Category:
Marriage
Marriage
Teach your wife to be a widow
Donald L. Rogers was financial editor of the New York Herald Tribune. He originally wrote "Teach your wife to be a widow" as an article for Collier's Magazine, and later expanded it into a book (1952).
The article (and book) urged husbands to educate their wives about finances, so that in case the husband died the wife wouldn't end up going destitute.
I think Jean Mayer's article, "How to murder your husband," pairs particularly well with it. Both appeared in the 1981 Reader's Digest collection, Love and Marriage.
Posted By: Alex - Sun Dec 04, 2022 -
Comments (3)
Category: Money, Husbands, Wives, Books, Marriage
Miss Voodoo
Stella Danfray, aka "Miss Voodoo," seemed poised to become a movie star when she arrived in the United States from France in 1950. She had all kinds of meetings lined up with Hollywood bigwigs.
New Castle News - Jan 7, 1950
Source: Oklahoma Historical Society
But it turned out that Miss Voodoo had some peculiar views about marital relations. Unprompted, she told a reporter that she thought American husbands were browbeaten and should slap their wives.
I don't know if this comment ended her Hollywood career before it even began (as far as I can tell, she never appeared in any movies), but it definitely turned the American press against her. Within a few months she had left America. She continued working as a model in Europe for a number of years. I don't find any more references to her after 1955.
Montreal Daily Star - May 25, 1950
La Crosse Tribune - Sep 24, 1950
Posted By: Alex - Sun Oct 23, 2022 -
Comments (0)
Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, Husbands, Wives, Marriage, 1950s
The marriage of industry and electronics
I like the image, but it seems like it belonged on the cover of a science-fiction magazine, not in an ad for Revere kitchen ware. After all, a woman marrying a robot raises a few intriguing questions.
Saturday Evening Post - Nov 15, 1947
Posted By: Alex - Tue Sep 27, 2022 -
Comments (5)
Category: Advertising, AI, Robots and Other Automatons, Marriage, 1940s
The woman who married a rag doll
Recently in the news: Meirivone Rocha Moraes of Brazil married a rag doll named Marcelo, and now claims that she's had a child with him. The kid is also a rag doll.More info: NY Post
Posted By: Alex - Sat Jun 25, 2022 -
Comments (2)
Category: Marriage, Dolls and Stuffed Animals, Pregnancy
Games Couples Play, #2
July 1947: Newlyweds Jane and Lloyd Gulledge of Dearborn, Michigan decided to play a couple of rounds of Russian roulette. Lloyd lost. "Police say they had been drinking."
Lancaster Eagle Gazette - Jul 28, 1947
(L) Nevada State Journal - Jul 29, 1947; (R) Palm Beach Post - Aug 3, 1947
Related: Games Couples Play, #1
Posted By: Alex - Thu Jun 09, 2022 -
Comments (3)
Category: Marriage, 1940s, Weapons
Multiple wives for men over 60
April 1966: Noting that there are more women than men over the age of 60, and that women over age 60 often are widowed and may "subsist on inadequate diets and live in a state of sexual frustration," Utah physician Victor Kassel proposed a solution: allow men over age 60 to have more than one wife. In this way, many lonely, older women might once again have a husband, albeit one they're sharing
The Baytown Sun - Apr 19, 1966
In later remarks, Kassel complained that the publicity which his proposal received overemphasized the sexual aspects of his proposal. But to be fair to the media, he himself drew attention to some of the sexual benefits (for men) of polygyny:
Kassel said it is true an older man's problems with sex lie with boredom rather than impotency. "With three, four or five wives," Kassel said, "he wouldn't be bored any longer."
left: Idaho Daily Statesman - Sep 11, 1966; right: Fort Lauderdale News - Apr 16, 1966
One English wife offered the following response to Kassel's proposal:
Sunday Mirror - Apr 24, 1966
Some general remarks:
- I don't know why many news articles referred to him as "Victory Kassel". His name was Victor.
- The media frequently said he was promoting polygamy (multiple spouses), when he was actually, more specifically, advocating polygyny (multiple wives).
- One might assume that because Kassel lived in Salt Lake City and was promoting polygyny, that he was Mormon. He was actually Jewish, born in New York City.
- According to his obituary published in The Deseret News (Mar 11, 2005), he later admitted that his proposal was "tongue-in-cheek". I managed to find a reprint of his article and made a pdf copy of it. Parts of it do seem like he was trying to be intentionally outrageous, such as the passage below. But judge for yourself.
Many aged persons are uninterested in their appearance, change their undergarments infrequently, bathe inadequately, and seldom cleanse their external excretory organs. Polygyny offers to the woman someone for whom to compete. The man, on the other hand, is interested in being courted. Each person will do his or her best to upgrade appearances, each will be alert to the advantages gained by the competitor, and each will learn the tricks of becoming more attractive. The end result must be finer-appearing older citizens.
