"True or False" by Ernestine Rivers (pseudonym for a woman, Mrs. Rogers) from the Wylie's August 1869 edition of "Ladies' Own Magazine"

"True or False" by Ernestine Rivers (pseudonym for a woman, Mrs. Rogers) from the Wylie's August 1869 edition of "Ladies' Own Magazine"

Much of the advice literature perpetuated the idea that mothers and wives were largely responsible for the frugality and financial security of their families, blaming women’s wastefulness of family resources as a major cause of debt. In the Wylie’s August 1869 edition of “Ladies’ Own Magazine”, the short-story “False and True” echoed this idea of the spendthrift, careless mother and wife, propelling her family into financial instability and destitution. The narrative followed that Effie, the neglectful wife, who had entrusted all her husband’s money into hiring domestic servants, rather than dutifully and selflessly laboring as the ideal mother ought to. As a result, the mounting debt of her husband became defined as her responsibility. In the text, Effie lamented, “I have neglected all my duties as a wife; I have entrusted all my husband’s earnings to hired servants. I have even thought it too hard to make his evenings at home pass pleasantly. Oh, Gerard, Gerard! Can you forgive me!"

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August, 1869