Married, working women received a special note in city directories 50 years ago

Roy Wilhelm
·3 min read

I did not realize that 50 years ago was so deep into history until I started glancing through a city directory from that period.

Read this quote in the directory’s “explanation” and you will know what I mean: “Married women engaged in some responsible occupation are listed individually in addition to their regular listing with the husband...”   Also: “In the case of a natural widow this fact is shown with the name of the deceased husband in parentheses, whenever possible.”

Directory wording leaves one wondering

These “explanations” made me wonder:

● What about a man with an irresponsible occupation?

● Who decided what was a responsible occupation and an irresponsible job?  (Where did “journalist” fit in?)

● What does the directory do with widowers?  (And just what is a “natural” widow?)

To be honest, the “explanation” wasn’t up with the times as I discovered that I had used the “responsible occupation” quote once before years ago in a column based on an earlier directory. On top of that, 50 years ago countless women were among the leaders in the community.

At any rate, it seems like approaches such as that plus people’s overall desire for greater personal privacy may have made it difficult to continue the production of the directories.  In their time, they were a fountain of information.  The ultimate telephone books, I would say.  There were lists of names followed by telephone numbers and lists of telephone numbers followed by names.

Old directories were somewhat equivalent to today's internet

Truth is the old directory helped people deal with life, something like the internet does today, and the books can be interesting and provide memories for longtime residents.

For instance, among the schools listed were Aunty Elma’s Nursery School, Fremont Junior High School on Croghan Street and St. Joseph’s School at the corner of Croghan and Wood Street.  St. Joe’s, of course, was next to the high school, which still stands at the corner of Croghan and Clover streets.  There, of course, have been dramatic changes in the public schools and the parochial schools in the Fremont School District.

J.C. Penney in Fremont celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1976, during America's bicentennial year. The department store said at the time, “We remember the past, but look forward to the future.” The store's Fremont presence ended in 2007 when the building at the corner of Front and Croghan streets was demolished.
J.C. Penney in Fremont celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1976, during America's bicentennial year. The department store said at the time, “We remember the past, but look forward to the future.” The store's Fremont presence ended in 2007 when the building at the corner of Front and Croghan streets was demolished.

And, then there were the auto dealers which included Miller Pontiac-Cadillac and Pete Ellis, both on South Front Street, just south of the main downtown area; Dick Callendar Buick-Opel at 610 West State; Don Paul Ford at 524 West State and Behlmer Motor Sales on Justice Street. It seems interesting that so many of them were close to the center of town. Today, the dealerships have chosen to have more space to show more cars. Back then, Tod Motors at 2113 West State and Towne Lincoln-Mercury on Everett Road were away from the downtown.

Associated Buyers on Stone Street was listed among the community’s department stores, but the others included Buckeye Mart in Potter Village Shopping Center; W.T. Grant in the Plaza Shopping Center on East State Street; Mr. Wiggs on Oak Harbor Road; and Joseph’s, Montgomery Ward and JC Penney, all downtown.

Remember when?

Roy Wilhelm started a 40-year career at The News-Messenger in 1965 as a reporter. Now retired, he writes a column for both The News-Messenger and News Herald.

This article originally appeared on Fremont News-Messenger: Working women received a special note in Fremont directories 50 years ago