, too! LOL

[Robert_Paulson2]

... yeah, for women who are not lesbian man-haters, and actually LIKE the man they married...

Of course, things have really changed in the last fifty years.
Big time.

we have lost a lot of grace...
at least the lesbians and gay guys can now get married, right?

[Senator Pardek]

Be a little gay and a little more interesting for him.

Har - today that translates as "when your husband comes home from work, give him a suprise and be making out with your babysitter in your bedroom."

[Judith Anne]

I suspect a few sentences have been added that weren't in the original--the one about not complaining if he stays out all night, for example.

My mother was a 50s mom, and she actually did that stuff, including having us wash hands and faces before Dad got home. She let us greet him with hugs and kisses, and he always looked like his heart was opening up as he came through the door...after our hugs, we stood back and teased while Daddy kissed her...

I wasn't as good at that as my mother was, sometimes I greeted him with complaints...wish now I had been. One thing I love is for my husband of 34 years to feel respected by me, loved by me, welcomed by me...he always lights up and says home is his sanctuary...and shows it...

It would easy for a sophisticated woman to laugh at this article, but I think men are justifiably hungry for peace and comfort in the home. I love the traditional role of man and woman in a committed marriage working together for the future of the family...we've been blessed in our 34 years together, but we've worked at it...

[eccentric]

I did these things, too --- and he died young. I heard nagging makes them live longer.

[eccentric]

It's not totally unreasonable (except #14) IF the wife doesn't have a job outside the home.

[TLI]

14. Don’t complain if he’s late home for dinner or even if he stays out all night

Well, apparently then "staying out all night" did not carry the connotations that it does today. Then, it probably meant drinking a bit to much with your buddies and sleeping it off in the back seat, parked in the square next to the courthouse (where it was safe).

Then, blowing off steam with your buds. Today... probably get you five years in the State pen. No wonder most Americans are frickin pi$$ed off at "government."

[mrs tiggywinkle]

**The point is for a woman to treat her husband as a blessing, not a curse......and if she does, he will do the same. **

Exactly!

** Show me a woman where I live (mid GA) that isn't completely self-centered B****, a single mommy, or just a slob in general and I'll change my mind. **

True ladies are out there. Really. :o)

[Fitzcarraldo]

[codyjacksmom]

Even back in high school in about 1981, I had a home econ teacher explain to us, brush your hair and your teeth as soon as you get up and put some lipstick on and have breakfast waiting for your husband. Proper grooming was essential because he would be with perfectly groomed business women all day and he shouldn't think of you like you just rolled out of bed.

[I got the rope]

I'm not touching this one.

[mrs tiggywinkle]

Oh, about the single mommy part of your comment...

I know some single moms that would love to be in a wonderful marriage, devoting their life and energy into a loving husband and family.

While there certainly are some real loser women out there, not all single moms are that way. :o)

[uvular]

I spent @10 years as a divorced working mom. I yearned for a 'wife' to have meals ready and the house picked up when I came home! When I married mr. uvular lo those 18 years ago, I became a wife similar to the one I always wanted.

I knew what it was like to come home to an evening of further work and I don't have to worry about him 'staying out all night'; he wants to come home to his castle and his domestic goddess!

[Fitzcarraldo]

[Go Gordon]

Moslem, are you?

No. The article just points out how differently wives appreciated their husbands back in the day. Now, a guy can do no right.

[Go Gordon]

Actually, I do all of these things every single day, honest I do! :-)

Pinocchio would be proud.

[Go Gordon]

I've actually got a copy of the article.

[LizardQueen]

Tough to do anything on this list when he gets home from work before the wife.

LQ

[mrs tiggywinkle]

Excellent advice, imho.

[mrs tiggywinkle]

**he wants to come home to his castle and his domestic goddess! **

:o)

[Go Gordon]

Wow...kinda old school.....definitely......but I do see a lrger point here. The point is for a woman to treat her husband as a blessing, not a curse......and if she does, he will do the same. Show me a woman where I live (mid GA) that isn't completely self-centered B****, a single mommy, or just a slob in general and I'll change my mind.

