This Is What the Perfect Marriage Was Like in the 1930s

Discovering the secret to the perfect marriage has been on the minds of husbands and wives for quite some time. In fact, even in the 1930s, researchers were trying to scientifically prove what actions and behaviors would lead to the greatest happiness.

George W. Crane, M.D., Ph.D., from Northwestern University developed a checklist to score relationships. It operated on a point system and was split into two sections: one side was titled merits and included positive things a spouse could do, and the the other side was titled demerits and included behaviors that negatively impacted marriages.

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Times have definitely changed since the 1930s as evidenced by the actions that qualified as merits or demerits. For example, a wife could be docked points for wearing red nail polish. A husband might find himself in hot water if he read the newspaper at the table.

Despite the test being outdated, there are still some items on the list that would resonate with couples today, such as not flirting with members of the opposite sex.

So even if you take this test and your marriage wouldn’t pass standards from the 1930’s, you can probably still rest easy knowing your spouse loves you very much.

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