What is Expected of a Husband — Ottawa Citizen 1913 :)

June 1913

The other day The Citizen published what were thought to be valuable pointers for the June bride. In answer to it a suffragette reader writes as follows:

We think it is unfair, in these davs of equal suffrage, to demand so much of a woman. What we would like to know is. What is expected of the groom?

To which the editor replied:

Well, Jones is supposed to love, honor and keep his bride and pay the freight. It is his duty to labor early and late to provide for the household. He is the family meal ticket, if he has to beg, borrow or steal the wherewithal to settle with the landlord, the grocer and the butcher.

At a wedding ceremony the bride crowds tbe limelight, while the groom is an inconsequential individual who is openly congratulated and sometimes secretly pitied. After marriage the groom is expected to love his wife and earn a living without losing his equilibrium.

He should know that to retain the affection and respect of his dear little wifey it is necessary to groan inwardly if supper is late and the dinner dishes arent washed. He should hide his chagrin if the steak is burned as hard as a concrete pavement. He should smile and look pleasant if wifey spends ail his money on dresses and overlooks such trifles as paying household bills.

UK to Canada Genealogy: British Man deserts wife in Canada 1913

He should beam in radiance if his partner confesses she never learned how to sew or knit. He should order a big box of creams if his bride has an attack of “nerves” and threatens to go home to mother. He should bow down and worship the idol of his eye if the pie crust is as tough as sole leather and the cake turns into molasses or proves unyielding to anything softer than a pick axe.

He should he forgiving and gentle; stern when occasion demands it and as tender-hearted as a chicken when he sees the wind blowing the other way. The main thing, however, is to come across with ample funds to run the house and a little change on the side for spending money. It is an unpardonable sin to act up stingy and play close to the cushion.

Give a bride all the money she wants, stay home at night occasionally and treat yourself like a general nuisance that is a fairly safe prescription for a successful husband, including the new-fledged variety known as a groom. He can best cultivate his own happiness by constant courtesy and attention to the charming creature he has made his bride.

File:Dorothy Dix - All Marriage is a Leap Into the Dark, 1913.jpg

Marriage is a mutual affair. As a successful concern it should be run on the policy of toleration and moderation, reciprocity and co-operation. But the groom should always remember to be Johnny-on-the-spot the same as he was in courting days. With these few remarks we beg to be excused from discussing the subject until next June.

and then……….