How To Train Your Husband

Meet Mrs. Margaret Deeds. She is a woman who knows a thing or two about human nature and relationships. Perhaps this is why the illustrious Woman's Home Companion turned to her for, possibly, the most important primer a young newlywed will ever read, Catch Him Young! Train Him Right! (May 1947 issue).

In her article, Mrs. Deeds articulates the steps a bride must take to ingrain better habits in her Romeo before the ink is dry on the wedding contract. This is the only way to ensure that your lesser half will be as beneficial inside the home as he is at the office. As you can see from the following illustrated (click to enlarge for uncomfortable slave owner reference!) guide, it's easier than your mother told you to trick your beloved into aiding you in the kitchen, setting the table, and making the bed. Let your fella know that if he wants to drone on about his preference for his mother's cooking, he had better help you devise menus and do the shopping! Men might be more interested in drinking and impressing you with his stacking abilities, but that's no reason not to put him to work with the vegetable scrubber! Finally, remember that a sure-fire way to get him to be useful around the house is to make him feel like a king, and the best way to do that is to boost his ego by giving him the easiest tasks to free up your time (even he won't screw up packaged convenience foods!) and liberally using exaggerated compliments. Also, provide him with a selection of cheery aprons. He'll enjoy the snappy look, won't soil his slacks, and his chums needn't know about his house garb!



In a detail from an advertisement for Wear-Ever Aluminum Utensils, a rosy complexioned wife tightens her husband's apron strings as she puts him on KP. He might think he's lording over the manor with his virile pipe and bowtie ensemble, but his wife's jollied up expression tells a different story.


And, from yet another Woman's Home Companion article (this one about the importance of a good cuppa coffee), another writer submits her number one method of training her man in Good Coffee Makes Good Husbands


[all articles, images, and advertisements from the strangely thematic May 1947 issue of Woman's Home Companion]

The Cotton Dress Club

From Woman's Home Companion's 'Cotton In Action' by fashion editor Elizabeth Ambrose (May 1947 issue)


Skip, skip, skip to your lou in this gingham party frock (flies in your buttermilk not included)!


Dazzle that rugged out-of-towner at the picnic with your skimpy basket and severe pleated skirt!


Playtime in a 'mimosa and heliotrope'-colored playsuit with wide suspenders (with a giant 'red' balloon)


You'll 40-Love this cotton culotte tennis outfit!

Ever Have A Who'd-Eat-It Dinner?

The Characters ... Four young couples hellbent on partying within budget
The Scene ... One of their houses -- a demure white cottage located on top of an Indian burial ground
The Plot ... Who concocted this murderous meal and WHY?
Who dished it out and washed his or her hands of the ordeal?
Most important: Who paid for it later?

Who nixed the salad?
Where did the fruit come from?
Most important: Who ate the shrunken demon heads (designed by HR Giger) and are they still larval.. I mean, living?

[Featured menu from Woman's Home Companion, May 1947]

This Year's Model

Before it's out with the cold and in with the new, here's a look at Elizabeth Beveridge's pick of the coolest fridges on the runway. Me, I prefer the Philco, but they weren't featured in this show.





[From Woman's Home Companion, May 1947]

Curly Wurly wishes you and your family a happy holiday season and a happy and healthy 1948!

Profiteroles of the Rich and Famous

Dahlings, you have to try my A&P Lavish Lamb Dinner!

What is it, you ask? It's a banquet fit for a queen. Lamb shanks encrusted with nature's ruby red and amber jewels. Oui, glistening apricots topped with the finest wild cherries from Maraschino! A chorus line of truffled potatoes flanked by pencil-thin asparagus and daubed with the most decadent of hollandaise sauces to make your mouth water! Notice how the quaint Alpine daisies playfully dot the table while luscious strawberries and creme dance with a salad made of a gelatine so wobbly you might wonder if it's had as much champagne as you have! This grand extravaganza is garnished only by the duskiest radish roses with a never fading blush!

And where did my luncheon come from? Why, from a smart little bistro downtown. I think it's called the A&P. It stands for Aristocratic and Palatable.

[featured advertisement from the March 1947 Woman's Home Companion]

Meet Me In My Dressing Room

Before there was MTV's Cribs, there was Woman's Home Companion's March 1947 issue. The magazine featured a rare behind-the-scenes glimpse at celebrity dressing rooms. Can it be that these meticulously decorated dressing rooms were the standard? Two of my favorite spaces belonged to co-stars Margaret O'Brien and Judy Garland. Margaret O'Brien's area looks more like a dollhouse or a whimsical play area with its carousel motif. Judy's is characteristically stylish. Look at how the bright colors of the sophisticated settee complement her lovely red locks! And does she really have time to page through her library while on the job?





In other news, head over to my other blog for a chance to win $500 worth of handpicked (by me) books from my favorite publisher, Chronicle Books. This year, Chronicle Books has extended their Happy Haul-idays contest to include a charitable element, so not only will one lucky blogger (and one of the blog's lucky readers) win a matching set of books, but Chronicle will donate $500 worth of books to a charity of the winner's choice. If you're interested in seeing the books I chose and entering to win my selection, comment on the linked post. And, if you're a blogger, you may want to enter the competition yourself!

They Came From Beyond The Garden

Four Sure Tricks In A Suit by Lucie Lyons for Woman's Home Companion masquerades as a blouse pattern article, but the models'-heads-swapped-for-flower-pots look seems like a mad doctor's dream. Despite its January 1947 publication date, I think it was published a few months too late. It should have been the spotlight of their Halloween issue as a collection of disturbing floral costumes to scare young trick or treaters.

Bewitched by this creepy-crawly idea? Not only could these sketches be inspiration for striking costumes, but you could also populate your porch or front yard with freaky flower people decorations. Create a bevy of Burtonesque figures to hold your candy bowls or even dangle fake cobwebs and insects (or even more macabre accoutrements) from their wormlike fingers. All you'd have to do is acquire mannequins or dress forms, remove heads, and attach flower pots filled with various blooms. The more unassuming the bloom, the creepier the effect.

I do believe the model is holding a dead bird

Bring Back My Bonnets To Me, To Me

The Hats Came Back! Elizabeth Ambrose, Woman's Home Companion fashion editor, introduced the newest hat styles of the day in the April 1947 issue of the magazine. Here are four of the newest looks that you're sure to see donning some of the loveliest heads. And, if you're looking to dress your own naked head, be sure to ask for these styles by name!

Pilgrim's Progress - With an eye-catching velveteen train of crackly autumnal foliage

Wing Tip - Let everyone know you're 'here' with this delicate dove attention-getter!

The After-Storm Stroll - Sailor hats are never more charming than after a jaunt through some debris!

After-Dinner Mint - This hat lends a zing of freshness to your ensemble