- What they do with their quarrels after they are through with them determines to a great extent the ultimate success of any pair"s marriage. Alimentive husbands and wives bury the hatchet sooner than other types and they avoid altercations.
Lives Anywhere.
- The Alimentive wife offers less resistance to her husband"s plans than any other. So when he announces they are moving to some other neighborhood, city or state she acquiesces with better grace than other types.
Family Friends.
- The responsibility of adding new friends to the family rests equally upon each partner in marriage. The average husband, by reason of mingling more with the world, has the greater opportunity, but every wife can and should consider that she owes it to herself, her husband and her children to contribute her quota.
Alimentive husbands and wives add their share of new acquaintances to any marriage in which they are partners. The Alimentive wife always enjoys having people in to dinner and the Alimentive husband enjoys bringing them. The warmth of hospitality in Alimentive homes brings them more friendships than come to other types.
Fat Man Also Marries Young.
- The fat man marries young, but for a different reason than the fat woman. The fat man, as you will note, "gets a job" early in life. From that time on his services seldom go begging.
He makes a good salary earlier than other types and is therefore sooner in a position to marry.
The "Ladies" Man"
- Just as the fat woman is "a man"s woman," so the fat man is almost invariably "a ladies" man." The fat man usually "knows women" better than any other type and it is certain that the fat woman "knows men." Her record proves it.
No Fat Bachelors.
- Just as there are few fat "old maids," there are few fat bachelors. You can count on the fingers of one hand all the really overweight ones you ever knew.
The Best "Provider"
- Because he makes money easily through the various forms of his superior business qualifications, the average fat man has plenty of money for his family and likes to spend it upon them. He is the best provider of all the types. Fat people are the most lenient parents and usually over-indulge their children.
The husband who makes a habit for years of sending home crates of the first strawberries, melons and oranges of the season is a fat one every time.
Desirable Traits of Fat Husbands.
- His generous provision for his family and the fact that he is essentially a "family man" are two desirable traits of the Alimentive husband. He depends more on his home than other types, he marries young to have a home and he is seldom farther away from it than he has to be.
It is unfortunate that the one type which makes the best "travelling man" is more inconvenienced by the absence from home than any other type would be. But he has not submitted silently. All the world knows what a "hard life" the traveling salesman leads and how he misses "the wife, the kids and the good home cooking."
Weaknesses of Alimentive Husbands.
- The Alimentive husband has but one weakness that materially endangers his marital happiness. He is inclined to be too easy and extravagant, and not to save money.
Mates for Alimentives.
- Because of his amenability the Alimentive can marry almost any type and be happy. But for fullest happiness, those who are predominantly Alimentive--that is, those in whom the Alimentive type comes first--should marry, as a first choice, those who are predominantly Muscular. The Muscular shares the Alimentive"s ambition to "get on in the world" and at the same time adds to the union the practicality which offsets the too easy-going, lackadaisical tendencies of the Alimentive.
The second choice for the predominantly Alimentive should be the one who is predominantly Thoracic. These two types have much in common. The brilliance and speed of the Thoracic keeps the Alimentive "looking to his laurels," and thus tends to prevent the carelessness which is so great a handicap to the predominantly Alimentive.
The third choice of the predominantly Alimentive may be one who is also predominantly Alimentive, but in that case it should be an Alimentive-Muscular or an Alimentive-Cerebral.
The last type the pure Alimentive should ever marry is the pure Cerebral.
Part Two.
LOVE AND THE THORACIC.
- The Thoracic in love exhibits the same general traits which characterize him in all his other relationships.
The Most Beautiful Woman.
- The Thoracic woman is the most beautiful type of all. She is not "pretty" like the Alimentive, but her refined features and beautiful coloring give her a distinctive appearance.
The Handsomest Man.
- The Thoracic is also the handsomest man of all. He is tall, high-chested, wide-shouldered and has the masculine face resulting from his high-bridged, prominent nose and high cheek bones.
The Thoracic Charmer.
- The Thoracic has more of that quality we call "charm" than any other type. Charm is largely self-expression by tactful methods. Since this type is the most self-expressive and the most tactful it possesses naturally this invaluable trait.
Both men and women of this type have an elusive, attractive something in their personalities that others do not have--a very personal appeal that makes an immediate impression. It pierces farther beneath the surface of strangers than other types do on much longer acquaintance. The Thoracic does not seem a stranger at all. His own confidences, given to you almost immediately upon meeting you, remove the barriers.
The Lure of the Thoracic.
