The rule for wife of the 60's

[easyrider]

I though this was interesting. I emailed it to my wife and her friends and I think Im eating p&j tonight.

Billl

 

[theo]

Dining "al fresco" tonight, are we???

<snip> I emailed it to my wife and her friends and I think Im eating p&j tonight.

...and you're probably eating outdoors, to boot...

 

[laurac260]

If I greeted my husband in this way when he got home he'd think I'd been drinking. And the part about "being a little gay?" I don't think he'd find that much of a turn on.

 

[easyrider]

I felt there were some valid points in this guide. This was written for women by women.

The good old days. What ever happened to them ?

 

[MommaBear]

I grew up in the 60's and remember my mother making sure the house was clean before my dad got home at 5:30 and making sure our mess was out of the way.. At 6:25 she would go down to her bedroom, comb her hair and put on her makeup. Dinner was in the dining room at 6:30 promptly after walter Cronkite signed off. The females in the family worse dresses or skirts to the table. my life really mimicked a lot of this. I am pretty sure my father didn't know where the kitchen was. He certainly never cleared the table, did a dish or got the butter out of the fridge.

My mother was a pretty outspoken and independant woman. She certainly spoke up, but I am convinced my father would have been happier had she followed all these commandments.

I can't watch Mad Men because it makes my skin crawl.

If my husband didn't cook, we wouldn't eat dinner until 9 most nights because I rately get home from work until 7:30.

 

[Ridewithme38]

I grew up in the 60's and remember my mother making sure the house was clean before my dad got home at 5:30 and making sure our mess was out of the way.. At 6:25 she would go down to her bedroom, comb her hair and put on her makeup. Dinner was in the dining room at 6:30 promptly after walter Cronkite signed off. The females in the family worse dresses or skirts to the table. my life really mimicked a lot of this. I am pretty sure my father didn't know where the kitchen was. He certainly never cleared the table, did a dish or got the butter out of the fridge.

My mother was a pretty outspoken and independant woman. She certainly spoke up, but I am convinced my father would have been happier had she followed all these commandments.

I can't watch Mad Men because it makes my skin crawl.

If my husband didn't cook, we wouldn't eat dinner until 9 most nights because I rately get home from work until 7:30.

So i was born in 1980 and admit i have no knowledge, beyond 'leave it to beaver' and other 50's framed shows on how things were back then....

But for those that do....Do you REALLY believe that you are better now, after the women's rights movement, then you were then? Again, i have no first hand knowledge, but families just seemed stronger back then, jobs more plentiful and morals held stronger...i don't know if its just the times or if having both parents working and divorce so prevalent has led to this....What do YOU think?

 

[laurac260]

So i was born in 1980 and admit i have no knowledge, beyond 'leave it to beaver' and other 50's framed shows on how things were back then....

But for those that do....Do you REALLY believe that you are better now, after the women's rights movement, then you were then? Again, i have no first hand knowledge, but families just seemed stronger back then, jobs more plentiful and morals held stronger...i don't know if its just the times or if having both parents working and divorce so prevalent has led to this....What do YOU think?

Darn, where's the "emoticon eating popcorn" when you need it?

 

 

[Conan]

Sorry, Snopes says it's a fake
http://www.snopes.com/language/document/goodwife.asp

 

[Ridewithme38]

Sorry, Snopes says it's a fake
http://www.snopes.com/language/document/goodwife.asp

Snopes actually says it 'accurate for the time' but they can't verify it came from anywhere specific

 

[laurac260]

Sorry, Snopes says it's a fake
http://www.snopes.com/language/document/goodwife.asp

eh, no...according to your own link, Snopes says it's undetermined. That doesn't mean fake. Fake, means fake. Atleast from around these here parts, that is...

 

[MommaBear]

So i was born in 1980 and admit i have no knowledge, beyond 'leave it to beaver' and other 50's framed shows on how things were back then....

But for those that do....Do you REALLY believe that you are better now, after the women's rights movement, then you were then? Again, i have no first hand knowledge, but families just seemed stronger back then, jobs more plentiful and morals held stronger...i don't know if its just the times or if having both parents working and divorce so prevalent has led to this....What do YOU think?

OOOOh, this is a tough one. I watched my mother chafe under societies restrictions and she had to stay in a horrible marriage because she had no money. I was lucky enough to be able to stay home with my kids when they were little, gradually increasing my work hours over time, which gave me all the time to support my family with home made food, homework supervision and support with after school activities. My husband is a much better father than my dad because he had to be a real parent the few evenings a week that I worked, not a family figurehead. He also knows I stay with him because I love him, not because I cannot make it financially without him. I was also lucky to grow up in a family that supported education for both boys and girls, but I had plenty of friends who either had no college because the money went to their brothers or had to be a teacher/nurse/secretary.

