by Roz Romero

Created on: November 01, 2007   Last Updated: August 15, 2008

In and around the time of World War II, and throughout most of the 50s and early 60s, the notion of couples "living in sin" without the benefit of marriage was unthinkable, at least for most "morally conscious" Americans, and divorce was a rare event then, too. Those that lived outside the boundaries of the generally accepted norm of marriage were considered outcasts - or amoral deviants.

Was such thinking really such a bad thing?

It can be argued that there were fewer divorces back then. While this doesn't necessarily account for happier marriages, it would seem that people actually did stay together through thick and thin. Only a "rat" would leave his wife and children. Honorable men and women stood by their sacred vows and stayed with their families.

In the old days, multiple marriages and divorces were simply not even a consideration for most. In fact, it was far less scandalous for a divorced woman to claim herself a widow, rather than to admit she had somehow failed in her marriage. Divorce, back then anyway, was somewhat of a shameful event.

Couples that did "shack up" without the benefit of marriage would often carry out all of the pretenses of marriage so as not to be outed for their indiscretion.

Why was out of wedlock cohabitation and divorce considered so taboo?

Could it be that grandma and grandpa just simply chose to honor the words of their marital vows? Perhaps the words, "till death do us part", had sacred meaning for them. After all, it was a time when a promise made, meant a promise kept. Honor, dignity and respect were not just descriptive words - they were action words - the creed that people lived by. Perhaps they just understood that for the institution of marriage to survive, it required a commitment that people simply had to honor. Staying in their marriages was their way of keeping order and predictability. Deviation from this time honored tradition put society at risk for full chaos.

Of course, marriages weren't necessarily more or less challenging or difficult than marriages of today. They faced the usual contemporary marital challenges of our current day - alcoholism, gambling, adulterous affairs. All of these things existed back then, too, after all. Maybe it was just their staunch belief in marriage that made them more resourceful in finding ways to overcome these kinds of marital obstacles and challenges.

Today we live in a disposable world. As evidenced by our landfills, we Americans buy and throw things away at an alarming rate.

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