30 years of American anxieties
November 14, 2018 12:48 AM   Subscribe

For more than half a century, Dear Abby—America’s longest-running advice column, first penned by Pauline Phillips under the pseudonym Abigail van Buren, and today by her daughter, Jeanne—has offered counsel to thousands of worried and conflicted readers. Syndicated in more than 1,200 newspapers at the height of its popularity, it offers an unprecedented look at the landscape of worries that dominate US life. The column has been continuously in print since 1956. No other source in popular culture has elicited so many Americans to convey their earnest concerns for so long.

A data-driven analysis of 30 years of 'Dear Abby'.
posted by secretdark (22 comments total) 29 users marked this as a favorite
 
This is amazing, a lot more intricate than I expected it to be... but WHY OH WHY is it just the questions with no answers? (Unless I'm missing something.)
posted by showbiz_liz at 2:57 AM on November 14, 2018 [7 favorites]


(Unless I'm missing something.)

The article is an overview and ranking of the issues that most concerned readers, not the answers. Sort of a "What worried Americans most over the years?" story.
posted by Thorzdad at 3:54 AM on November 14, 2018 [2 favorites]


I imagine the answers would evolve a lot over the years as our culture evolved. That's a guess, though.
posted by Anonymous at 4:37 AM on November 14, 2018


Seems like a fun thing to do, but I'm having a little trouble parsing what's actually included; it appears that each stack in each year contains every letter that was published that year?

If so that says at least as much about the editorial staff as the Abby-reading public.
posted by aspersioncast at 5:05 AM on November 14, 2018 [13 favorites]


I would like to be able to read the actual answers....holy crap this from 1990,

A friend of mine was picked up and arrested for raping a 24-year-old woman he had dated twice. He had sex with her the first time he took her out. He said she was easy. The second time he went out with her, she gave him the high-and-mighty act and refused to have sex with him. He got angry, and I guess you could say he overpowered her.

Now he's got a rape charge against him, which I don't think is fair. It seems to me that if she was willing to have sex with him on the first date, there is no way she could be raped by him after that.

Am I right or wrong? -a friend of his.

posted by If only I had a penguin... at 5:08 AM on November 14, 2018 [17 favorites]


This is so fascinating! I agree that it's frustrating not to be able to see the answers, and that you also can't copy/paste the text from the questions when you click to expand them, to easily search to see if they're available online. I need closure on the 1986 Tom-Selleck-looking trans dude!
posted by ITheCosmos at 5:34 AM on November 14, 2018


I imagine the answers would evolve a lot over the years as our culture evolved. That's a guess, though.

I remember reading, I think it was Ann Landers' book (that column being written by Abby's sister), where she said that when she began her column she always advised people to stay married, come hell or high water. Then, people began describing hell and high water to her, and her advice changed drastically.
posted by JanetLand at 5:37 AM on November 14, 2018 [21 favorites]


From March 24th, 1985 - wonder how this lady is doing today:

I've been married for 22 years. I've been pregnant 14 times and have nine living children.

I weighed 98 pounds when we were married. My husband likes little women. He often told me that if I ever got as fat as his sister-in-law, he'd divorce me. (she weighs about 300 pounds.)

My first complaint is that this man likes sex. I like it, too, but once a night is enough for me (not for him). He does not allow me to use any kind of birth control--says he never has and never will.

I'm a god-fearing woman. I go to church and pray, and I pray at home, too, but the lord doesn't hear my prayers. I got so fed up with my man's demands and abusive ways I started to gain weight on purpose so he would divorce me. I'm up to 207 pounds, and I still can't get rid of him.

What do I do? He makes good money, but he's as tight as a size 9 shoe on a size 12 foot. Help me. - sick of him in missouri.

posted by all about eevee at 5:37 AM on November 14, 2018 [10 favorites]


On the lighter side of this, I present to you all, the Pod F. Thomkast's "Advice to the Probably Dead."
posted by Navelgazer at 6:01 AM on November 14, 2018 [1 favorite]


Googling the title of the question plus "dear abby" seems to reliably turn up most of these. Which can lead you to some fun side-trips like this where, while looking for a question about homosexuality, I also discovered someone who had written in to protest Abby disparaging the good character of Henry VIII.

So this is how I'm spending today, I guess.
posted by Stacey at 6:14 AM on November 14, 2018 [6 favorites]


This is a fantastic project! Not including the answers is a feature, not a bug. The people writing her column have never offered unusually good advice or written in anything resembling an interesting way. The questions are the whole point.
posted by skewed at 6:54 AM on November 14, 2018


Henry VIII: the original "Old Goat."

More proof that I'm old is that I remember some of these letters from when they were in the newspaper.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 7:10 AM on November 14, 2018 [1 favorite]


> > I imagine the answers would evolve a lot over the years as our culture evolved. That's a guess, though.

> I remember reading, I think it was Ann Landers' book (that column being written by Abby's sister), where she said that when she began her column she always advised people to stay married, come hell or high water. Then, people began describing hell and high water to her, and her advice changed drastically.


She also had a late-in-her-career column where she began with a letter from herself, in which she apologized for some of her earlier advice on LGBTQ matters. She'd been closed-minded and operating on wrong information in the past, she said, and now she knew better and she realized she'd been wrong.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:13 AM on November 14, 2018 [7 favorites]


Did they give credit to the artist who did the cute animated illustrations? If so, I couldn't find it.
posted by moonmilk at 7:56 AM on November 14, 2018


Closure on the "1986 Tom-Selleck-looking trans dude" (Chicago Tribune)
If you want to copy a link to see what the answer was (on desktop), you can drag-select over the title, and, while still holding the left-mouse button, copy the text. It will only close once you release the mouse button.
posted by miguelcervantes at 9:27 AM on November 14, 2018 [2 favorites]


My Karaoke go-to!
posted by gp_guy at 9:42 AM on November 14, 2018


if I only had a penguin..., I looked up that troubling-ass question from 1990 and thankfully (for one's soul, at least) this was Abby's answer:
Dear Friend: Wrong. If a person (man or woman) is forced to have sex against his or her will, it`s rape.
posted by Navelgazer at 9:55 AM on November 14, 2018 [14 favorites]


Thanks miguelcervantes, I'm glad Abby's advice on that one was good!
posted by ITheCosmos at 10:12 AM on November 14, 2018


Though Ann Landers generally gave better advice (fewer zingers; cultivated a professional advisory board), it was Abby whose popularity spiked after getting name-checked on "All in the Family."
posted by Iris Gambol at 10:48 AM on November 14, 2018


I always liked the Dead Kennedys song about Dear Abby (CW: Cannibalism, theatrical sarcasm).
posted by aspersioncast at 2:10 PM on November 14, 2018


I think that Popo did a much better job than Jeanne.
posted by brujita at 12:04 AM on November 15, 2018


Chicago Tribune: Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in most European countries. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to the EU market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism.
posted by koolkat at 12:16 AM on November 15, 2018


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