Old wedding superstitions and traditions are intended to bring the couple good luck – but worrying about all these myths & signs would stress anyone out!
He’s rich as Croesus, with achievements that are many and brilliant. He has a soft voice, half Southern, half Western, shy eyes and an infectious grin. He’s Howard Hughes. There should be a law against him.
Back in the fifties, a group brainstormed ways to help a woman catch a man… and the suggestions are just as cringeworthy, soul-crushing and outdated as you can imagine. Take a look at these 129 ways to get a husband and see for yourself!
All of these old-fashioned marketing pitches have a theme: the judgments are harsh, and nobody is worried about subtlety. Take a look back at these mean vintage ads and pretty soon, you’ll be feeling the burn!
Avoid contradicting your husband, do not give your advice till he asks it, and other marriage tips from the 1830s. Because a wife may have more sense than her husband, but she should never seem to know it.
“How did he propose?” was asked in a series of nationally-syndicated newspaper columns during the early 1920s. Here’s a selection of some of the best engagement stories – from the sweet and simple to the too-cute-for-words.
How to chase men till they catch us is something every young girl should know, says Enid Haupt, editor of Seventeen magazine. Her tips on how to flirt, include the advice to curb your aggressive nature, because ‘It belongs to men only.’
Mood rings were incredibly popular pieces of jewelry in the mid-1970s. – call it a colorful fad. So do the rings actually work? What do the mood ring colors mean? Find out here!
So many experts have come out with learned treatises on how to land an eligible bachelor, it was time for an experienced amateur to speak up. There is one big difference between their fancy methods and mine. Mine worked.
An expert said American dating and courtship is characterized by romance… After a brief, ecstatic acquaintanceship, they believe that they can go on living happily ever after.
How DOES a girl win a husband? By tradition, she waits until the right man comes along, then he woos her, pursues her, and leads her to the altar.
What can happen to an ever-lovin’ boy who used to call every night to make him forget even how to drop a nickel in the telephone
An eligible young man who has begun to think seriously of marriage, ponders on the old questions of whether to marry the sparkling girl or the sensible one.
The protests of the sixties are gone. And with this new, quieter age, how many men and women now live together as husband and wife without legal sanction?
In the United States, divorce increased two and a half times as fast as the population, and 2/3 of the divorces were granted on petition of the wife. See more Victorian divorce statistics here!
Good form: Tips for proper manners (1911) Telephone etiquette Correct though it is to employ a telephone for social purposes, there have been established certain
Do you know how to kiss? Sure, everybody knows how to kiss — after a fashion. But there’s a right and wrong way, so they say. Here is the proper stance, kiss and everything.
What should you put in a hope chest? Linens and items for the home after the wedding, or clothing for the bride’s trousseau? You can put both – but you really need to fill it with so much more.
“What’s happened to our marriage?” Vintage Lysol ad: “I’ll never go back to him… never!” Vintage Lysol ad: His many neglects were due to her ONE
It is a woman of the “old school” who declares that telephones are to blame for many a broken friendship between men and women.
When it comes to marrying a Hollywood actor, the former Mrs Charlie Chaplin says don’t wed a genius – even if he tells you that you are his sole inspiration – because it won’t last long. Celebrity couples are doomed to divorce.
Old-time courting & a red-hot date: 25 years ago and today Old-time courting 25 years ago (1902) The start of a heavy courtship. Twenty-five years ago.
The wife with a talent I am writing to you about a matter on which I sorely need advice. I am a woman with a
Just as pretty and as neat as you can, dears, but do dress sensibly and comfortably.
Popping the question There is nothing more appalling to a modest and sensitive young man than asking the girl he loves to marry him: and
The etiquette of courtship & marriage No subject in this work is more important, and certainly none will be studied with as much attention, as that
Love letters A gentleman is struck with the appearance of a lady and is desirous of her acquaintance, but there are no means within his
The marriage ceremony Weddings are everywhere accompanied with some degree of ceremony, and are usually considered as occasions of festivity. The preliminaries having been arranged
How to choose a husband? Whatever you do, do not marry a man who claims to be a saint. He lives too much in his own imagination of himself. He is nearly always an unconscious or a subconscious hypocrite.
So you’re going to be married soon, and go with your husband to a new town? It’s rather exciting to think that you have a chance to be whatever you would like to be. You can reinvent yourself!
Luncheon for two? When is it proper for men and women to dine together? by Mary Marshall Duffee A dinner lubricates business. – Lord Stowell
The top reasons couples get divorced in 1920? One wife charged that her husband squandered all his money gambling. Another said her husband was teaching the baby to drink beer. A score of wives charged that their husbands contracted diseases.
Should a girl who works accept the attentions of her employer? by Idah M’Glone Gibson Dear Mrs Gibson: I have smiled and raged alternately at
Today Barbra Streisand is the drummer boy leading the charge. Cinderella at the ball, every hopeless kid’s hopeless dream come true.
There were many lonely, unhappy wives in every era. From 1914: ‘Society, with the entire approval and cooperation of woman, has long protected man in his sins by a cover of silence, that it is considered hardly polite to speak of such a disagreeable incident as wife-beating.’
Etiquette for introducing strangers Presenting persons to each other is one of the little courtesies of daily life so simple that it should be done
The real death of a cheerleader story (1985) 
30 vintage TV dinners: Fried chicken, turkey, pot roast & other fab frozen food, retro-style 
20 vintage pink bathrooms: See some wild bubblegum-era midcentury home decor of the 1950s & 1960s 
US Army shoulder insignia (1945) 
Chocolate Texas sheet cake recipe (1986) Want to remember to remember? Our weekly newsletter shows you the latest vintage, old-fashioned & historic stuff that we have published or refreshed during the past seven days. Sign up here.
Note: ClickAmericana.com features authentic historical information, and is not intended to represent current best practices on any topic. Material on this site is provided for education, criticism, commentary, cultural reporting, entertainment, historical reference, and news reporting/analysis.
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