In the May 1953 edition of The Girl Friend and the Boy Friend, an American pulp magazine that would have been passed around by bored teenagers awaiting the end of the school term, came with two gender-specific tests to quiz its readers and shape their future. “What are you best fitted for: love or career?”

The questions, posted below, were supposed to guide young ladies in the direction of forming their own American dream, by either taking up a secretarial role catering for a male boss’ every needs, or getting hitched, setting up a home, and catering for their husband’s every needs.

“Satisfaction and self-sufficiency might result from a career,” the magazine informed its female readers, but how could that compare with the “full and complete happiness and satisfaction offered by marriage.” 

And the results:

Boys, of course, were born to have careers, so finding out if they are better suited for the world of work than the world of wedded bliss was a moot point in 1953. Instead, the boys thumbing through the magazine were merely quizzed on how good a lover they would make, and posed the following questions:

The best-case scenario was a boy who said no to all of the above, perfectly suited for matrimony with a gal whose career focus was all about scrubbing pans, mixing cocktails, and raising children. The test was posted on EnvisioningTheAmericanDream, a blog dedicated to highlighting the huge disparity between the contemporary world and the gender-defined roles of 1950s America.