How to Be an Air Force Wife, 1957 Style…

04. February 2011 · 3 comments · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , , , ,

(Click on the pictures to see closeups of the text in the pictures).

Several years ago I received this book from my father-in-law.  He got it from a friend who sells antiques.  Dad thought I’d be intrigued by it, and gave it to me as a tongue-in-cheek gift.

I read the book the same weekend that Dave’s dad gave it to me and it put a lot of smiles on my face.  The book has been sitting with our other “old books”, and I discovered it again last month when we were unloading/organizing our bookcases in our new house.  I’ll share some of the tips and tricks here, but know that my intent here is NOT to be like the infamous 15 Minute Lunch post from 2007 (<–click it, if you haven’t seen the old Penney’s catalog blog posts, they’re AWESOME!).

Amazon offers the book, as you can see from my link on the left, but I absolutely have to share with you the typeface of the cover of my own copy.  It’s pretty cool!

A look at the back cover to learn a little more about the authors…

….wait a second!  They aren’t even AIR FORCE wives????  Actually these two ladies brought in several USAF wives for the various chapters, and they’re credit inside the book.

The forward was written by Mrs. Nathan Twining, the wife of the then-Chief of Staff of the Air Force.  That’s very nice — seriously, it was nice of her to endorse it.  Not sure if I would have bought it otherwise, especially after learning the authors were Navy wives.

I didn’t feel like scanning in the whole book, so I took photos of some of the funnier topics to share with you…

First of all, there’s this notion of calling cards.  According to this book, you need to ensure you have the proper stationary made up at a reputable engraver.  The sizes of the cardstock, paper and engraving type are recommended here:

Here are some examples of what calling cards should look like.

The book then goes into page after page about where and when to leave calling cards (Hint: you leave them when you “go calling”), what to write on the fronts, on the backs, and whether or not to use envelopes.  And PLEASE, no children!!!

The next picture stunned me.  May women wear Air Force insignia?  My first instincts is “WTF?  Don’t you get put in jail for doing that???”  But according to the book:

And if you go calling and the servant answers the door?  The servant?  Wow, I am definitely an AF wife in the wrong era:

Here’s something I’ve always needed help with.  And don’t forget that hot bouillon on a cold day for the early-arrivals 🙂

Now, here’s a tip that I know is still true 60+ years later!  Many of these military spouse functions fall by the wayside when you’re stationed in Washington, D.C.  I’m definitely glad the President no longer requires officers to call upon him.

To me, this paragraph is timeless.  I’m even going to make the picture bigger for you.  This is precisely why is probably wasn’t in the best interest for Captain Honor of the USS Enterprise or General McChrystal of US Forces Afghanistan to do things they did.  Believe me, I’ve said my share of things over a few beers at the club that I would never wanted recorded!  I have my opinions about publicizing those things that were recorded. Nonetheless, the cat was let out of the bag and the general public was left with a poor taste about our military leaders, who are trusted with our nation’s sons, daughters, husbands and wives.