netjeff.com Humor collection Rules for 1950's wifes

Excerpt from Home Economics textbook used in Ontario schools during the
1950's.
 
        .  Get your work done.  Plan your tasks with an eye on the clock.
           Finish or interrupt them an hour before your husband is expected
           home.  Your anguished cry, "Are you home already?" is not
           exactly a warm welcome.
 
        .  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 of him and are concerned for 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 that you will 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.  His boring day may need a lift.
 
        .  Clear away the children.  Make one last trip through the
           main part of the house just before your husband arrives.
           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 just 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
           noise of washer, dryer, dishwasher, vacuum.  Try to
           encourage the children to be quiet.
 
        .  Be happy to see him.  Greet him with a warm smile and act
           glad to see him.
 
        .  Some don'ts.  Don't greet him with a problem or complaint.
           Don't complain if he's late for dinner.  Count this
           minor compared with what he might have gone through during
           the day.
 
        .  Make him comfortable.  Have him lean back into a comfortable
           chair or suggest he lie down in the bedroom.  Have a cool or
           warm drink ready for him.  Arrange his pillows and offer to
           massage his neck and shoulders and take off his shoes.
           Speak in a soft, soothing, pleasant voice.  Allow him to
           relax - to 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 everything his.  Never complain if he does not take you
           out to dinner or 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 renew himself in body and spirit.

netjeff.com Humor collection Rules for 1950's wifes