Wives Don't Wear Aprons Anymore

Mothers coming home after a long commute and longer day at work often pick up the kids from day care, put them in the car for a trip to a fast-food outlet, or prepare a microwaveable dinner. Because the majority of mothers are now working outside the home, the old saying by husbands that "No wife of mine is ever going to work!" is no longer heard. Most mothers work out of financial necessity, and the man is no longer the boss who sets the rules for the family. As we celebrate mother’s day in May, working women are reminded that "you’ve come a long way, baby."

Marta Hiatt’s nostalgic collection of fond memories of life in the early 20th Century provides an interesting contrast to how we live now. In her new book "Remembrances of Times Past," (Northern Star Press, $15.95), Hiatt has compiled hundreds of personal stories of the so-called "good old days," illustrated with 250 vintage photographs that vividly bring the stories to life. She takes us on a sentimental journey back to a time of stay-at-home moms, when wives wore aprons instead of jeans, had cookies and milk ready when the kids came home from school, and had supper prepared for the whole family every evening, usually from scratch because there were no TV dinners back then.

KEEP ‘EM BAREFOOT AND PREGNANT
In the chapter on "Women" she reminds us that, at the beginning of the last century, women didn’t have the right to vote, run for public office, own property, have custody of their children, have credit in their own name or earn and control their own money. Neither could they control the number of children they had because contraception was denied to them.

NO FEMALES NEED APPLY
Hiatt thinks the biggest cultural changes were the hippie revolution of the ‘60s and the revival of the feminist movement in the ‘70s, sparked by Betty Freidan’s book The Feminine Mystique. "After this," she says, "women gradually gained a lot of freedom. Before this time, newspaper job listings were divided by gender, and women were only allowed to apply for ‘Jobs for Females.’ But today we’re talking about the possibility of a woman president!"

Hiatt quotes a female attorney in her book who states: "In the ‘50s there was no question that the only one in my family who would be going to college was my brother; sending a girl was considered a waste of money because she’d only get married and have babies. My mother said: ‘the more education a girl has, the less marriageable she is.’"

Hiatt states: If a woman weren’t married by age 25, she was dubbed an "old maid," and was often refused admission into college, or promotion to management, which was reserved for males.

SEX AND SOCIAL MORES
Hiatt's book explores the changes from Victorian prudishness to personal vibrators, and from corsets to Wonder Bras. She recalls: "It’s astonishing to realize that, until the feminist movement, society was so prudish even married couples couldn’t be shown sleeping together in the same bed in movies; they had to be in twin beds, usually with a night stand between them. Before the ‘70s a spouse couldn’t get a divorce unless they could prove either adultery or mental cruelty. If a wife walked out on her husband, it was considered desertion, and she was in danger of losing complete custody of her children.

HELP AT HOME
American women have more freedom of opportunity now than they have ever had throughout history. In the first half of the 20th century, by the time a girl reached eighteen, she was expected to marry, stay at home, raise a family and be economically dependent on her husband. The first question a prospective mother-in-law generally asked about the woman her son had chosen to marry was: "Is she a good cook?" Wives and mothers are still cooking, but now they get some help from modern appliances and their partners. And, on mother’s day, they’re usually taken out for a nice dinner cooked by someone else.

Wives Don't Wear Aprons Anymore
Northern Star Press