Here are some newspaper headlines that must have confused their readers briefly:

Hollywood Citizen-News: EGG-LAYING CONTEST WON BY LOCAL MAN

Halifax Herald: JUNE BABIES FLOOD OTTAWA HOSPITAL

Denver Post: SEVEN NAZIS SENTENCED TO LIFE IN TEXAS

If the third headline is especially puzzling it’s because all three of them are from 1947 and quoted in the November Reader’s Digest of that year. I just came across this copy recently and found, as expected, that much of  its content shows how  much our Canadian and American world has changed  since the 1940s. However I was surprised at how many things have not changed.

The Digest often printed magazine headlines, like those above, that made unintended humorous errors, and still did right into the 21st century.  And they published articles about politics (generally they were conservative), markets, social trends, short bios of famous people, life’s funny side and condensations of books.

One article was titled “A Report on Bikini a Year Later”. That made my jaw drop, I had no idea those little swimsuits existed then, even less that  they’d appear in a family magazine in those somewhat more prudish years. I soon discovered the article was--fortunately or unfortunately--about the atomic bomb tests carried out on Bikini Island.

Not surprisingly I soon noticed that almost all of the content in the old RD was directed at, and written by, men. They were assumed to be responsible for everything in their families, the working world and government.  Each woman was seen as being very useful, very important to a man’s life and work, but he was the  king of the castle. (OK, guys, quit wishing you lived in that male-dominated time, not everything was wonderful then.) To be fair there were occasional stories about women who became accomplished in the arts or unusual pursuits, like the flyer Amelia Earhart.

For many decades the RD included many jokes and anecdotes in each issue. One example from the 1947 Digest: A man wrote in to tell of watching a Western movie with his little son. ‘’At the climax the hero and the villain shot it out in a corral, with bullets flying and horses milling around, neighing frantically. Suddenly the little guy began to cry. The man next to me leaned forward and tapped him on the shoulder.  ‘Hush yore fuss, sonny,’ he said quietly, ‘They ain’t  killin’ nobody but the people.’ “

Here’s something I was astounded to learn about the days before Macdonald’s, potato chips or Dairy Queen: The average man  was 5 foot 9 inches tall and weighed 158 pounds. The average woman ,who, the RD commented, “is plumper than she would like to admit” was 5 foot 4 inches tall and weighed 132 pounds. (I think we can see here who was dipping into the bowl for seconds.)   

The 1947 RD carried an article that accused many Americans who took advantage of public money and  of businesses that gave favours to companies they hoped to gain as customers. Some of the critics who complained about those practices had been found to use them themselves. This reminded me of an issue a few weeks ago when some U.S.  politicians blamed President Biden for a plan to give partial loan relief to college students with serious debts. This, they said, was unfair to taxpayers.  Four of the loudest of those critics, however, had taken government loans themselves--at least one was over a million dollars--and had had those loans forgiven. Hypocrisy isn’t something new.

Another article complained about the divorce rate in the U.S. in 1947, when two marriages in every five were ending that way.  Divorce rates continued to rise throughout the 20th century in both the U.S. and Canada. For the past several years, however, the rate has been decreasing as fewer couples now bother to marry.

For many decades I greatly enjoyed the Reader’s Digest, its respect for humour and the well-written articles on practically every subject I or anyone  else was interested in. A few years ago however I dropped it as its quality faded.

To comment on columns contact Esther or me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 306 384 8657 or 110 - 201 Cree Place Saskatoon,  S7K 7Z3