Cheating Hubby’s Installment VIII from True Story, 1920!
Last installment gave the Top 10 list of why husbands cheat. Now we have the author’s advice on how to go about putting those *suggestions* into action!
In case you didn’t catch those reasons (which came from married men living in California in 1920), they are relisted below.
1.) My wife nags me all the time.
2.) She isn’t affectionate enough.
3.) We always have to do what she wants.
4.) She interferes with my hobbies. (My wife tried talking to me while building a model airplane, so I decided to have sex with the girl down the block.)
5.) She let herself go; she’s slovenly.
6.) She spoils the kids.
7.) She thinks she’s terrific.
8.) Nothing I do pleases her.
9.) She neglects the kids.
10.) She’s a rotten housekeeper.
Read what our 1920′s True Story journalist recommends for overcoming that Top 10 List! Ladies, next time you can’t think of a good icebreaker topic while out with a new acquaintance (who, if female, will greatly appreciate it) or just a cute guy at a restaurant/bar, (who’ll also get quite a kick at your knowledge of such antiquities) just bring up some of the above reasons why husband cheated in 1920 and ask yourself and whomever if any of those reasons actually still do simmer under the surface of even the most liberal-minded of men.
While it would be extremely wise to spruce up in any of these departments where you know you’re weak, you don’t have to lose sight of the fact that moral law is on your side. “The husband must give up the other woman,” insists Dr. Lena Levine, well-known psychiatrist and marriage counselor. “The family must come above all else. First the husband must recognize his feeling toward the other woman as something perfectly normal that could happen to anyone in our fluid society. Then he must deny that feeling. His reward for his denial will be his sense of power such as he has never felt before.”
If you feel hopeless to cope with the problem of the other woman by yourself, by all means, seek help from your minister, a marriage counselor, or any of the family agencies we have mentioned. They can give you skilled personal guidance in tackling the problem, and in may cases, can do a direct job of rehabilitating your husband for you. They are anxious to help you, because they are anxious to prevent divorce.
No matter what the degree of your husband’s infidelity, or how much it may hurt you, don’t let your outraged pride or despair rush you into a hasty divorce or separation. If you do, you’ll probably regret it. A reformed husband is a thousand times better than an ex-husband. Better and wiser.
It should b emphasized again that no wife should jump to any wild conclusions about her husband without solid grounds for suspicion. Since almost two out of every three husbands are faithful, you have every reason to take it for granted that he is loyal to you. You’ll probably be right. If you aren’t, remember the *degrees* of infidelity: the temporary episode, promiscuity, and the other woman (Women had to go to bed telling themselves something.) Don’t punish a minor offense too harshly. And to keep him faithful in the future, match your remedies to the special causes of his kind of infidelity. Seek help if you need it.
This was written years before a *nervous breakdown* was the norm for married women and after reading this series, who can wonder why?
Next week—The Final Installment of Cheating Husbands!
As always, we love to hear your comments! And thank you, June, for your comments!
I don’t want to responsed to this but I am trying to find out how to get information on stories written around the 1930 to 1940. My mother said she wrote a couple of stories back then and she have since died at the age of 91. I would love to find the stories she wrote for True Story. Can you help me. My mother name was Mary McNew.