- There is about the Thoracic person a lure that others seldom have. You do not attempt to describe it. You say "he is just different," and he is. No other type has his spontaneity and instantaneous responsiveness.
So while the Alimentive is always liked, it is in a more mild, easy, comfortable way. The Alimentive does not stir the blood but has a strong, tender, even hold on people. The Thoracic, on the other hand, intrigues your attention, impales it, and holds it.
Love at First Sight.
- The Thoracics fall in love at first sight much more often than other types. They also cause others to fall in love with them without preliminaries, for they pursue the object of their affections with a fire and fury that is almost irresistible.
- Hundreds of persons marry each year who have known each other but a few days or weeks. In every instance you will find that one of them is a Thoracic--and usually both. No other type can become so hopelessly in love on such short notice.
The Most Flirtatious.
- The Thoracic is a born philanderer.
He does not mean to mislead or injure, but flirtation is second nature to him. This comes from the fact that flirtation, more than any other human experience, contains that adventurous, thrilling element he desires.
Overheard in Transit.
- We overheard the following conversation in the street car the other day between two young women who occupied the seat in front of us: "I was sorry to hurt him," explained the Thoracic. "I did love him last week and I told him so, but I don"t love him any more and I do love somebody else now." She really loved him--last week!
Thoracics can have a severe case of love, and get just as completely over it in a week as the rest of us get over the measles.
The Joy of Life.
- A joy in living expresses itself in almost everything the Thoracic does, especially when he is young. Such people appear almost electrical. These are traits of great fascination and the Thoracic uses them freely upon others throughout his life.
Always Blushing.
- His over-developed circulatory system causes the Thoracic to blush easily and often. This tendency has long been capitalized by women but is not so much enjoyed by men.
Most Easily Hurt.
- Because of his supersensitiveness the Thoracic"s feelings are more easily hurt than those of other types, as every one who has ever had a florid friend or sweetheart will remember.
They forgive quickly and completely, but every little thing said, looked, or acted by the loved one is translated in terms of the personal. Bony people especially find it difficult to understand or be tolerant of this trait in the Thoracic, because it is the exact opposite of themselves. They call the Thoracic "thin-skinned," and the Thoracic replies that the bony man has "a skin like a walrus." And each is right from his own viewpoint.
The Chivalrous Thoracic Man.
- With his keen intuitions, his sense of the fitness of things and his trigger-like adeptness, the Thoracic man easily becomes an attentive and chivalrous companion.
Where the bony man is often oblivious to the fine points of courtesy, the Thoracic antic.i.p.ates his friend"s every wish and movement, picks up her handkerchief almost before she has dropped it, opens doors instantaneously and specializes in those graces dear to the heart of woman.
He is likely to do as much for the very next lady he meets just as soon as he meets her. These ready courtesies cost the Thoracic husband as many explanations as the caressing habit costs the Alimentive.
Breaches of Promise.
- More bona fide breach of promise suits are brought against the Thoracic man than any other. He thinks rapidly, speaks almost as quickly as he thinks and about what he thinks.
Consequently many an honorable man has awakened some morning to find he has to "pay the piper" for an impulsive proposal made to a girl he would not walk across the street now to see.
Many a girl, too, when she is "in love with love" promises to marry, and the next day wonders what made her do it.
This is the type of chameleon-like girl whose vagaries and "sweet uncertainties" form the theme of many short stories, in most of which she is pictured as "the eternal feminine."
She Gets Much Attention.
- Nevertheless, many a man prefers this creature of "a million moods" to the staid and sedate girl of other types. So the Thoracic girl seldom lacks for attention. She does not have as many intimate friends as the fat girl, for she is less comforting, and comfort is one of the first requisites of friendship. But she has a longer line of beaux dancing attendance upon her, sending her flowers, candy and messages.
The Stunning Girl.
- Another reason why the Thoracic girl has more attention from men is that she is the most smartly-gowned of all the types. The new, the extreme, the "very latest" in women"s clothes are first seen on the Thoracic girl. She is the type men call "stunning."
Men prefer companions who appear well--whom other men admire. The Thoracic woman demands the same of the men she goes about with, and for these two reasons many Thoracics marry those in whom their own type predominates.
The "Merry Widows"
- Make a note of the "dashing widows," you have known--those who were called "the merry widows"--and you will recall a large Thoracic element in each.
For this type of woman, unlike the home-keeping Alimentive, enjoys being a widow and remains one. She usually has many chances to remarry but her changeable, gaiety-loving nature revels in the freedom, sophistication and distinction of widowhood.
