Can You Say "Eww, gross"?
I was pouring over some old newspapers once for the library and stumbled upon this headline which stopped me dead in my tracks. As former copyeditor for a newspaper, I can respect the desire to craft an eye-catching headline, though to be fair in 1938 when this article ran that wasn’t a whole lot more media to compete for the readers attention but I digress this is for sure a good example of the ancestor of clickbait and it leaves a sour taste in my mouth.
The picture depicts a woman looking nonplussed as a man adjusts chains around her wrists. The article details that Wilma Leaycroft was accussed by her boyfriend, Lewis Tortrariello, of running around with another men so she agreed to be chained to the steering wheel of his car while at work. On the second day, police took notice and cut the chains to release her. The article also briefly mentions that Lewis once bit a dog just to attract attention and referred to them together as sweethearts.
Something tells me if they are sweethearts, he wouldn’t need to chain her to his car to keep track of her but what do I know. Can we discuss, why they felt the need to mention he’s a jokester with the story of him biting a dog tidbit like that’s supposed to make this whole situation funny somehow? Most importantly, there’s no mention of how the woman feels about making news in such an outrageous story.
A month later, I found the story ran in another paper with a different picture. It appears they are eating lunch together in the car and you can see the chains in her lap. It’s a less damning photo rather than depicting him adjusting the chains on her wrists while she sits in the car looking upset, it shows them appearing to be at least mildly enjoying each other’s company for lunch. At least this time the headline better captures my thoughts about the story, though I’d say calling it odd is a little soft on the outrage.
This version includes more information for the reader listing Wilma’s age as 22. Additionally, in this story, the police stopped at the car when they heard Wilma crying and she told them, “Lewis is so fond of me, he’s afraid I might go out with other boys. But I love masterful men”. The cops then cut her lose and issued a warning to Lewis.
It’s somewhat comforting to know the cops at least scolded him for tieing up his girlfriend but a slap on the wrist hardly seems like enough. I’m still having trouble imagining her saying that she loves masterful men. And on top of that, what about being insecure about your relationship that you have to tie up your girlfriend makes you a masterful man?
I was able to find a third mention of the story in another paper later in October and it features the same photo as the second story and the same text, though they felt the need to headline the article “Masterful Men” and I just want to say UGH to that. As I mentioned above, Lewis’s action hardly make him a masterful man but considering this is the 1930’s and all the employees at the paper are probably men so the sexism can run freely rampant.
I wanted to see if I could find anymore information on this couple and see what happened with them. The one article listed Wilma as 22 but according to the 1940 US Census that puts her in the same town as Lewis in Neptune, New Jersey she was just 16 in 1930 whereas Lewis was 27. My level of grossed out at this story hit a new level with that story. If you needed a silver-lining to this story like I did, at least according to that 1940 US Census, Wilma at 18 was married to a man not named Lewis. It’s relief she didn’t marry him after that ordeal but still doesn’t exactly wipe the bad taste out of mouth.
I can only say I hope the next story I stumble upon in the archives is something less gross and more cheerful so don’t forget to subscribe and tune in for more!