Dicky Bird's Nest : Old Fashioned Values

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Old Fashioned Values–1939 Style

I bought this cute magazine Farm Journal and Farmer’s Wife , October 1939, from my friend Lisa at the Edgar Steam Engine Show and Flea Market:

http://dickybirdsnest.blogspot.com/2011/08/edgar-steam-engine-show-flea-market.html

I loved the picture of the Rooster on front. I have been reading some of the articles and LOVE it! I was raised with “old fashioned values” and am raising my girls the same.

I came across this page that said What Boys Think of Us!? I began reading this article and found it relevant to today’s young ladies. I plan on having my daughters, Justine 20 and Anna 17 read it. Here are a few points I thought interesting.

From the 1939 boys:

“The kind of girl we like best might be described as “semi-modern.” A girl who can be as “crazy” at times as the rest of us and yet rings true. She can have fun, because, she’s quick and good at sports; but she’s somewhat shy and reserved too. She’s just old fashioned enough to have a deep respect for her parents and her family. She may not always be happy about the rules set down by mother and dad, but she doesn’t mutter black things about them to anybody outside the family.”

“Another score in her favor is her conversational talent. She has opinions on subjects and isn’t afraid to express them. With the exceptions of ‘other dates and other girls’, her opinions can be on any subject from necking to presidential third terms. The necking discussion, incidentally, will yield this information from us if we’re honest: We think a lot more of a girl if she respects herself enough not to allow every fellow in town to kiss her at any given moment. (News about the other kind of girl flies around about as fast as word about the “date breaker” – either one is a marked girl.)”

“The ‘semi’ part of this modern girl means that she’s feminine. while she may be able to knock a home run or saddle her own horse, she isn’t forgetting that she’s a lady. That rules out smoking, drinking, swearing and aggressiveness-those things just aren’t feminine.”

“We’ve mentioned a lot of things, we realize, but they all come down to this: We like a girl who commands our respect. She’s well poised and intelligent; comfortable to be around. She’s dependable, natural, sincere. She keeps us guessing just a little bit; her interests aren’t entirely in us—she enjoys her girl friends and they enjoy her. Above all, she’s feminine and definitely not aggressive. She observes the regulations set up by her parents and she takes pride in them. Because she respects herself, we respect her and act as thought we did. She’s a grand girl, this All-American Girl. Here’s to her!”