My father, formerly a union rubber worker in Akron, once noted that, when the big tire manufacturers stopped paying workers in cash on payday, their wives were ecstatic. This was because, on payday, a not insignificant fraction of guys would take their wads of cash and head off to the bar. Or, they would take out $20 and hand the rest over to their wives, telling them that the remainder was the amount they had earned. Apparently, it was not until the 1960's that paychecks became the standard in Akron for union laborers at the Big Three. My dad's view, from having talked to many men working in the factory, was that the majority of the era's blue collar married men simply turned their checks over to their wives, asked for a few dollars for beer/cigarettes, and allowed the women to manage the financial matters of the household. This is in stark contrast to anecdotes I've read/heard about the wives of white collar men during the same period who were largely in the dark about household finances.

Perhaps a significant fraction of men were never terribly ambitious, but they maintained social acceptability through the ease by which they could earn a middle-class living as a union factory worker? Their wives seemed content to "wear the pants" by taking care of financial affairs. Of course, to outsiders, they likely allowed the man to maintain some sense of dignity by feigning subservience (my presumption of the era's cultural standards). I'm not suggesting that factory work was not physically taxing, but jobs were generally available for anyone who wanted one. My dad recalls collecting factory job offers from Firestone, Goodyear, and BF Goodrich in a single day. Some guys who couldn't read or write very well would bring someone with them to fill out the application forms.

Is it that today's men lack the ambition of those from a generation before, or has the disappearance of union manufacturing jobs and other for-the-asking means of maintaining a middle-class lifestyle take away the false floor keeping men grounded?