It can be argued that the jealousy aroused as the result of the competition would be carried to an extreme by the women and would disrupt the quiet, peaceful home. This may occur. But when there is a choice between uninterested, dowdy, foul-smelling hags and alert, interested, smartly dressed ladies, the selection is obvious.
It can be argued that the jealousy aroused as the result of the competition would be carried to an extreme by the women and would disrupt the quiet, peaceful home. This may occur. But when there is a choice between uninterested, dowdy, foul-smelling hags and alert, interested, smartly dressed ladies, the selection is obvious.
Posted By: Alex - Mon Apr 18, 2022 -
Comments (3)
Category: Elderly and Seniors, Marriage, 1960s
A Year at Sea
Most unique trial for a marriage ever!Source: The San Francisco Examiner (San Francisco, California) 23 Apr 1972, Sun Page 3
Posted By: Paul - Mon Apr 11, 2022 -
Comments (0)
Category: Eccentrics, Oceans and Maritime Pursuits, Marriage, 1970s
Polygamy Porter
Yet another banned beer, to go alone with Alex's batrachian brew. Article here.
The brewer's site, where you can purchase their t-shirt
Posted By: Paul - Mon Oct 18, 2021 -
Comments (1)
Category: Censorship, Bluenoses, Taboos, Prohibitions and Other Cultural No-No’s, Fashion, Marriage, Alcohol
Gee Geronimo the Snail
I'm not aware of many famous snails. Gee Geronimo, as far as I know, may be the only one. Back in the 1970s, the Guinness Book of Records declared him to be the world's biggest snail. His owner was Christopher Hudson. Gee Geronimo died in 1976.
Christopher Hudson with Gee Geronimo
source: 1978 Guinness Book of Records
Connellsville Daily Courier - Nov 27, 1976
Hudson was apparently more in love with his snails than he was with his wife.
Honolulu Advertiser - Feb 4, 1977
Posted By: Alex - Wed Sep 15, 2021 -
Comments (4)
Category: Animals, World Records, Marriage, 1970s
The Human Relationship Simulator
This post seemed appropriate for Valentine's Day, since it's about an engineer's attempt to use machine logic to improve the "ambiguities of the woman/man relationship".James F. Hollander was a patent attorney with a degree in electrical engineering. In the late 1970s he invented and patented what he called the "Human Relationship Simulator". It consisted of a box with various dials.
Even after reading his patent, and an article about his invention, I'm not exactly sure how the thing operated. From what I can gather, if a couple were having an argument, or needed to make a decision (such as where to go for dinner), they could both adjust dials on the Simulator, and it would give them an answer. And measure the intensity of their feelings.
Here's more info from a 1977 article in the Asbury Park Press:
Taking a hypothetical issue, such as a man and woman deciding whether or not to go out to dinner, information is fed into the panels. One represents the man; the other, the woman.
Each subject uses dials that represent four areas — compliance with society, attention to own desire, social pressure and personal inclination. The personal inclination and social pressure gauges are intricately detailed to show adamant 'yes' or 'no' responses, or degrees such as strong preference, or very much or some.
Attention to desire is measured in readings of low, medium and high, as is compliance with society.
As the subjects feed this information into the panels, other gauges measure tension, feelings, guilt or pride, emotional independence, like and dislike, and influence, based on each decision.
The machine does the thinking, lights a decision of 'yes' or 'no' and tells the subjects their emotional responses....
In a marriage situation, Hollander said the device could show the individuals why something is going wrong in the relationship if arguments are portrayed and feelings defined.
"I wanted to pick out the ambiguities of the woman/man relationship," he pointed out.
Each subject uses dials that represent four areas — compliance with society, attention to own desire, social pressure and personal inclination. The personal inclination and social pressure gauges are intricately detailed to show adamant 'yes' or 'no' responses, or degrees such as strong preference, or very much or some.
Attention to desire is measured in readings of low, medium and high, as is compliance with society.
As the subjects feed this information into the panels, other gauges measure tension, feelings, guilt or pride, emotional independence, like and dislike, and influence, based on each decision.
The machine does the thinking, lights a decision of 'yes' or 'no' and tells the subjects their emotional responses....
In a marriage situation, Hollander said the device could show the individuals why something is going wrong in the relationship if arguments are portrayed and feelings defined.
"I wanted to pick out the ambiguities of the woman/man relationship," he pointed out.
Asbury Park Press - Aug 29, 1977
If that doesn't seem entirely clear, then here's a sample from Hollander's patent:
The decision voltage output of the man-simulator is connected to the threshold detector of the woman-simulator via a sense port. Similarly, the woman-simulator has a decision voltage output port connected to a sense port and input to the level threshold detector of the man-simulator. A switch interrupts each output so that the effect of relationship can be shown. By adjustment and interpretation of the dial settings and decision indications, paradoxes and problems in man-woman relationships are demonstrated.
Posted By: Alex - Sun Feb 14, 2021 -
Comments (0)
Category: Technology, Patents, Psychology, Marriage, 1970s, Love & Romance
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