The appearance of endless youth given by her alive, responsive personality deceives the most discerning as to her age. The woman of fifty who enthralls the youths of twenty-five is usually of the Thoracic type.
Refuses to Grow Old.
- This woman refuses to grow old, just as the Alimentive refuses to grow up. She clings to her beauty as does no other type. She it is who self-sacrificingly starves herself to retain her slenderness, who ma.s.sages and exercises and "cold-creams" herself hours a day before the shrine of Eternal Youth. Her high color, "all her own," is a decided a.s.set in this direction.
This woman devotes as much attention to her grooming at sixty as the Alimentive does at twenty. For this reason you may any day see two women of forty together, one an Alimentive and the other a Thoracic--and take the plump one to be several or many years older than the florid one.
Love the "Bright Lights"
- Thoracic men and women care more about "the bright lights" than other types. The Alimentive likes what he calls "a good time"--with fun and plenty of "refreshments"--but the Thoracic"s idea of a good time usually includes a touch of "high life."
This all comes from his love of thrill and novelty and is innocent enough. But it leads to misunderstandings and broken homes unless the Thoracic marries the right type of person.
- The Osseous, for instance, has nothing in his consciousness by which to understand the desire for excitement which is so strong in the Thoracic. We have all known good wives and loving mothers whose marital happiness was destroyed because they could not compel themselves to lead the drab existence laid out for them by their bony, stony husbands. In many cases the wife, who only wanted a little innocent fun, was less to blame than her unbending spouse.
Why She Went Insane.
- One day several years ago we drove up to a lonely farmhouse in Montana just as a tragedy was enacted. The mother was being taken to the state asylum for the insane. The seven little children watched the strange performance, unable to understand what had happened. The father, a tall, raw-boned, angular man was almost as mystified as the children.
"Crazy?" he said, "I don"t believe it. Say, what did she have to go crazy about? She hasn"t seen anything to excite her. Why, she"s not been off this farm for twenty years!"
The "Gay Devil" Husband.
- The same thing happens every day between severe, bony wives and their florid, frolicking husbands. "She is a perfect housekeeper and a good wife" exclaim her friends--"why should her husband spend his evenings away from home?" These questions will continue to be asked until we realize that being "a good housekeeper and a good wife" does not fill the bill with a Thoracic man. A wife who will leave the dinner dishes in the kitchen sink occasionally and run away with him for a "lark" on a moment"s notice is the kind that retains the love of her florid husband. A husband who is willing to leave his favorite magazine, pipe, and slippers to take her out in the evening is the kind a Thoracic woman likes. She even prefers a "gay devil" to a "stick"--as she calls the slow ones.
Makes Him Jealous.
- The Thoracic man wants his wife to look well and be pleasing but no husband wants his wife to be irresistibly attractive to other men. So it often happens that the Thoracic woman causes her husband much jealousy.
Her youthful actions and distinctive dressing make her a magnet for all eyes. If he happens to be too different in type to understand her naturalness and pure-mindedness in this he often suffers keenly. Sometimes he causes her to suffer for it when they get home.
Human a.n.a.lysis makes us all more tolerant of each other. It enables us to know why people act as they do, and, best of all, that they mean well and not ill most of the time.
Dislikes the Monotonous.
- The Thoracic, you will remember, dislikes monotony. Everything savoring of routine, sameness--the dead level--wears on him.
Three meals a day three hundred and sixty-five days in a year, with the same person, in the same room, at the same table, is unspeakably irksome to him. He may love that other person with completeness and constancy, but he occasionally demands what Bernard Shaw calls "domestic change of air."
"My Wife"s Gone to the Country," was the biggest song hit of its year because there were so many florid men who understood just how that man felt!
- The florid wife is as loving as any other but she heaves a sigh of relief and invites her women friends in for a party when John goes away on business.
Not Easy to Live With.
- Thoracic husbands or wives are not as easy to live with as the Alimentive. They are too affectable, too susceptible to sudden changes of mood. They live alternately on the crest of the wave and in the depths, and rob the home of that serenity which is essential to harmony.
Impulsive tendencies which made the sweetheart adorable are less attractive in the wife. And hubby"s hair-trigger temperament she now calls just plain temper.
Desirable Traits of Thoracics.
- That they are the most charming in manner, the most tasteful in dress and the most entertaining of any type const.i.tute the traits which make the Thoracic husband or wife desirable and attractive.