List of know how’s and should do’s from 1933:

What a Young Man Should Know, 1933. A checklist for becoming a proper man.

This was published in the March 1933 issue of Harper’s Magazine.

The writer, Robert Littell, details the abilities, skills, accomplishments, and extra-curricular proficiencies that every man should have if they are to become a self-sufficient and well-rounded human being, ready for life, and eventually, marriage and raising their own children. The learning starts from a very young age.

Here is the (short) list:

1. He should know how to swim at least a mile, dive creditably, and not feel panicky under water. He should be able also to revive those less skilful than himself by rolling them on a barrel and pumping their helpless arms.

2. He should be able to drive an automobile well. And he should not be altogether helpless when a car breaks down. He must know how to change a tire and offer some sort of diagnosis when the engine sputters and dies.

3. He ought to know how to clean, load, and shoot a revolver or a rifle.

4. As for self-defense, a man should certainly be able to take care of himself in a scrap. He need not learn jujitsu — old-fashioned boxing will be enough.

5. He ought to know the rudiments of camping, how to build a fire, how to chop wood, how to take a cinder out of his eye, how to deal with a severed artery, how to doctor himself for ordinary ailments.

6. He should also be able to take care of other people in emergencies, to apply first aid, set a broken bone, revive a drunk or a victim of gas, deal with a fainting fit, administer the right emetic or antidote for a case of poisoning.

7. And he should be able to feed himself, to cook, not only because some day he may need to, but because cooking is one of the fine arts, and a source of infinite pleasure. He should be able to scramble eggs, brew coffee, broil a steak, dress a salad, carve a chicken, and produce, on occasion, one first-class dish, such as onion soup. The more he can do, in these days of the delicatessen store and the kitchenette, the better. It is not effeminate, it is not beyond him, and the best chefs are all men.

8. He should know how to use paint brushes, a saw, a hammer, and other common tools.

9. He should also have a beautiful and distinguished handwriting. But the bulk of his writing, particularly if he is a professional man who has much of it to do, should be done on a typewriter, capable of turning out three thousand words an hour.

10. He should play one outdoor game well, and have a workable smattering of several more. An American who cannot throw and catch a ball seems pathetic and grotesque.

11. The bicycle has gone, yet every young man should know how to ride one.

12. He should also be able to skate, sail a boat, and handle a canoe passably.

13. Fishing is a specialty, like chess.

14. Walking is a noble but neglected sport. Americans “hike” once in a long while but seldom walk.

15. He should know a great deal about animals and how to take care of them.

16. He should know how to ride a horse.

17. He should learn how to stay in a saddle with pleasure to himself and a minimum of annoyance to his mount.

18. He should learn how to dance.

19. He should know to play at least one card game.

20. He must have knowledge of how to tip naturally, justly, without fear and without reproach.

21. On the matter of alcohol, he should learn his capacity and stick within its limits; he should know something about the different kinds of drink, and which drinks produce chaos within him when mixed.

22. Where s:x is concerned, nature clearly intended us to make many mistakes in her hope that some of them would be productive.

23. He should know the rudiments of gambling. But gambling might be placed on the same plane as drink — the less use one has for it the better.

24. Higher than almost any other accomplishment on the list is knowing music. There is no reason why any young man who is not absolutely tone-deaf should not learn how to play one musical instrument well enough for it to be a self-resource and a tolerable pleasure to others.

25. A civilized man should know how to read. The ability to read, or rather the habit of reading, is very rare even among intelligent people, and has to be taught and kept up if it is not to become rusty.

26. He should have knowledge of at least one foreign language. French or German preferably both. German children learn an amazingly good brand of English without ever crossing their borders. Why can’t we? For one thing, we don’t really want to. Yet we should. An American who knows only English is blind in one eye.

27. He should know to travel well, efficiently, without fuss or complaint.

28. A young man should be able to express himself clearly before a crowd of strangers, without shyness, muddle, or a pathetic resort to “so much has been said and well said” or “I did not expect to be called on.”

29. The American adult can get to his feet, propose a toast, introduce a stranger, voice a civic protest, heckle a windbag politician, and give utterance to an unembarrassed thought.

30. A a man should command the elementary tool of written language, and be able to put simple things on paper in clear words.

31. He should have a good workable understanding of the structure of business, investments, and banks.

32. Let every educated man, as a necessary part of his education, be thrown into the muddy stream of American industry and see what it is like to swim alone on daily wages.

33. He should before reaching twenty-two have done something because he wanted to, whether other people wanted him to do it or not.

