McCall’s was a monthly American women’s magazine that enjoyed great popularity through much of the 20th century. Kim Marx-Kuczynski came across an interesting copy of a January 1958 issue. In that magazine, an article “129 ways to get a husband” caught her eye. She decided to share it, and it is every bit as good as you would expect.
I wonder if dropping your hankie still works today…
I didn’t read through all of these, just skimmed over, but at least some of these look… reasonable? Don’t gossip about him, use ashtray, take good care of your health, wear sweaters if you look good in them… heck, some are good advice even if one doesn’t want to get married!
Many are sensible, some seem tongue-in-cheek.
Innocent but not ignorant …
?!?
Lose 50#, take out the piercings, have the fugly tats removed, don’t screech about everything, scrape off the first 5 layers of makeup.
That’ll take you a while, I’ll make a continued list.
23 and 24 are great.
33 Carry a hatbox – ????
Wild ideas – “Go to Yale” (!) Indeed! As a side note: I ONLY married my wife BECAUSE she tells dirty stories.
#76 hasn’t aged well. Still might be fun, but may not lead to the desired outcome.
#76… who knew McCall’s supported same-sex marriage all the way back in the 1950s!
Geez, #99. Maybe you’ll catch him, but apparently keeping the poor guy once he figures out what is going on is irrelevant. How about looking for someone you don’t feel the need to change?
Some of these are reasonable, some have an air of desperation about them (#30 Learn to paint and set up an easel outside of engineering school), and quite a few seem to be based on deception and hiding who you really are. Surely not a recipe for a lifetime of happiness?
#66 Get that fresh-scrubbed look by scrubbing!
I’m not sure who should find these more insulting, the women or the men.
I don’t think #76 meant gay in the same way we mean gay today. For one thing gay marriage wasn’t even close to being legal yet. Remember, Rock Hudson and others had to stay in the closet
Some of these won’t be understood by today’s young people. #76 : The word “gay” always and only ever meant “Happy,” “Cheerful”, “colorful”, etc. I can’t recall the exact time it began to change, but it wasn’t until the mid-90’s that I can recall hearing homosexuals referred to as “gay”. Probably took another 20 or so years before its original meaning lost its identity to the general public. (I grew up in the 50’s-60’s.)
A lot of these are updated from Ovid’s third book of the Art of Love (Ars Amatoria). Books 1 and 2 are advice to men on finding a woman and how to keep her. Things haven’t changed in nearly 2000 years. Worth a read in these times of self-isolation and social distancing. (ignore double posting… I think it didn’t like the link I had the first time).
I think everybody should wear name tags ( # 40 ) . If you’re married or otherwise taken, you’d have a red line on you name tag . If you’re single and available, you’d have a green line on you name tag . If a woman ever told me “I’m not thinking about getting married !” ( # 82 ), I’d think “I can’t marry her ! Woman who aren’t thinking about getting married make bad wives !” . I can’t get into Poker, and I need a woman who can’t get into Poker either ( # 103 ) .
I think I just puked in my mouth….
“Hide your Phi Beta Kappa key if you own one– later on junior can play with it.” Because who would marry a smart well-educated girl? And what on earth would she use all that book-learning for, it has nothing to do with popping out babies.
Reminiscent of my grandfather’s thinking. Good thing my mother was smart enough to get a full ride scholarship, because her dad thought college was a waste of money for daughters.
I found this to be a fun read. I half expect that not even all these were serious suggestions in the 1950s but you know some of them make sense whether or not people like the truth or not, and whether or not they are particularly popular opinion or lacking proper character. I always enjoy a step back to see how far we’ve come and sometimes how far we haven’t in today’s popular culture.
Like men aren’t humans and the women aren’t acting like humans
#98 is a good way to get your heart broken and end up in divorce court.
I want to read the article on the cover: Are Sex Manuals a Threat to Happy Marriage?
#55…
I have chronic illness so I guess I’ll be single forever :(