I really feel that some of society's problems now are that we want too many material things and do not put the emphasis on the intangibles. We lived very poor while the kids were little so we could do more with them. We only had one car, and a pizza a week was a huge splurge. The kids had no idea we were struggling financially because we did a lot with them and had fun as a family.

As far as the divorce rate... We make it way too easy to get married, way too easy to get divorced and do not do enough to make sure people have the tools to be married. I think all kids should have an "how to be an adult" class in high school- most kids graduate having no clue how to do a budget, write a resume, show up for a job on time and how to compromise in a relationship. Yes, that should be the parents' job, but most teenagers listen much better to adults other than their parents.

So, some things are better, some things are worse.

 

[easyrider]

Well for me I grew up as an "ARMY BRAT" until dad died during early Viet Nam. I can remember some of the way it was but not much.

Just so everyone knows this is a just for fun, non offensive, remember the good ol days, kind of thread. I recieved it by email and it made me smile. I have recieved a few emails from my friends wifes and other females I forwarded it to and have been told I have to cook this Friday. I hope they like grilled cheese.

 

[vacationhopeful]

OOOOh, this is a tough one. I watched my mother chafe under societies restrictions and she had to stay in a horrible marriage because she had no money. I was lucky enough to be able to stay home with my kids when they were little, gradually increasing my work hours over time, which gave me all the time to support my family with home made food, homework supervision and support with after school activities. My husband is a much better father than my dad because he had to be a real parent the few evenings a week that I worked, not a family figurehead. He also knows I stay with him because I love him, not because I cannot make it financially without him. I was also lucky to grow up in a family that supported education for both boys and girls, but I had plenty of friends who either had no college because the money went to their brothers or had to be a teacher/nurse/secretary.....

This was ALL TOO TRUE with my parents and us kids. The oldest was my brother who went to Princeton while I was told I should get a job to pay for the new county 2 year college. I had SATs that were <100 points less on both the Math and Verbal from my brother. My paternal grandmother dicated terms to my Dad after dinner in her dining room. He was madder than a wet hen and I left home 6 months later for college a good 1000 miles from home (under the guise that would keep me away from telling stuff to his mother). 2 years later, a college professor at Rutgers reemed my father out again and when I got better paying jobs than my Princeton engineering brother, my 2 younger sisters got to study mechancial engineering at Lehigh and Duke --- was a great basketball game last month. :hysterical: The Duke graduate is a high level computer company executive and the Lehigh graduate has been a stay-at-home mom for the past decade.
The sister 2 years younger than I, went to a 3 year diploma RN school attached to a medical college. The room, board, and tuition was just $700 per year as the students (all females) HAD to work shifts in the teaching hospital. She got engaged to a medical student the day after she graduated as "super nurse" of her class and a week after he received his MD. Still married (and appear very happy) - their 2 daughters are in doctoral programs. RN sister is the only one working now and carries the medical insurance for all.

PS My dad referred to his children as his wife's kids. My mom went to work fulltime when the youngest child enter 1st grade and her paycheck paid for all the college tuitions and housing costs. She was a secretary.

 

[pjrose]

What are the kids doing? Going through Dad's briefcase to see what he brought them?

 

[pjrose]

So i was born in 1980 and admit i have no knowledge, beyond 'leave it to beaver' and other 50's framed shows on how things were back then....

But for those that do....Do you REALLY believe that you are better now, after the women's rights movement, then you were then? Again, i have no first hand knowledge, but families just seemed stronger back then, jobs more plentiful and morals held stronger...i don't know if its just the times or if having both parents working and divorce so prevalent has led to this....What do YOU think?

Uh uh, Ride.....we may be getting close to a "contentious social issue."

. . . I was also lucky to grow up in a family that supported education for both boys and girls, but I had plenty of friends who either had no college because the money went to their brothers or had to be a teacher/nurse/secretary.

I really feel that some of society's problems now are that we want too many material things and do not put the emphasis on the intangibles. . . .

. . .

So, some things are better, some things are worse.

I'm with MommaBear on this. There were both pros and cons to the "good old days."

College was expected for my two sisters and me, but even so, it was assumed I'd be a teacher, secretary, or nurse and of course find a good husband (probably in college).

There's much more to the changes than the women's movement. We are a very consumer-oriented culture, and there are a lot more consumer items that are considered necessities - those, in turn, necessitate dual incomes.

And then there's the media.....

 

[laurac260]

There's much more to the changes than the women's movement. We are a very consumer-oriented culture, and there are a lot more consumer items that are considered necessities - those, in turn, necessitate dual incomes.

And then there's the media.....