You're killing me. I told my 16 year old that before he picks a wife (way down the road) I suggested he spend some time in the south to see how southern belles treat men (we're in Jersey). If the women of the south actually treat men like the women do here in the NE, we're all introuble.

[mrs tiggywinkle]

**Now, a guy can do no right. **

Then you don't know Mr Tiggywinkle. :o) He's wonderful and awesome! I'm a blessed woman.

[Go Gordon]

It would easy for a sophisticated woman to laugh at this article, but I think men are justifiably hungry for peace and comfort in the home. I love the traditional role of man and woman in a committed marriage working together for the future of the family...we've been blessed in our 34 years together, but we've worked at it...

Congrats on the 34 years. I truly believe that a compromise between the article and todays treatment would be perfect. Back in the 50's the man treated the wife a little heavy-handedly. But todays women treat men worse than they do their pets.

[Fitzcarraldo]

Tough to do anything on this list when he gets home from work before the wife.

Grounds for divorce, coming in after the Husband. Every wife knows how to limit her bridge party/garden club activities to leave plenty of time for the essentials.

[squidly]

Wives didn't go to work because their attitudes changed, their attitudes changed because they went to work. More's the pity too, IMO.

[carmody]

Where is the corresponding article from a men's publication? "The Good Husband's Guide"

Probably one of the reasons that many "Good Wives" became feminists. Apparently the 1955 "good wife" didn't feel like passing the rules on to her own daughters. The hand that rocks the cradle...

[Go Gordon]

Even back in high school in about 1981, I had a home econ teacher explain to us, brush your hair and your teeth as soon as you get up and put some lipstick on and have breakfast waiting for your husband. Proper grooming was essential because he would be with perfectly groomed business women all day and he shouldn't think of you like you just rolled out of bed.

Smart teacher. It amazes me how many women go to work looking...ummm....unkept (clothes are less than casual, no make-up, hair not styled). The women in our office building (not our company) have gained an average of about 35 pounds a piece over the last couple years. The majority are mid-40's. What attention do they expect to get from hubby in the evening?

[Krodg]

Uh, I'm Southern Baptist and believe in being submissive...but I ain't no slave!

[LizardQueen]

Hah, garden club, right. More like working 60 hours a week because his salary doesn't cover the mortgage, after taxes. I'd happily be a smiling 50's housewife but there'd have to be some financial miracle that would make it happen.

LQ

[ladyinred]

Pinocchio would be proud.

What? You mean you don't believe me? :-)

[Trinity_Tx]

"Tough to do anything on this list when he gets home from work before the wife."

Excellent point. I would say that it's even too much to ask if she comes home before he does, if she's been working all day as well.

I'm all for most of the suggestions, but I think wives working outside the home is the biggest culprit in the breakdown of the traditional (and IMHO appropriate) roles.

Who's to blame is hard to answer - like the chicken/egg thing. But both men and women have dropped the ball, neither fulfilling their proper roles. Who pays? Men, women, and most of all, the children.

[Go Gordon]

Then you don't know Mr Tiggywinkle. :o) He's wonderful and awesome! I'm a blessed woman.

Touche. But I'm not sure I want to know what a "tiggywinkle" is :-)

[BossLady]

They forgot this one:

19. Greet him at the door wearing nothing but red 4 inch pumps and a martini in hand....

[Go Gordon]

Wives didn't go to work because their attitudes changed, their attitudes changed because they went to work. More's the pity too, IMO.

Some would argue the cause was the women's movement. Others would argue that taxes got ahead of the cost of living, making it a necessity for most to have a two-income family.

[mrs tiggywinkle]

**But I'm not sure I want to know what a "tiggywinkle" is :-) **

Silly rabbit. My homepage explains who Mrs Tiggywinkle is.

[Go Gordon]

Uh, I'm Southern Baptist and believe in being submissive...but I ain't no slave!

Thats why I suggested a compromise between the 50's and today would be perfect. Hopefully, my son ultimately ends up with a woman that thinks the same way.

[ladyinred]

A man had to have written this list. That was my first thought, too! LOL

I don't think so! This sounds like my senior Home-Ec class to me! :-)