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I received this in an email and thought I would share it with you all. It is an article from 1955.
Have dinner ready: Plan ahead, even the night before, to have a delicious meal — on time. 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 prospects of a good meal are part of the warm welcome needed.
Prepare yourself: Take 15 minutes to rest so you will be refreshed when he arrives. Touch up your makeup, 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. His boring day may need a lift and one of your duties is to provide it.
Clear away the clutter. Make one last trip through the main part of the house just before your husband arrives.
Gather up school books, toys, paper, etc. Then run a dust cloth over the tables. Your husband will feel he has reached a haven of rest and order, and it will give you a lift, too.
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 the noise: At the time of his arrival, eliminate all noise of washer, dryer, dishwasher or vacuum. Try to encourage the children to be quiet. Be happy to see him. Greet him with a warm smile and be glad to see him.
Some Don’ts: Don’t greet him with problems or complaints. Don’t complain if he’s late for dinner. Count this as minor compared with what he might have gone through that day.
Make him comfortable: Have him lean back in a comfortable chair or suggest he lie down in the bedroom. Have a cool or warm drink ready for him. Arrange his pillow and offer to take off his shoes. Speak in a low, soft, soothing and pleasant voice. Allow him to relax and unwind.
Listen to him: You may have a dozen things to tell him, but the moment of his arrival is not the time. Let him talk first.
Make the evening his: Never complain if he does not take you out to dinner or to other places of entertainment; instead, try to understand his world of strain and pressure, his need to be home and relax.
The goal: Try to make your home a place of peace and order where your husband can relax.
You dropped the ending of “Listen to him”–it says, “remember, his topics of conversation are more important than yours.” That says it all in a nutshell! Who would ever want a marriage like that??? Pretty pathetic, but also a fantasy, even for the 50s. But I’d worry about anyone who had that fantasy….
I happen to have the original edition of Houskeeping Magazine…my mother saved it and gave it to me in a box of miscellaneous junk from my early childhood in the 50′s. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry about this….the sad thing is that many people really believe this is the way it should be. Sad. Pathetic. Very 50′s June Cleaver…Donna Reed, et.al.
I hope you all are kidding. This article is used to college classrooms as a critique to demonstrate the absurdity of female oppression. It is also a hoax.
Wow, look at how far woman have come in 50 years. Think of all the woman who fought to liberate you. If it wasn’t for them, you wouldn’t even have the right to post a note here, have a computer, or an opinion. You’d probably be bound by a corset, living with a man twice your age, who “bought” you from your father when you were 13 years old to bare his children while looking pretty and being mindless.
ha! i’ve seen this before! while i think the ideas are good (in theory), i think they are a bit unrealistic and i couldn’t imagine myself doing most of them…
This is a great post!
I completely AGREE with a lot of it. :)
it’s hard to do sometimes but these things do work and make things nicer. :)
hahah… thanks for posting. I needed a laugh :)