Age-old advice: Ruined woman learned from wrong kind of men

Advertisement

Advertise with us

By George Antheil, originally published Feb. 12, 1938

Read this article for free:


or

Already have an account? Log in here »

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Subscribe and receive a limited-edition Free Press branded hat or tote.

Digital Subscription

One year of digital access for only $205*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles

*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional

$1 for the first 4 weeks*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles
Start now

*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 14/11/2019 (2512 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

By George Antheil, originally published Feb. 12, 1938

 

Dear Mr. Antheil: Your articles and advice to girls are very amusing to me. But you write what a man expects of a girl. Supposing the women and girls tell you want we expect of the men?

I ought to know. I married a man and he started me down the road to ruin. I have had plenty of experience with men in the past 16 years. I could tell you something you don’t know nor would want to know about the male sex. Any time you want me to be of service in discussing the subject of men, get in touch with me.

Now, I am trying to make a comeback to where I was 16 years ago. Believe me, it is a hard path to go.

With so many people out of work and the country in turmoil, it looks like I am in for a lot of heartaches. But my mind is made up and nothing is going to stand in my way. I feel my experiences with the male sex will be a blessing in disguise. Someday, I am going to be looked up to instead of down on. Then, I hope I may advise the younger generation not to make the mistakes I made.

— LaVerne

 

Answer: Your knowledge of men has been limited to the wrong kind, which you will find out when you follow the new path. Just as there are women whom men respect, there are men who earn the same respect. On the other side are the other kind, which you have been unfortunate enough to know.

It would be natural for men to show you the worst in them in the old days. They did not know of the tiny spark of rebellion down in your heart that was all but smothered. They took you at your own value. You will soon learn that you can raise that value so high they will reach up for it, not bend down to the old low value. But be careful that you don’t let the times, your difficulties or heartache build up excuses why you should not go on.

 

Read other letters from our archives at wfp.to/ageoldadvice.

Report Error Submit a Tip

More Stories

Chalk surprise gift up to lust, not love

Maureen Scurfield 4 minute read Yesterday at 2:00 AM CDT

DEAR MISS LONELYHEARTS: I just got a funny birthday card and a single pink rose delivered to me at work from a boyfriend who broke up with me last spring because I’d gotten too serious (in his opinion). I cried for days back then. He ignored his phone.

I don’t know how to respond to him now. Do you think he’s really had a change of heart, or has he just not gotten lucky for a long time and thought I might be open to hooking up on my birthday?

— Suspicious Ex, Downtown

Dear Suspicious Ex: You just received a birthday card, a single pink rose and no voice contact? He wasn’t taking any chances on being shot down face-to-face, but he definitely is taking a stab at possibly getting some action.

Puzzles Palace

1 minute read Monday, Jul. 27, 2026

To solve our puzzles, please subscribe with this special offer: |

Billions of dollars spent on health, but scattershot financial reporting leaves decision-makers, Manitobans in the dark, auditor general says

Nicole Buffie 3 minute read Preview

Billions of dollars spent on health, but scattershot financial reporting leaves decision-makers, Manitobans in the dark, auditor general says

Nicole Buffie 3 minute read Yesterday at 5:20 PM CDT

Manitoba’s auditor general says significant gaps in health-sector financial reporting make it difficult to understand how billions of dollars in public funds are spent.

Auditor General Tyson Shtykalo is calling for clearer, more transparent reporting in his latest report, titled Observations on Health Sector Financial Reporting and Accountability in Manitoba.

“Manitoba spends nearly $10 billion annually on health care, but current financial reporting does not provide a clear picture of how that money is spent, what services cost, or the financial pressures facing the system,” Shtykalo said in a news release.

While some financial information is available, the reports do not provide a “complete, consistent, or easily understood” picture of how health-care funds are spent, the report said.

Read
Yesterday at 5:20 PM CDT

In a smart-device world, some families keep phone jacked into the wall

Sheldon Birnie 8 minute read Preview

In a smart-device world, some families keep phone jacked into the wall

Sheldon Birnie 8 minute read Yesterday at 4:20 PM CDT

When the phone rings in Kristin Shiach and Jordan Sobkowicz’s Riverview home, their three daughters race to see who can be the first to answer.

“It depends who is closest,” says 13-year-old Emily. “If I’m sitting in my room, I can get to it quickest.”

“That’s because it’s always in your room,” Anna, 10, replies. “You never put it back!”

“Usually, when the phone rings,” explains Sobkowicz, “someone yells really loudly —”

Read
Yesterday at 4:20 PM CDT

Bombers coach happy to be back at work after backbreaking loss to Argos

Taylor Allen 6 minute read Preview

Bombers coach happy to be back at work after backbreaking loss to Argos

Taylor Allen 6 minute read Yesterday at 8:16 PM CDT

It’s the first practice day after a backbreaking loss.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are in a challenging predicament with four games remaining — starting Saturday on the road against the Montreal Alouettes (11-3) — that leaves their playoff aspirations far from solidified.

And yet, head coach Mike O’Shea makes his way behind the podium, looks out at a room of reporters and is grinning ear to ear.

Why so happy?

Read
Yesterday at 8:16 PM CDT

Obsessed stalker who shot, killed young woman at bus stop in 1993 dies behind bars at age 74

Erik Pindera 3 minute read Preview

Obsessed stalker who shot, killed young woman at bus stop in 1993 dies behind bars at age 74

Erik Pindera 3 minute read Yesterday at 5:53 PM CDT

A Winnipeg man who stalked a woman for several years before shooting her dead in the street in 1993 has died in Stony Mountain prison.

On Monday, 74-year-old Ronald Edd Bell died of apparent natural causes at the federal prison just north of Winnipeg, the Correctional Service of Canada said.

Bell had been in prison since May 30, 1994, when he was given a life sentence with no chance of parole for 18 years for killing Terry-Lyn Babb, 25, on Jan. 21, 1993.

Bell walked up behind an unsuspecting Babb, who was waiting at a bus stop at Sherbrook Street and Wolseley Avenue, and shot her in the head with a pistol in front of horrified witnesses, says the Free Press report of his sentencing hearing.

Read
Yesterday at 5:53 PM CDT