the good wife guide....
 

The Good Wife's Guide
From Housekeeping Monthly, 13 May, 1955.

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.

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.

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.

Minimize all noise. At the time of his arrival, eliminate all noise of the washer, dryer or vacuum. Encourage the children to be quiet.

Be happy to see him.

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

Don't greet him with complaints and problems.

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.

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.

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

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.

A good wife always knows her place.

GAWD. ALMIGHTY!
Snort!
---we've come a long way, baby---
Kira

sweet niblets!!! just shoot me now, good thing I wasn't born until the 60's.

This is the pre-nup Angie made me sign.

this one riles me up every time i see it.

omfg..i'm clearly a bad wife. i do none of those things, lol. well..i smile when my hubby comes home from work, and I ask about his day. LoL!!

Oh wow, is that a real article? It's beyond belief!

I've seen this before and it always cracks me up. If I did any of that my husband would have me committed!

Wow! Holy Stepford Wives! No wonder so many wives of the '50s were on valium!

I also read something from LHJ from back in the day that recommended women douche with LYSOL so that they are fresh and clean for their husbands.

I'm a conservative republican and that even pisses ME off!!

Techwife,

Douche with LYSOL???? OMG, I would think that would burn so bad!!!!

This was presented to us in a sexual psychology class I took a couple years ago in college. We did a unit on gender roles. Makes me laugh to read this. I was just talking to my husband last night about how being unemployed has made me realize just how glad I am that I didn't grow up as a 50's housewife, because that role could have never been a good fit for me.

Well, I guess being a little more gay would definitely make his day a little more interesting... :D It would definitely make mine more interesting, LOL!

And I love this one:
I guess these are the many reasons why I'm not married! :tape:

I was thinking the same thing, greeneyed!! ROFLMAO!!!

HaHaHa! From what era is this?? LOL! :rofl:

I would fail on all of those points. :rollpin: Here's the "Good" Man's Guide for the modern woman:

The Good Man’s Guide

* Her life is just as important as yours. I know that after a long day at work/school/the bar all you want to do is come home and complain about your coworker/hungover classmate/drunk, but you have to keep in mind that she’s had a rough day too. Don’t gloss over when she’s trying to tell you about the things that are bothering her.

* Cleaning is your job, too. One of the hardest habits to break for many is the idea of traditional gender roles, i.e. a woman’s place is barefoot and pregnant cooking dinner whilst running the vacuum. Admittedly, that example is a little (or a lot) extreme, but many men find themselves on the couch watching TV after dinner instead of helping their significant other clean up after dinner or even just doing regular household chores like cleaning the bathroom.

* She doesn’t always want sex. Unless you’re a very lucky guy, chances are your lady friend does not want sex as often as you. Her job in life is not to please you, so keep that in mind at night.

* Don’t greet her with complaints and problems. The first thing she wants to hear when you walk in the door is not how much you hate your life. Coming home with something positive to talk about, or even just listening for a while until you unwind, is a good way to set the tone for the evening.

* Don’t expect her to be responsible for dinner. If your girl is the one who always takes care of dinner, it will likely be a nice relief some nights if she comes home to a ready meal. Try to take care of dinner an equal amount in the week, even if it’s nothing fancy. If cooking isn’t your strong suit, let her know that you’ll be taking care of dinner for the night by grabbing some takeout. Afterwards, clean up the dishes and tell her to relax. Doing this should also set the tone for a peaceful evening.

* Don’t question her judgment. Sometimes when a girl is complaining, she just wants to get something off her chest and move on. For the most part, it’s better to take her side instead of questioning her reasons for being pissed. Even if you think she’s completely wrong, there are certain times that you have to know when to keep your mouth shut.

* Be honest. If something is bothering you about her, your day, or anything in general, don’t let it build up inside. This is a good way to avoid having major fights when there doesn’t need to be one. The longer you let something bother you, the more likely you are to let something little trigger a huge fight when there shouldn’t have been one in the first place.

* The golden rule. Do unto her, as you would have her do unto you. Simple enough, and always a good rule to keep in mind.

It may seem like the guidelines I’ve pointed out in “The Good Man’s Guide” are simple and easy to follow, but it’s just as easy to get out of practice and have a good relationship go bad. One final thought to keep in mind is this:

A good man always knows his place.

