‘Counsel to ladies’ from 1847 (1911)
Women then and now
Away back in 1847, a man named S D Edwins lived in England and wrote a pamphlet entitled, “Counsel to Ladies.” A yellowed copy has just turned up in a New York collection. He advised the ladies:
“Avoid contradicting your husband. Whoever is often contradicted feels insensibly an aversion to the person who contradicts. If your husband is abusive, never retort; retire to your closet and pour out your complaints in prayer to God.”
This piece of advice he emphasized by printing on the margin: “Discreet wives have sometimes neither ears nor eyes.”
>> Read the whole original “Counsel to Ladies” piece here
From 1847 to 1911 is a far cry, but what would that old boy think if he could visit Los Angeles now and see every mere male man, from banker to coal-heaver, down on his knees to the women, praying with tears in eyes and voice that she will “save this fair city” by “voting for the right” — as he sees it?
Photo: Women registering to vote in San Francisco (1911), courtesy Library of Congress
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Publication: The Day Book (Chicago, Ill.)
Publication date: November 27, 1911
