RE: Erika and Charlie Kirk Fairy Tale: "Have More Children Than You Can Afford" and "Leave the Finances to Your Husband"
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When I was growing up, the custom here in Ireland, at least in working class households , was the husband would hand his unopened pay packet to his wife on Friday evening. She controlled the household budget and would give him back a small amount of beer money for the week. Many had huge families due to the Catholic Church's ban on contraception. My father however would get little brown envelopes in the post from England, so our family stayed small. Just as well considering my mother was an alcoholic.
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You make me think of my mother-in-law. My husbands parents came over from Ireland in the 30s. There is no question--that woman ran the house. There was definite division of labor in that family: she was in charge :) Strong. You could depend on her in a pinch, always.
Why brown envelopes from England?
Condoms. Banned in Ireland. and imported from England in unmarked brown envelopes.
😂
Ah! I had the same question. Wow. Well, they are banned anymore, right? Okay, I went and looked it up. The ban was lifted in '85. Whew!
When I was in college in 1980, every morning the Students' Union would set up a stall selling condoms. By lunchtime, the campus authorities would have shut it down only for it to reappear the following morning. It became a daily ritual.
Even after the ban was relaxed in 1985, condoms could only be bought by over-18s in chemist shops. They weren't on display either; you had to pluck up the courage to ask for them.
Crazy times!