I came across these public domain 1950’s marriage preparation films about three years ago, did a little editing, and posted them on YouTube.
You might get a kick out of watching them.
Poor young Larry and Sue. They are deeply in love and want to marry, but their parents don’t understand.
So they go to see the counselor Mr. Hall who advises them to consider their psychological distance among other things.
Because after all a successful marriage takes more than the “boing!”
Got your interest?
After you stop laughing, you might find something worth talking about that you haven’t covered already – maybe something from Mr. Hall’s Cupid’s Checklist.
Very funny, loved the “boing”. Interesting to see how far marriage prep advice has come! 🙂
We enjoyed the clips. It’s amazing with all the studies that have been done on successful marriage the basics have not changed in all these years.
Ha, loved watching the 1950s videos. There were some good bits about thinking about just what is true love. Overall, very interesting and funny.
While we laughed our way Dr. Hall’s lesson we realized that the things he was talking about were things that we valued in our own relationship. We have known that we come from different backgrounds but that those experiences have led us to similar ideas on relationships, child rearing and life in general. We had previously discussed our view on divorce and know that neither of us see that as an option. We are together because we truly are each other’s best friend and know that is something that we would never want to lose.
The truths from these 50’s video are still relevant But the production was a hoot! We’ve come a long way.
Oh Larry! So funny to see the differences between the past and present. Although all of Cupid’s Checklist still applies even today. It is always important to be friends, as your relationship will not always be about the “boing”. It is also important to know what marriage is to each individual and to have a discussion about values and expectations.
These videos were funny, but also still hold merit.
I have never heard “boing” before, and I had to look it up. Nick seems to get it, so he had to tell me. Anyways haha, I think culture plays a large role in marriage because expectations change and, unfortunately, many parents these days are divorced. I say wait as long as you can before tying the knot, so you can learn a lot about yourself and your partner! Money is huge too. I am sure people in the 50s were not walking into marriage with thousands of dollars in debt from school and trying to survive while being in school!
There’s still a lot to take from these videos – most importantly, do we think and work as one unit, as a pair? Our backgrounds are similar, and the “psychological distance” is not a big as Larry and Sue’s were! We are real friends – we understand one another, and are able to work through our quarrels.
These videos were a good lesson in some marriage topics. Like the video says you shouldn’t rush into a marriage. You should take the time to get to know each other and each others point of view on topics. The statistics were also interesting such as how age correlates to marriage stability as well as length of engagement. The questions the video asks are very applicable to use today. We know we come from both different and similar backgrounds. Both our parents have given us good examples of what marriage should be. But he was raised up North and I was raised in the South so there is bout to be some differences. We also agree with the physical aspects and family side of a marriage. We feel united as a couple and see how knowing the answers to these questions are important before beginning a life together.