This system has helped people for decades
Set yourself up for a totally unplanned, candid meet-cute where he'll also think you're into sports! (Because how else could you get lost at a game?)
This could actually be a good piece of advice in today's age if you enjoyed your class, but the magazine adds a slightly darker tone: "There may be widowers there."
…"They may have some leftovers." Because when we think about husband material, we certainly think of beautiful women's leftovers!
If you're finding it hard to land a man, you must simply lower your standards! In all seriousness, though, this is one of the purer pieces of advice since looks will fade but behavior will remain.
Sources: (McCall's Magazine, 1958)
The article adds: "The wild kid next door may have become a very eligible bachelor while you were away."
This one sounds like it could be a nice way to meet people with similar interests or to develop your own personality and hobbies, but it's followed by a crucial second step: "Set up easel outside engineering school." To be fair, most agree that opposites attract.
Clumsy seems to be quite the attractive trait, as the guide also advises: "Wear a Band-Aid. People always ask what happened."
This one is a rather surprising tip for its time, especially since even these days there is much discourse about how fragile masculinity views high-earning women as unattractive. Another piece of advice later in the list is: "Buy a convertible. Men like to ride in them."
Most women these days wouldn't dare risk losing the contents of their purse on the street to attract the attention of a man.
… "Chances are good that he'll come over to find out what's wrong." Nothing like a damsel in distress—but you have to be quite the actress to pull off fake tears!
A little reverse psychology goes a long way. Another piece of advice the magazine gives later on is: "Point out to him that the death rate of single men is twice that of married men."
Vegetarianism hadn't gripped the masses back then, but food choices were and still remain to this day a part of the courtship ritual. As for why the steak must be rare, however, is another question. Another piece of concerning advice the magazine gives is, "Don't tell him about your allergies."
The numbers on this one are still a little fuzzy, but obviously you can't go wrong wearing a sweater if you look good in them.
Because fathers only want to talk about business and complain about taxes and have people agree with them.
This is a fantastic example of skills that were once seen as essential in a wife and now are dying rapidly. You would be hard-pressed to find many women who could (or would even attempt to) pull this off today.
"Even if you have to stay home one or two nights a week!" Just as it remains today, courtship in the '50s was a careful game of playing hard to get.
"Don't let him think he'll have in-law trouble, even if you know he will!" Hide all potential turnoffs until that ring is securely on your finger.
Create an elaborate rumor about yourself, perhaps by paying someone off, so that the object of your desire is fooled into finding you attractive. What could go wrong?
This wild tip is likely suggesting the airport bus so that you can find someone who is well-traveled or has an important job, which is something they'll also likely think about you—until of course their first question is where you're going or coming from.
This piece of advice seems to have a myriad of overlooked consequences associated with it, but perhaps that's just how dire the pursuit for a husband really was back then...
…"And say, 'Give me a buzz, pilots." When the men on land aren't calling, you've got to set your sights a little higher!
"The honesty will intrigue him!" Certainly one of the riskier pieces of advice from the 1950s, this comment might not be so intriguing these days.
If you can't go out and find eligible bachelors, bring them to your home. This is one of the more burdensome pieces of advice, but also reveals that in the '50s unmarried women were assumed to be living with their parents.
There are so many questions to be asked about this concerning piece of advice. It's probably best left to the real cowgirls looking for their cow-husbands.
The magazine does indeed specify "strange, handsome men." It sounds bizarre but if you think about it, you're forcing them to take a moment to admire you through a lens. There are worse ways of trying to get someone to look at you!
Thankfully, bald men these days tend to wear their baldness with a little more pride and self-esteem.
… "And will sew on bachelors' loose buttons." Be an entrepreneur in the business of courtship by offering a service to those poor unmarried men who don't have a lady at home to sew their buttons for them.
This is how you construct a perfect movie moment that is sure to snag a partner.
"If he's fat too, tell him you're adopted!" There's loads of terrible fat-shaming laden in the advice, but this one advising you to edit your genetics takes the cake.
The magazine doesn't specify whether it's important that you actually have a boat or not, but any man willing to be co-owner of your boat is surely ready to set sail with you in a relationship, right?
This one almost sounds empowering, but then it's followed up with: "Men don't like girls who are ill." Another piece of advice later in the list is also, "Get a sunburn," so health is obviously not the real priority here...
Give a man a fish, and he'll eat for a day. Teach a man how to fish, and he'll marry you!
This is hilariously preceded by the statement: "Men like to think they're authorities on perfume." Essentially, you want to fool him into thinking he has influence.
A lot has changed since the 1950s, from technology to political ideologies and social norms. It can be difficult to imagine, or even remember, what life was like just post-WWII.
Well, it was a time when settling down and starting a family was at the forefront of popular culture, and finding a husband seemed to be a hot topic. So much so, in fact, that magazines and guidebooks readily offered advice to help women land a man—advice that now serves as a sort of time capsule for the absurd mainstream beliefs surrounding marital bliss. One set of advice appeared in an issue of McCall's magazine in 1958 and was titled '129 Ways To Get A Husband.' We've compiled the best entries on the list for you, so click through to see the funniest mid-century tips and tricks to find and keep a husband!
Hilarious 1950s advice on how to find a husband
See how these bizarre tips hold up in today’s dating culture
LIFESTYLE Funny
A lot has changed since the 1950s, from technology to political ideologies and social norms. It can be difficult to imagine, or even remember, what life was like just post-WWII.
Well, it was a time when settling down and starting a family was at the forefront of popular culture, and finding a husband seemed to be a hot topic. So much so, in fact, that magazines and guidebooks readily offered advice to help women land a man—advice that now serves as a sort of time capsule for the absurd mainstream beliefs surrounding marital bliss. One set of advice appeared in an issue of McCall's magazine in 1958 and was titled '129 Ways To Get A Husband.' We've compiled the best entries on the list for you, so click through to see the funniest mid-century tips and tricks to find and keep a husband!