Comments on: Weird 1940s advice for moms who want their boys to tuck in their shirts

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

so, the cure for sagging pants in 2010 could be to make these young wannabe gangsters wear panties. ;)

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

“Mom, you have to put it around the sleeve cuffs too, or it won’t match.”

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

No, Psychology 101 teaches me that this is called positive punishment. Adding something unpleasant to reduce the target behaviour. :)

By: ElfSternberg

ElfSternberg — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

What? But Billy looks faaabulous.

I’d totally wear that. With my Utilitkilt.

By: Sequoia

Sequoia — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I saw and reposted this image a few days ago. Unable to recall where I found it I thought “it must have been on boingboing. Yeah, that’s the ticket!” Ahh the Internet: Where Everything is Eventually True.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Why not just write KICK ME near the hem with a permanent marker?

By: sbarnes2

sbarnes2 — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

No, I agree with Godfree. If anything being lady-like is used to disgrace the boy into behaving. If women really hated men that much, they’d just sew them into their clothes!

And if the boy was a smart alec, he could stick safety pins in his pockets and tuck the lace up after he was out!

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Or he could just retaliate with lots and lots of crusty socks.

By: wolfiesma

wolfiesma — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

See, that’s exactly the kind of mock-serious, smart-alecky comment that makes teachers want to cut their coffee with drain cleaner. (Burnout is a bitch. Let. me. tell. you.) But hey, who knows, maybe lace would be a really good look for you. Just hold still while I get this one stitch… :)

By: marksgelter

marksgelter — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Now, if we can only get moms today doing this to the TOP edges of boxers . . .

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Transphobic much?

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

and thus rock’n'roll was born

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

And sadly, nobody cried too much about people being gassed in the millions, either.

By: Naberius

Naberius — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

People in this era also believed that male homosexuality was caused by the influence of domineering mothers. Now we can see why.

By: GeekMan

GeekMan — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Sir, I nominate you for president.

By: Felton / Moderator

Felton / Moderator — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Just needs a ruff and a codpiece.

By: Yana

Yana — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I was told by some random person to tuck in my shirt while during my six month stay at Catholic School in 1988. I’ve never tucked my shirt in since, not even at my wedding. They had to photoshop the photos to make them presentable to relatives who failed to attend.

By: IronEdithKidd

IronEdithKidd — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Indeed. Children didn’t run the show back in the day. Sewing the lace to the shirtale was mom’s way of helping Jr avoid another ass-whoopin’.

By: chgoliz

chgoliz — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Who Godwins a thread about kids’ fashion? Sheesh.

By: Drhaggis

Drhaggis — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

One of the unpopular kids would have an un-tucked shirt tail, and be mocked mercilessly, and never let it happen again.

Later, one of the cool kids would do the same, and start a fad. Kids would be begging their mom to sew lace on their shirts.

Trying to fit in, the unpopular kids will un-tuck their tails, only to be ridiculed for being a joiner/poser/wannabe.

And thus fashion continues.

By: Omir the Storyteller

Omir the Storyteller — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

My mother once threatened to do this. Fortunately I figured out that if she did I’d be able to rip it out.

By: okcalvin

okcalvin — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

A friend of mine, who was a junior high principal at the time, used to keep a huge spool of wide pink ribbon in his desk drawer. Whenever a student was saggin’ his britches and showing off his joe boxers, he’d cut a length of the ribbon, and rig up a belt and suspenders of it to keep the boy’s pants up. He’d have to wear it the rest of the day. Never would have a problem with a kid after that treatment.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

“Whooping” is a sound made by whooping cranes and dance club patrons of the 1970′s and 80′s.

I believe you meant “whipping.” Or, more colloquially, “whippin’.” I’d hate to imagine what a session of ass whooping might look like, especially if it’s between a father and son. I have a vague mental image of something involving a bellows, a rubber hose and a cheerleader’s horn.

By: cyberscythe

cyberscythe — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

So I guess the equivalent thing to do with today’s kids is to sew pink lace on the tops of boy’s underpants, so that they finally keep their pants above their waist?

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

From the voluminous “how to operate human beings as if they are tools for you to use” handbook, i suppose.

is anyone else disgusted at the idea that a mother would coerce her child to behave in a way that he didn’t want to? wouldn’t it make more sense to SHOW the child WHY he should keep himself looking neat?

By: Robotech_Master

Robotech_Master — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Well, I guess that explains how Liberace got started…

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Kind of really want to do this to my plain old button downs now!

By: unit_1421

unit_1421 — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Anyone else seeing the not-so-subtle pathological hatred of men in the subtext of this “solution?”

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Seems you’ve all forgotten Psychology 101. This is Passive/Aggressive behavior!

By: GeekMan

GeekMan — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

No?