As I explained yesterday, I'm flipping through some old magazines from the 1950s and geeking out over the pictures. This morning I focused on a travel magazine, Holiday, from 1956.
I never heard of it before, but it must have been a big deal. Look, John Steinbeck wrote an article for them.
Check out the cool "Mad Men" ads:
Apt. 11d 
Loved seeing a glimpse from my birth year!
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The ads are always the best parts in old magazines. Except for the “women’s magazines” where there are articles on how to get a guy. They are awesome. I believe the last one I saw (from 1950) explained the difference between “available” and “taken” hair styles, so you know what to do to attract men. They were very subtle, in ways that were either obvious to everyone in a way that wouldn’t be now, or else were completely made up by the magazine. (Is your pony tail on the top or the back? Which side is the part?)
I was wondering now whether the right side is still the “gay” ear for a man, and the left was the “straight” ear. It definitely was in the 1980’s, but now it is pretty rare that I see a guy with one earring at all.
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“I believe the last one I saw (from 1950) explained the difference between “available” and “taken” hair styles, so you know what to do to attract men.”
That difference lives on to the present day. I’ve read male complaints about the phenomenon of “girlfriend hair” (long, pretty, high-maintenance) vs. wife or mom hair (shorter, very low-maintenance). On the other hand, I’m not sure that the guys complaining would be happy living day-to-day with a woman who needs half an hour to do just her hair (forget makeup). It can be very disillusioning and annoying to men to discover exactly what goes on backstage to make their girlfriend smoking hot.
I was somewhat guilty of the long/short bait-and-switch myself, but 1) I don’t need an hour of preparation to face the world 2) I don’t inflict curlers on my husband 3) I promise not to do the 50-something matron thing where they cut off nearly all their hair (I suppose that’s a perimenopause thing).
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I once knew an Italian (not Italian-American) who was initially head over heels in love with his African American fiancee (they had met in Italy). However, as their cohabitation went on, the magic rapidly faded away. His fiancee’s time-consuming hair care and all the unsexy paraphernalia associated with her do was a real sore point.
Somebody needs to tell young men the facts of life about this sort of thing, so it doesn’t come as a surprise when 1) they discover they hate waiting around for their sweetie to put herself together or 2) they get disappointed that she doesn’t look the same she used to when she had her own place and could spend virtually unlimited time on her personal appearance.
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Do people really get cars for Christmas? It’s still a theme in car commercials. Is this a fantasy?
I bet the husband complaints extend to wardrobe, too. A single woman can spend HER money on HER wardrobe. A husband may object to spending the same amount of THEIR money on HER wardrobe, yet expect her to dress as well as she did before marriage.
It took me a long while to figure out why almost all shop clerks would ask, “do you want the receipt in the bag?” I presume it’s to allow wives to hide the cost of purchases from their husbands. I mean, no one asks me at the grocery store or pharmacy if I would like to have the receipt in the bag.
Are men asked, “do you want the receipt in the bag?” when they buy a sweater?
I do get odd looks at the grocery store when I turn down separate plastic bags for “chemicals.” My cleaning supplies haven’t contaminated my groceries yet, but then I guess I live on the wild side.
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Do people really get cars for Christmas? It’s still a theme in car commercials. Is this a fantasy?
Probably not tied up in a bow in front of the house like in the commercials, but maybe:
“I really need a new car. The clunker is in the shop every other month.”
“I know, but money’s kind of tight.”
“But I really need it. If we get it, it can count as my Christmas present.”
“Yeah. Okay.”
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Hey, I feel like asking for a car for Christmas (a holiday we don’t celebrate), just so that I can tie a big bow around a car. Actually, maybe I can just get someone to wash my car and tie a bow around it.
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Cranberry is that why they give me the receipt separately? I think you make a very astute point. In fact, after showing Pesto my new purchases he asked, “How much was all this?” He explained to me that when I order things online he becomes nervous–even if I explain there’s a good chance the item will be returned. (I’ve been on the search for a decent mid-weight coat, to no avail.) He was really freaking out (and mind you I work with a decent paying job)when he see “lots of packages coming through the door.” Interestingly, if I don’t show him something he’s not the kind of man who doesn’t notice. He’ll say “Where/when did you get that? It’s nice.” And, yes he does appreciate a well-groomed wife. If I wear yoga pants he’ll often purposely dress better than me as if to get me to change what I’m wearing.
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Obviously, a mid-weight coat is pointless. Just wear a light-weight coat and a sweater.
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My parents used to get that magazine, at least occasionally. However, if those ads are typical, their subscription was somewhat aspirational: they didn’t own a Cadillac or fly first class. Probably true for most of the subscribers.
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“However, if those ads are typical, their subscription was somewhat aspirational: they didn’t own a Cadillac or fly first class.”
I’ve seen the opposite phenomenon in today’s House Beautiful. They’ll have la-ti-da recipes facing advertisements for ready made grocery store foods, so presumably they expect that their readership dreams of mid-four figure appliances while heating up stuff in the microwave. (I recently read a piece featuring a kitchen where the owner confessed that she never cooked, but had none the less installed what was probably a $7k stove.)
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Macaroni said…
Cranberry is that why they give me the receipt separately?
I’d be skeptical of this line of thought- I’m asked, all the time, if I want my receipt in the bag or to have it, in all sorts of stores, so it’s at least not generally to hide things from husbands. (I assume it’s because some people want to look at the receipt and others don’t.) And anyway, if you pay for things with debit cards or credit cards, there are easy enough ways to find out how much is spent where, if you have the sort of relationship where finding out this sort of thing is needed.
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I always ask for the receipt in the bag because I end up returning many things, and it ensures that they receipt does not get lost in the abyss that is my handbag.
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