When Men Were Men

By Mike Durall

In the 1950s, a magazine titled True: The Man’s Magazine, was very popular. It had something for every red-blooded American male. For example, a man needed only a hot skillet and salt to cook bear meat.

For family fun, a man could install his own home target range, thanks to the Crossman Arms Company. The kit included CO2 guns, ammunition, and complete target range supplies. For both indoor and outdoor use!

In the helpful hints department, there’s an article about how to convert a wire clothes hanger into a pipe rack for the den or shop. The magazine also has a step-by-step guide for building a sawhorse.

A cartoon featuring a smiling Willie the Penguin urged men to smoke Kool cigarettes; a mild, mellow blend that gives relief from “hot” cigarettes. For that clean, Kool taste! 

For men who were looking for a hobby or to make a little extra money, a free book will help them learn how to become taxidermists. In their spare time, men could learn how to mount birds, animals, heads, fish, and tan animal skins. Men who preferred working with live animals could raise hamsters with help from the Gulf Hamstery in Mobile, Alabama.

For men seeking a new career, LaSalle Extension University in Chicago offered the opportunity to earn a law degree at home. The promise was to learn surprisingly fast by purchasing the 14-volume set of LaSalle’s Law Library. Men would, “Win rapid advancement in business and public life.” 

J.C. Field and Company’s ad said, “I need 500 men to wear sample suits.” Men working in their spare time could make big profits by taking orders for made-to-measure suits. A free kit included 100 samples of woolen fabrics. 

Men could also make money by purchasing a Four-Way welder for only $11.95. No experience necessary, as the instruction book would show men how to weld, braze, solder, and cut steel, iron, bronze, brass, aluminum, and other metals. Model railroading was also popular at the time. 

Squeamish readers might wish to skip this paragraph. The magazine carried an article about men, complete with photos, who pierce their cheeks with hatpins and sew buttons onto their chests. Some walk on broken glass. The article states, “There is always a demand for this kind of entertainment at carnivals and circus sideshows.” 

Sorry ladies, the only time you show up is in an article about a nomadic tribe in Algeria in which girls were trained from a young age to be subservient to men.