Contest entry

[cactuswren.livejournal.com]

Good Housekeeping, 1949:

Because car buying is entirely his decision, you know.  She's allowed to "hint", to "whisper", to "remind", but actual decision-making involving any larger expenditure than her housekeeping allowance is HIS.



(And of course there's that little "P.S. for husbands only" in the bottom corner, because only he will be interested in how well a car actually performs.)

Comments

[srsmoonlight.livejournal.com]

Too... Many... Of... These...

YES

[weelisa.livejournal.com]

This one I find genuinely depressing.

YES

[crabofdoom.livejournal.com]

For "four rooms", they only mention three. And that Blondie and Dagwood font really sells me in their company's quality, donchaknow.

Dad appears to be checking the trends in ladies' hats.

Re: YES

[cactuswren.livejournal.com]

Yeah -- Comic Sans before there was Comic Sans.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I'll have his armchair and footrest.

YES

[lovelier.livejournal.com]

She also needs it because it's easier to drive so she can't stall it out or jerk it with her bad woman driving.

Yes

[laplor.livejournal.com]

Apparently not only women wouldn't want this thing, but no bachelor ever would buy it.

[seamonkey-mags.livejournal.com]

Yes -- I'm really not a fan of the Manipulative Woman trope. Not that I'm a fan of any of this crap, but anyway.

[bradygirl_12]

Heh! These old ads slay me! A lot of women did have to resort to this stuff to get what they wanted because a lot of husbands controlled the money ("I earn it, I control it!") but my mom was the one more likely to handle the money than my dad. He said she gave him his allowance. ;)

They really did have an equal partnership that was kind of odd for the time. The big decisions were made by both of them, like buying a car, and they pooled their money and set aside some for each of them that they called their 'allowance' so that they could buy stuff that they needed or wanted without consultation! :)

I chalk it up to both my grandmothers being strong women and not taking any crap! They influenced both my mom and dad as to how women should behave in a marriage. Not bad for pre-feminist days! :)

[amelia-eve.livejournal.com]

I'm interested in how many of these post-war auto ads do show the woman driving, though. I think it's about the image of the family out in the suburbs while the man commutes into the city. The other side of it is what my husband (who sells cars) refers to as showing the woman "wearing" the car -- it's part of her overall look. In this case, the woman in the car becomes another fashionable symbol of the man's success.