34. He should not acquire property unless he needs it. Insensitiveness to his personal property, unless of course it is extraordinarily beautiful, is a desirable skill for any man to have; It must be learned and worked at.

35. Unusual though this young man may be, he should not seem so. Is not a parent’s basic ambition for his child that he be very different from other people, yet manage to seem almost exactly like them?

—

What do you think? Doable or unreasonable in today’s time ?


Lots of comments on social media from women defending their men from having a lack of knowledge in the above categories. Don’t need it until you do I guess.

Thank God I was able to organically acquire 98% of these skills. Two things I lack is when to say when with the sauce and my handwriting is a bit rough. Could also have learned to dance better when I was younger.

I gave my oldest daughter a book that was my dad's, from roughly the same period, covering similar subjects for a young man. I'm pretty sure they handed them out in high school. (He graduated in '36.)

There was a time when the Boy Scouts actually taught some of these.

It reads as if it was written by someone with wealth and not all points would have been reasonable to a large portion of the population during that time. As it pertains to the current era, I think the majority of them are absolutely reasonable and should be taught. I would add one or two and remove one or two for the sake of keeping relevant with the current century.

You have to remember a "proper man" in the 30's was a male of high status....a worker class male would never be called a proper man in the 30's.

The aristocracy would never associate with the commoner, it is beneath their station.

I’m not fluent in a second language. All rest were just life

This was published in 1933 and they mention jiu jitsu in item 4? Also, you lost me at knowing how to dance.

Hell, most fellers these days don't even own a decent suit of clothes. No way could they meet those standards.

jiu jitsu goes way back to Japan. Pre America

I hava accomplished, to some extent, everything listed, and I have been encouraging my son to do the same. As for the self sufficient and outdoors stuff, he is 15 and pretty much has all of that down pat. I do disagree with, and failed to do number 34 though.

I'm 27 and the only things on that list that I'm no where near with is a second language and knowing what's wrong with a car. I've tried and tried on the car subject and I can't figure it out. Raised in Dallas but had parents/grand parents who taught the correct things.

These days you need a computer or six to diagnose anything wrong with a car. A little more simple back in the 30's.

tires still go flat, batteries still die, alternators still go out.....Sure, you are not gonna change a head gasket on the side of a road, but basic knowledge is still basic knowledge

Dancing is a skill that isn't necessary until it is.


I wish I would have spent just a little more time sharpening my dancing skills in my bar days. Sure, I don't think I missed any opportunities because of it, but it certainly wouldn't have hurt

Oh for sure, and knowing at least "what sounds wrong" is important.

One important thing for people to know these days too is knowing if your wheels have locking lugs and having the appropriate key. Esp with used cars.

Easy skill to pick up even formal. We owe it to our wives and more so our daughters

All three of mine can polka - hopefully that counts.

I have to take issue with that. Although this country (and every country) does have folks that think they're a superior breed to others, this list was to encourage men to rise above their "station," something that is DIScouraged in the UK and other countries. It's not out in the open, but still very, very real. It's why the world is still trying to get in here.

#34 is about simplicity. Every major religion in the world mentions the freedom and power in owning less stuff. I think that's what it's trying to impart. I have a book titled Voluntary Simplicity. I've read it at least twice and will again...when the children tell me I'm moving.

I wish I could dance better. Women love it. I have rhythm, but wind up listening to the band too much. Now, there is a line between "good" and "fantastic", and the "fantastic" guys are...you know. There's a Rubicon I won't cross.

I don’t dance. I’d like to think I’m more advanced than a strutting bird.

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but you're single, are you not?

Strutting Peacocks bag the most hens.

Kinda with you on #34. I understand, or at least I think I do, the spirit of what the author was conveying. Not being attached to worldly possessions that it compromises you as a man. At the same time, I am not insensitive to my property. I will be a steward of and keep good care of my possessions to pass on to my family, Lord willing. Having said that, none of it defines me, nor should it.

Also, antidote for poisons and sailing a boat kinda made me chuckle.

34 i took as not being overly attached to material possessions. Not property as in real estate.

The antidotes for poison can be updated to being able to produce a remedy to a sickness.

Sailing can be updated to being able to operate a modern boat.

Out on.

9. Handwriting
21. Knowing ones limit with alcohol
24. Cannot play a musical instrument.
26. No Hablo a foreign language.

I suck at dancing and hate it, but I used to be a musician that stayed out of the spotlight when the show was over. It's amazing how many hens you can call in by being quiet.

Gobble Gobble!!