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10 tips to look after your husband from a 1950s schoolbook is exactly what your marriage has been missing


By Sophie White
07th Jul 2017

Vintage 1950s etched-style woman serving roast for dinner. Detailed black and white from authentic hand-drawn scratchboard. No white fills. For more vintage advertising art in my portfolio. Click this banner.

10 tips to look after your husband from a 1950s schoolbook is exactly what your marriage has been missing

Photograph: Getty Images

Tips To Look After Your Husband comes to us courtesy of a 1950s edition of a Home Economics schoolbook and frankly, it is a gift. So sit back and enjoy this archaic list from the comfort of our modern, enlightened age where men and women are treated equally and there are no laws that impinge on the rights of women… oh wait.


Have Dinner Ready

Plan ahead, even the night before, to have a delicious meal ready for your husband. Most men are hungry when they come home and the prospects of a good meal are what’s 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 more gay and a little more interesting. His boring day may need a lift.

Clear Away The Clutter

Make one last trip through the main part of the house just before your husband arrives, gathering up schoolbooks, paper, toys etc. 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 a few minutes to wash the children’s hands and faces, comb their hair and if necessary, change their clothes. They are little treasures and he would like to see them playing the part.

Minimise All Noise

At the time of his arrival, eliminate all noise of washer, dishwasher or vacuum. Try to encourage the children to be quiet. Be happy to see him. Greet him with a warm smile and be glad to see him.

Some Don’ts

Don’t greet him with problems or complaints. Don’t complain if he’s late for dinner. Count this as minor compared with what he might have gone through that day.

Make Him Comfortable

Have him lean back in a comfortable chair or suggest he lie down in the bedroom. Have a cool or warm drink ready for him. Arrange his pillow and offer to take off his shoes. Speak in a low, soft, soothing, pleasant voice. Allow him to relax – unwind.

Listen To Him

You may have things to tell him but the moment of his arrival is not the time. Let him talk first.

Make The Evening His

Never complain if he does not take you out to dinner. Instead try to understand his world of strain and pressure, his need to come 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.