Think of all the things we pay for now that our parents didn't pay for...

phone until 1990---one, no cell phones.

tv until early 80's free, no cable, no satellite.

Cost to own a home computer till early 90's...huh, what's a home computer?

Internet access before 1995, a net to go "inter" accessing what?

car for each of your two kids? Ever heard of a bicycle?

2nd car (try, one car).
Wii? Is that french? XBox who?

Central air was the floor fan in the middle of the living room (hence, "central").

Cost to run a home with a dishwasher (that was me), working dryer (that was the clothes line outside, atleast in the summer).

HOA fees? He better not be paying for no HOA!!

School fund raisers?? No, the school operated just fine without having to buy all that wrapping paper you won't use.

Stop me if you've heard enough...

...and we wonder why momma ain't never home to bring those kids up right.

 

[Ridewithme38]

I wish i could 'like' a post on this forum...There is ALOT of great information in this one! Thank you MommaBear

OOOOh, this is a tough one. I watched my mother chafe under societies restrictions and she had to stay in a horrible marriage because she had no money. I was lucky enough to be able to stay home with my kids when they were little, gradually increasing my work hours over time, which gave me all the time to support my family with home made food, homework supervision and support with after school activities. My husband is a much better father than my dad because he had to be a real parent the few evenings a week that I worked, not a family figurehead. He also knows I stay with him because I love him, not because I cannot make it financially without him. I was also lucky to grow up in a family that supported education for both boys and girls, but I had plenty of friends who either had no college because the money went to their brothers or had to be a teacher/nurse/secretary.

I really feel that some of society's problems now are that we want too many material things and do not put the emphasis on the intangibles. We lived very poor while the kids were little so we could do more with them. We only had one car, and a pizza a week was a huge splurge. The kids had no idea we were struggling financially because we did a lot with them and had fun as a family.

As far as the divorce rate... We make it way too easy to get married, way too easy to get divorced and do not do enough to make sure people have the tools to be married. I think all kids should have an "how to be an adult" class in high school- most kids graduate having no clue how to do a budget, write a resume, show up for a job on time and how to compromise in a relationship. Yes, that should be the parents' job, but most teenagers listen much better to adults other than their parents.

So, some things are better, some things are worse.

 

[glypnirsgirl]

I was just looking at the 1940 census for my mother (tried to find my dad but it seems like they missed his house!) --- and their entry is so different from everyone else's. My grandmother was the youngest of 13 children in the bayou. As soon as she graduated, she ran away from home to Dallas to learn to be a nurse. In the census, my grandfather is listed as "business owner" and no income is listed. My grandmother is listed as nurse and she was making $1200 per year. My mother was 4 and my aunt was 5. Looking for blocks from their home there was no other woman working, let alone one working who had small children.

My mother married after her sophomore year in college --- she was 17. And had me a year later. And she always worked. When I was little, she was a secretary. She went back to college a few years later (paid for by her mother) and graduated with a degree in education and became a teacher.

Despite the fact that both of my parents worked, we only had one car. And my parents tried not to use it. So we walked to the grocery store, to school, to the library.

We lived in a 2 bedroom, 1 bath house with cement floors. And no air conditioning. We had fans.

My mother did not do the housework. My sister and I did (except for laundry - my mother did that and we folded and put away). I am the oldest so I learned to cook. That was my job as soon as I got home from school.

And there was no adult there when I got home. And I wasn't a latchkey kid because I didn't have a key. We didn't lock the door.

My parents were the first people that I ever knew that got a divorce. No one else had divorced parents.

It was miserable.

I am sure that there are some families that fit that "ideal" scenario. I think that some of them were our neighbors. We weren't one of them.

elaine

 

[Courts]

From the Snopes link;

"Whether the piece at hand is a genuine excerpt from a yet-undiscovered
home economics textbook, it is nonetheless a relatively accurate
reflection of the mainstream vision of a woman's appointed role in
post-war America, as evinced by such educational training films as "The
Home Economics Story" (made familiar to a whole new generation of
youngsters through its spoofing on the popular Mystery Science Theater
3000 program). "


Many families have retained old traditions. My father was a factory worker and my mother did not work outside the home till I was in high school. We did not have a lot but we were happy.

Before I married my wife in 1971, I remember having dinner at her parents house. After dinner we talked a little while having coffee. When my wife and her mother got up to clear the table, I started to get up and her father yanked my arm and said; "that's womens work". Not wanting to "offend" her family I sat back down and talked with her father.

My wifes family was a very close family but very traditional. After our daughters were born, my wife asked if I believed they should get a college education. I said, "of course". I must confess, it took some time till I felt comfortable helping with house work.

.

 

[MuranoJo]

Never mind--reconsidered my post.