SOURCE: Primer Magazine

It's a good thing I wasn't married in the 50s/60s. I would NOT have done well. :D

"remember, his topics of conversation are more important than yours." Good God.
"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."

Thank the lord for feminism. I want to laugh, but I can't help feeling depressed...this was published on 50 some odd years ago...

Oh these are classics....I have an old betty crocker cook book from the 40's 50's I have to look it up, and it was full pearls such as these....I keep it just to get a good laugh........on the other hand my husband has a( Doris day fetish) My analysis, he believes all women should wear dresses....lol he just bought me a skirt. and yes I do wear it to please him. ;)

I do think there's something to be said for making your home a comfortable place to come home to...but it's something John and I do TOGETHER...LOL!!!

I love doing things for my hubby, and he loves helping me out too. That's what makes our marriage so great.

(I too am glad that I was not a housewife of the 50s!!!)

^^ This totally made me LOL! :rofl:

OMG! ....I am a terrible wife then..and speaking of Lysol, I have seen the ad too, you can find it here: http://oddee.com/item_96674.aspx
Scroll about half way down, but feel free to enjoy the others as well.

OK ladies, be prepared to be grossed out: Lysol was used as a douche to prevent pregnancy (among other things). I kid you not. :fr: Read on:

In the late 1920s Lysol disinfectant began being marketed by maker Lysol, Incorporated and distributor Lehn & Fink, Inc. as a feminine hygiene product. They intimated that vaginal douching with a Lysol solution prevented infections and vaginal odor, and thereby preserved marital bliss[7]. This Lysol solution was also used as a birth control agent, as post-coital douching was a popular method of preventing pregnancy at that time. The use of Lysol was later discouraged by the medical community as it tended to eliminate the bacteria normal to the healthy vagina, thus allowing more robust, health-threatening bacteria to thrive, and may have masked more serious problems that certain odors indicated in the first place.[8] All the same, Joseph De Lee, a prominent American obstetrician who held great sway over American obstetric practice through his writings, encouraged the use of Lysol during labor. "...[J]ust before introducing the hand, the vagina is liberally flushed with 1 per cent lysol solution squeezed from pledgets of cotton, the idea being to reduce the amount of infections matter unavoidably carried into the puerperal wounds and up into the uterus by the manipulations." [9]

In the US, from around 1930 to 1960, vaginal douching with a Lysol disinfectant solution was the most popular form of birth control.[10] US marketing ads printed testimonials from European "doctors" touting its safety and effectiveness. The American Medical Association later investigated these claims. They were unable to locate the cited "experts" and found that Lysol was not effective as a contraceptive.[10]

Can you imagine??? :yikes: Between things like this and how women were portrayed in ads, no wonder women revolted in the 1960s. To quote an old Virginia Slims commercial, "You've come a long way baby!" Thank goodness. :/

A year or so ago I posted some links to old Lysol-douche ads on another thread. Maybe back then the Lysol formula was gentler and was reasonably safe to use as a topical antiseptic (as some of the ads suggested, ETA 06.24 and mizski's source specifies "1% lysol solution" which is pretty dilute), but I WOULD DEFINITELY NOT TRY THAT WITH TODAY'S LYSOL! ::wishes there was a skull-and-xbones smiley::

ETA 06.23: Issues of using household cleaners for fem hygiene aside, didn't it occur to anybody (including me: get the wet lo-carb noodle and give me 20 lashes) to run this how-to-be-a-good-wife thingie by our friends @ Snopes? (Hint, it's accurate in the 50s attitudes it reflects, but its supposed source can't be traced, something like those "Granny's washday receet" or "Instructions for teachers 1872" lists)
http://www.snopes.com/language/document/goodwife.asp

LOL. I never could have done any of that, not without lots of booze anyway!

Oh, don't even get me started on the Good Wife's guide!!!!

I was reading part of the Good Man's guide and cackled so loudly now I'm going to have to let Hubby read them both!!! Plus the Lysol just to gross him out! {me too!}

On the plus side of the Good Wifes guide, I don't work and Hubby does. He often tells me how nice it is for me {and the dog!} to greet him at the door when he gets home. Awww!

douching in general is a terrible idea. part of the Good Man's Guide should say, "You don't want to deal with girl smells? Clean your balls."

:bravo::cp::yes: Preach it!