Thursday, May 29, 2008

What a girl wants

Okay, so you got that job and have made sure you can keep it. So what is the next step? Why, ditching the rat race and catching a man as soon as possible, of course! Why work like a dog when you can take the easy route and stay home, take care of a husband, keep house and cook?

In the 1950s women secured employment for one of two reasons: They were unattractive or were pretty and on the prowl for husbands. In this tale torn from real life, secretarial pool-member Kathy shows the office skanks that predatory slutting around is not the only way to trap a man into giving up his freedom. This story is unusual because it was not the norm for a woman in 1952 not to use her body to get a ring on her finger (or at least a paid apartment in town and a generous monthly stipend). By relying on her wits and intelligence to find a good husband Kathy defeated her office rivals and secured a productive mate. True, you have to grant the story-teller a huge amount of willing suspension of disbelief at that unrealistic plot but it is still a good story.

Enjoy!

While Kathy's story had a happy ending she took a huge risk by relying on her competence and personality to get the attention of her intended target. Most women are not so fortunate, but Kathy rolled the dice and won. If Howard somehow stopped being distracted by her physical charms he would have been repulsed by Kathy's brain power. Kathy would then have died alone and childless and been ostracized forever by all the other office hens until she lost her job for not "playing ball".

From Love Romances #82 (July 1952).

3 comments:

  1. Eeeehhh... why do they all have whiskers?!?

    I love these scans, especially the work-related-romance ones. They're being printed and posted around my office 8)

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  2. Wow, that's so "Mad Men", great TV show , coming back in July.

    On Page 2, first panel, the redhead totally mangles a saying to mean its opposite: "You work hard but the rest of us make hay while the sun shines!". It's actually the hardworking Kathy "making hay while the sun shines"- the other office sluts are out getting tans while the sun shines- they're the grasshopper to the proverbial ants. But more man-hungry!

    I enjoy these romance comics you post, mucho thanks.

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  3. I love it! I saw this the other day but did not have time to read it. What a great romance comic! And thanks for presenting it at a size that is easy to read and enjoy the artwork. Great!

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