How do you rate as a husband or wife of the 1930s
July 18, 2008 6:45 PM Subscribe
This scale was first brought to my attention by the blog "The Unwound Road". It appears someone took the original 1930s rating scale and posted it to Flickr. From there it was a natural progression to Internet quiz. So, how would you rate as a husband or wife in the 1930s? Answer 100 true or false type questions and find out!
Dislikes to dress or shave on Sunday.
Some questions are just timeless.
posted by Mblue at 6:56 PM on July 18, 2008
Some questions are just timeless.
posted by Mblue at 6:56 PM on July 18, 2008
I asked the wife, she said I was mediocre in most regards but great in bed...it took much less time.
I asked my wife the same thing, and she had the same answer: HuronBob is mediocre at most things but is great in bed. Something's troubling me about her answer but I can't quite figure out what it is.
posted by maxwelton at 7:24 PM on July 18, 2008 [3 favorites]
I asked my wife the same thing, and she had the same answer: HuronBob is mediocre at most things but is great in bed. Something's troubling me about her answer but I can't quite figure out what it is.
posted by maxwelton at 7:24 PM on July 18, 2008 [3 favorites]
Pretty much a double.
Does your significant other post "almost doubles" in public?
posted by treepour at 7:26 PM on July 18, 2008
Does your significant other post "almost doubles" in public?
posted by treepour at 7:26 PM on July 18, 2008
I sure as shit am not going to marry some man who can't wash his own hair, fer chrissakes.
posted by brain cloud at 7:28 PM on July 18, 2008
posted by brain cloud at 7:28 PM on July 18, 2008
I answered the wife questions about how I see my lady friend, she was average with 51 points. Then I answered the husbby questions how I honestly see myself in our relationship. I scored a 104; I am beyond the ideal 1930's husband.
This makes me feel pretty slimy, I think I owe her flowers.
posted by peeedro at 7:50 PM on July 18, 2008
This makes me feel pretty slimy, I think I owe her flowers.
posted by peeedro at 7:50 PM on July 18, 2008
Wow. After trying the wife quiz, I wondered if it's even possible for a wife to get a good score. I tried a few more times, and discovered that it is indeed possible for a wife to be ranked as "very superior" -- so long as she understands that her role is somewhere near the intersection of domestic servant, nanny, prostitute, and nun. And, on top of all that, she better damn well laugh at all his jokes.
posted by treepour at 8:23 PM on July 18, 2008
posted by treepour at 8:23 PM on July 18, 2008
105. Very superior.
So things haven't really changed that much.
posted by signal at 8:52 PM on July 18, 2008
So things haven't really changed that much.
posted by signal at 8:52 PM on July 18, 2008
I got a 93 for myself and a 37 answering for my girlfriend.
I think it's just that standards for men were and are much lower than they were for women. People (unfairly) expect more from women... especially back then.
posted by vertigo25 at 9:04 PM on July 18, 2008
I think it's just that standards for men were and are much lower than they were for women. People (unfairly) expect more from women... especially back then.
posted by vertigo25 at 9:04 PM on July 18, 2008
I answered both as myself. I would be a Poor 1920's wife (30) but a Very Superior husband (110). Maybe I should be a guy.
posted by jacalata at 9:27 PM on July 18, 2008
posted by jacalata at 9:27 PM on July 18, 2008
I got 57, average. I think my craft hobbies and that I've recently learned how to cook helped there, because I'm pretty sure the drinking, vulgar stories and profane language didn't rate highly. I don't wear any nailpolish at all, so I think I was saved from the depths of red-nailed depravity ::rolls eyes::
My husband got 119, very superior! I think he's pretty good too, but had to laugh about the questions: drawing on tablecloth with pencil? Well, he probably would, if we had a tablecloth. Some of them seemed kind of sweet though - 'enjoys taking wife with him wherever he goes' seems like a nice way to be, that you enjoy each others company.
posted by harriet vane at 9:43 PM on July 18, 2008
My husband got 119, very superior! I think he's pretty good too, but had to laugh about the questions: drawing on tablecloth with pencil? Well, he probably would, if we had a tablecloth. Some of them seemed kind of sweet though - 'enjoys taking wife with him wherever he goes' seems like a nice way to be, that you enjoy each others company.
posted by harriet vane at 9:43 PM on July 18, 2008
Hmm. I got 87, 'Very Superior' as a wife.
This is despite having an intense dislike of children and anything to do with them. I also think I would have gone crazy in the 1930s, because I am a career-focussed, independent, self-assured woman in a technical field.
posted by ysabet at 1:44 AM on July 19, 2008
This is despite having an intense dislike of children and anything to do with them. I also think I would have gone crazy in the 1930s, because I am a career-focussed, independent, self-assured woman in a technical field.
posted by ysabet at 1:44 AM on July 19, 2008
From the Wife site: Reacts with pleasure and delight to marital congress.
