The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1923-05-13
THE IDEAL HUSBAND

| Il see that Lord Duzenbury told
the reporteds that the most amazing
thing that he saw in America was the
downtrodden American husband"'
said a millinery designer.
TN say he was right; aren't hus-
! bands easy marks in this day and
age?' chimed in the chief filter.
Honestly, when l see the dear things
| come across with S150 per gown, and
know they are footing the bills for
everything Friend Wife orders with
out a murmur l almost wish 1 had
one of them myself
And how complacent, Wife usual
| ly is! She walks away with the
best things in the store, with mere
| charge it. just as If she was a privi-
! legged being who deserved all the lux
uries, when she never earned a dollar
! in her life. and probably lives in a
! hotel and has no children"
| Yes, and half the time she is get
/ ting the gowns to go to Palm Beach
with, And when summer comes she
! beats 1t to the Adrondacks and
leaves poor hubby to swelter in soli-
] tude. Yet, does he ever murmur?
/ He does not"
He is the Great American Goat!
! That song, Everybody Works But
Father was imbecile; it ought to
err! or else Everybody Works
| Fatherr"
You said it. American husbands
are dead easy, and the poor fish don't
even know they are giving all and
getting nothing. Why, in all the old
countries the man is the boss and
is obeyed. and even if he Is fond of
his family and is good husband
and provides for them he is getting
all that is coming to him. His wife
don't galivant around the globe,
| leaving him alone"
1T s,t. - III
ment on the consideration and unself-
ishness of the typical American man.
OF course. generalization always is
partially untrue. The domestic re-
lations courts and divorce records
show many faults and crimes of mar
ried men. But it is undeniable that
our husbands have a tolerant, gener-
Gus and amiable spirit and act as
though a wife were more or less of a
luxury, to be shaved for as a matter
of course.
The business man is weary at night.
but he good naturedly allows himself
to be dragged out to social functions.
He is bored by opera, but he dons
evening clothes and sleeps drearily
through it because wife insists that it
is the correct thing to do. He takes
the family out motoring on Sundays,
and pays for dinners for all the
neighbors If his spouse conceives
the idea that there is an obligation.
He seldom murmurs at bills or in
sists on her working at anything, for
he has fundamental belief that she
is an ornament to his home and a
sort of queen too fine and good to
take her share of the dirt and tur-
moil! He may wish they had a big.
CHEEKY house with open fireplace.
but If she likes a small flat down
in the heart of the city he fits him
self into that mode of living. When
he gets home at midnight, after a IA
tiguing day of work and an evening
at a directors meeting. he may be
greeted with a request that he go
out again into the snowstorm to buy
a lunch at the delicatessen two blocks
away. Does he object, complain or
refuse? No. He puts on his coat
again and sallies forth good natur-
eddy.
Truly, he is the goat Let George
do It" was invented for him.
II wife wants to travel and leave
him for six months at a stretch or
enjoy cool breezes all through July
and August while he is toiling In
declaims. Poor old girl, there Is no
reason why both of us should have
TO stay in the city in hot weather"
His philosophy seems to be that
woman does him such honor merely
by being his wife that she has dis
period of their natural lives. She
may be an inefficient home maker
and a wholly idle person, but after all
she is his wife what else matters?
We know a man who courted girl
eight years. She was coquettish and
hesitated to settle down. Finally they
married and she never has settled
down; He is complacent, devoted,
loving. She is kind and fond, but has
her innocent flirtations. although he
never looks at another woman, Prob
ably he is an xception-about lis
per cent perfect; but many a modern
husband is amiable and good natured
to the point of eXasperation-from
the standpoint of the women who are
unwed but would like to marry
Many modern husbands are white
slaves. but willing ones.
What other men think of these par
agons we do not know, but possibly
it is viewing their enslaved state
which makes the thirteen million
bachelors stay so!