Etiquette Research finds Psych Assessment

“It is a psychology in which the gun woman fluctuated between the eternal feminine, and a fierce banditry that surpassed many crime-hardened men… What unmistakable signs of her character might be read in the ‘fixings’ of the house-sure index to a woman’s psychology, whether she be crime expert or society queen?”

I often have to remind my husband of an unfortunate truth in the world of suburbia; In society, a man is judged by the size of his house and the landscaping around it, the cars his family drives, and the schools his children attend. A woman is judged by how well-groomed the children are, the children’s manners and the condition of the inside of the home and its decor. In other words, if my husband wants to make a big mess in the house, do it in a room that I don’t entertain in. He wont be judged for it, but I will be. And, could he please clean up the yard and sweep out the garage?!?

Do women care how they appear to others? Do women seek social approval? Yes. I believe women do. Men do as well, but 100 years ago, I think women cared much more. When I found this article, I had to share it with my readers. I’m sharing only part of it, but the whole article is worth reading, so I may repost it in full at a later date. It’s from The Los Angeles Herald, 26 November 1918  

BANDIT TASTES SWING FROM MURDER TO ETIQUETTE 

Strange Psychologies of Slain Pair Revealed by Inspection of Home They Furnished 

SOUGHT SOCIAL APPROVAL 

Jewel Jones, Who Killed Deputy Sheriff, Studied Correct Manners at Table

The strange psychology of two “super-bandits,” in which bold criminal traits were curiously interwoven with instincts to win social approbation, became known today through the study of the books, music and decorations in the house of Dale Jones and his girl wife at Sierra Madre.

It is a psychology in which the gun woman fluctuated between the eternal feminine, and a fierce banditry that surpassed many crime-hardened men. Jones and his wife, Jewel Celano Jones, aged 21 and 20 respectively, were killed last week at Sierra Madre in a gun fight with officers.

Later the police learned that they had been living in the little foothill town, lying in wait for a detective who had, a year or so ago, caused Jones’ arrest. The bandits had coldly and deliberately planned to kill this man for revenge.

 PSYCHOLOGISTS INTERESTED

But in their leisure time between crimes, they had rented and fur nished a house, had collected a library and bought a large number of music records.

These facts, becoming known after it was learned that the two were wanted in two states for numerous and atrocious crimes, have created widespread interest among psychologists and students of criminology.

What music held the interests of the two bandits in their spare time between crimes? On what books did they feed their minds-say, perhaps, after some “job” in which they had murdered a fellow man?

What unmistakable signs of her character might be read in the “fixings” of the house-sure index to a woman’s psychology, whether she be crime expert or society queen? The library collected by the two super-bandits is, perhaps, the most illumining as to their mental and moral twists…