Nostalgic prompts make not just a few turns to the 1950s woman with admiration at what she does. In the 50s, a wife would grace the home expected to stay on top of the cooking and cleaning, manage the finances, and maintain attractiveness.
And now, on Tiktok, a few clips are going viral as people are curious about unearthing a diary of a 1950s housewife.
Found It at a Thrift Shop
TikToker @otherworlddesign has gone viral with video clips of a diary of a 1950s housewife. The TikToker found the diary at a local thrift store. The journal shared daily musings of a housewife for an entire year—the year 1957, Indy100 reported. The author of the diary was a lady named Nellie, and some of her friends and family were also named in the journal.
While many were amused at the journal entries, many even wanting to have a page-a-day update on all 365 days of the 1950s housewife, while some prayed the same would not happen to them.
One particular comment stood out, saying, "legit my worst fear [my diary found and read by many]." The TikTok user further added a hope that the journal they kept would already have been in the landfill by now.
Decades Later, the Diary of the 1950s Housewife is Still Relatable
Many TikTok users found they could relate to the author of the journal. As the author pens it, "times don't change," Mirror UK reported. On one of the "Diary of a 1950s Housewife" series of TikTok videos, the author shared how she "did nothing all day but eat."
Even in this generation, nary a year goes by without those lazy days and quarantine moments when just about anyone can relate to that journal entry.
1950s Housewife Summarizes How Many Feel about Social Invitations
Apparently, even Nellie wanted to skip out on some socializing too. She opened up about a friend, or perhaps a neighbor or acquaintance named Winnie. There was a time when Winnie called and invited her for dinner. But the author opened up that she "did not feel like going"-a line which made some people say got them laughing and crying as they can relate.
Good thing now, people learned how to politely decline social invites. Well, social distancing and the entire COVID-19 pandemic gave us good reason to turn down invites and get a break from people we do not want to see. But learning how to decline when you are not feeling up to it like Nellie is good for self-care, too.
Good thing, though, Nellie does know how to turn down invites when she does not really want to go. In one entry, Winnie called wanting to go to Okla T.G. with Nellie. The author wrote how she turned down the invite over the phone: "Told her I could not go."
TikTok users commented that Nellie could mean the popular chain store in the U.S. then, TG&Y headquartered in Oklahoma City. Think about those times a housewife does not want to say yes to that mom who wants to go somewhere together-even if that somewhere is Target.
The Home Alone Dilemma
If anything, Nellie was not anti-social. As they say, "no man is an island." In one entry, she shared how it had been "awfully lonesome" as it had been raining every day. She opened up about feelings of wanting to go out and see people.
Unfortunately, the ones she wanted to see were not home, and it was raining, too, so she went back home. Though in the age of texting and chatting, it would be much easier to schedule a date with a friend or FaceTime since it is the pandemic.
The Prankster Grandmother
This author was also enjoying good fun on April Fool's Day, too, as, in one of her entries, she played a prank on her granddaughter. Nellie shared how she and her granddaughter, Vicki, stopped by the woods one day. Vicki was poking in some fox hole, and Nellie then "barked like a fox." She gleefully shared, "boy, did that make her jump!"
A Noble Trait
One of the journal entries got people talking about respecting race. Nellie wrote, "there was a colored wedding today [a black couple got married]," adding that the wedding was "just as beautiful as any other."
TikTok user @otherworlddesign was moved by this entry, saying that Nellie was on the right side of a historical time when the nation was cruelly-divided, and the civil rights movement had only just begun. "At a time of division [between races], the author was equal."