Is this rating the wife? Or the husband?
posted by mmahaffie at 6:26 AM on July 19, 2008
Is this rating the wife? Or the husband?
posted by mmahaffie at 6:26 AM on July 19, 2008
That's funny, I asked HuronBob's the same question but got the opposite answer.
posted by DU at 7:52 AM on July 19, 2008
posted by DU at 7:52 AM on July 19, 2008
I suppose most 'modern' couples will rate high for the man and low for the woman.
I only did the male half, but if you aren't scoring over 100 you better be living in Afganistan.
posted by bystander at 7:59 AM on July 19, 2008
I only did the male half, but if you aren't scoring over 100 you better be living in Afganistan.
posted by bystander at 7:59 AM on July 19, 2008
So now I am racist against Afghans! Sorry, I just read an article about contemporary Afghan gender roles,and I'll stand by it.
posted by bystander at 8:00 AM on July 19, 2008
posted by bystander at 8:00 AM on July 19, 2008
I got a 25 as a wife despite the fact that I don't wear red nail polish, I am unfailingly polite to the hired help, and I don't eat radishes before bed. (They make me belch all night which would probably lower my score considerably.)
posted by leftcoastbob at 8:21 AM on July 19, 2008
posted by leftcoastbob at 8:21 AM on July 19, 2008
While many of the questions may be somewhat relevant today, I suspect the weighting used to score the results is way out of whack for 2008. And then there's stuff straight out of left field: was there really a big problem in the 1930s with men drawing on tablecloths with a pencil?
I answered as myself for the wife, and on behalf of Hubby for him. Turns out I'm a poor wife married to a superior husband. I just hope he doesn't read this comment or I'll never hear the end of it. At least I'm not a red-nailed harlot! good thing they didn't ask about tattoos...
posted by Quietgal at 8:36 AM on July 19, 2008
I answered as myself for the wife, and on behalf of Hubby for him. Turns out I'm a poor wife married to a superior husband. I just hope he doesn't read this comment or I'll never hear the end of it. At least I'm not a red-nailed harlot! good thing they didn't ask about tattoos...
posted by Quietgal at 8:36 AM on July 19, 2008
It was sort of interesting taking these in the personae of my parents (married 1945).
I don't know what a woman would have to do to rate as a "Superior" wife.
posted by AsYouKnow Bob at 9:24 AM on July 19, 2008
I don't know what a woman would have to do to rate as a "Superior" wife.
posted by AsYouKnow Bob at 9:24 AM on July 19, 2008
i want this on my tombstone: "Seams in hose often crooked."
and i rated as Superior, weirdly, as a wife, probably because i laugh at my partner's jokes (he's pretty funny), i tell him he's hot all the time, and ... i gave myself a pass on a question like whether i wear pajamas or a nightgown. i suppose a nightgown is better? giving the man easy access? then i suppose i should get double points for going nekkid, amirite?
posted by RedEmma at 4:27 PM on July 19, 2008
and i rated as Superior, weirdly, as a wife, probably because i laugh at my partner's jokes (he's pretty funny), i tell him he's hot all the time, and ... i gave myself a pass on a question like whether i wear pajamas or a nightgown. i suppose a nightgown is better? giving the man easy access? then i suppose i should get double points for going nekkid, amirite?
posted by RedEmma at 4:27 PM on July 19, 2008
I cook, I clean, I sew, I make my own soap, I don't beat the children and I'm entusiastic about marital congress, and I still only scored a 55. I'm not sure what a woman has to do to get higher than the mid 50's, but I suspect that slavery plays into it somewhere.
posted by dejah420 at 5:21 PM on July 19, 2008
posted by dejah420 at 5:21 PM on July 19, 2008
dejah420: I have no idea how I got my score of 87 :/ Slavery definitely isn't it, though.
posted by ysabet at 1:37 PM on July 20, 2008
posted by ysabet at 1:37 PM on July 20, 2008
I also think I would have gone crazy in the 1930s, because I am a career-focussed, independent, self-assured woman in a technical field.
ysabet
Your sanity would have been preserved, because you certainly wouldn't have been a "career-focussed, independent, self-assured woman in a technical field" in the 1930s.
was there really a big problem in the 1930s with men drawing on tablecloths with a pencil?
It was a terrible epidemic at the time. Roosevelt nearly lost in 1936 on that very issue.
posted by Sangermaine at 2:50 PM on July 20, 2008
ysabet
Your sanity would have been preserved, because you certainly wouldn't have been a "career-focussed, independent, self-assured woman in a technical field" in the 1930s.
was there really a big problem in the 1930s with men drawing on tablecloths with a pencil?
It was a terrible epidemic at the time. Roosevelt nearly lost in 1936 on that very issue.
posted by Sangermaine at 2:50 PM on July 20, 2008
« Older how I'll dream fast asleep | It's the Pew News IQ... Comin' right at you... Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
I asked the wife, she said I was mediocre in most regards but great in bed...it took much less time.
posted by HuronBob at 6:54 PM on July 18, 2008 [1 favorite]