It’s all about men in sportsman’s newspaper

 

Women were nowhere to be found – except in jokes – in the September 1956 edition of The Maine Outdoorsman and Conservationist. One article’s headline was “Warden Force Seeking Young Men Interested In Outdoor Careers.”

“Requirements for the Warden Service were: Applicant must be a citizen of the United States and resident of the State for at least five years; be between the ages of 22 and 32, in good physical condition, not less than 5 feet 9 inches tall, and weigh not less than 140 pounds. The applicant must also be a graduate of an approved secondary school, or furnish satisfactory evidence that his education is the equivalent thereof as determined by the regulations of the State Department of Education.”

Later in the article, I read: “During the warden’s probational period he attends a three-week school in Augusta, where he receives intensive training in the many phases of his work… The Chief Warden urges every interested young man to drop in and talk things over with him, or if this is not possible, to drop him a line.”

They also reported that only 6 of 37 men passed the oral section of the examination in the previous round. Of the six, three were working as wardens and the other three would be soon.

“Finding qualified men for the Warden Service is not an easy job,” states the Colonel, “since we are competing with high salary scales and job opportunities which are attracting young men to all parts of the country.”

Yup, women need not apply.

Two Jokes

On page seven of the newspaper, I read these two jokes by Stumpy McCulloch.

Remember when the only difficult thing about parking a car was getting the girl to agree to it?

Nowadays parking is everybody’s problem. Women, however, seem to find it the most difficult. Lucky Shields, down Oregon way, who sells those chain saws named after me, thinks that women drivers wouldn’t have so much trouble squeezing into a parkin place if they’d imagine it was a pair of shoes.

I DO NOT recommend using these jokes in your next publication!

George Smith

About George Smith

George stepped down at the end of 2010 after 18 years as the executive director of the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine to write full time. He writes a weekly editorial page column in the Kennebec Journal and Waterville Morning Sentinel, a weekly travel column in those same newspapers (with his wife Linda), monthly columns in The Maine Sportsman magazine, two outdoor news blogs (one on his website, georgesmithmaine.com, and one on the website of the Bangor Daily News), and special columns for many publications and newsletters. Islandport Press published a book of George's favorite columns, "A Life Lived Outdoors" in 2014. In 2014, George also won a Maine Press Association award for writing the state's bet sports blog. In 2016, Down East Books published George's book, Maine Sporting Camps, and Islandport Press published George and his wife Linda's travel book, Take It From ME, about their favorite Maine inns and restaurants.