Scrolling through Facebook, I came across this interesting piece of advice taken from a Singer Sewing Machine manual which was published in 1949.

Most people commenting on it were either shocked at its sexist nature or were ridiculing the advice it gave. Whoever puts on their powder and lipstick and does their hair just so they can sit down and sew?

The problem these people had though was that they couldn’t see past the cultural aspects of the advice to see the excellent advice that the piece...