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To: A_perfect_lady
In the 1950s? Divorce in the 1950s?

Yes. Once individuals moved from ethnic neighborhoods of extended families to support WW2, their views of marriage changed, including who they married and any stigma attached to divorce.

States were forced to play catch up with Mexican and Haitian divorce laws, which post war travel and communications made easier. Reno Nevado had been the "Divorce Capital of the World" since the 1930s and in 1942 the U.S. Supreme Court other states had to recognize these divorces (Williams v. North Carolina).

Divorce (and the fantasy of children reconciling their parents) was accepted enough for Disney to release "The Parent Trap" in 1961, despite the Hays Code for movies still in effect. "The Parent Trap" was about twin sisters separated when young because their parents divorced. Fun Disney hijinks ensue and the parents magically remarry, all part of a box office success. Disney wasn't selling that movie to two-year-olds.

167 posted on 05/23/2026 12:12:36 PM PDT by T.B. Yoits
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To: T.B. Yoits
Divorce (and the fantasy of children reconciling their parents) was accepted enough for Disney to release "The Parent Trap" in 1961, despite the Hays Code for movies still in effect. "The Parent Trap" was about twin sisters separated when young because their parents divorced. Fun Disney hijinks ensue and the parents magically remarry, all part of a box office success. Disney wasn't selling that movie to two-year-olds.

I don't want to overstate the singular influence of one Disney movie - but I am inclined to give it some credence. This particular movie may have indeed helped to "normalize" divorce - and esp. "divorce on a mere whim" (I am only superficially familiar with the movie, but guess that the husband had not been jailed for curb-stomping the wife, nor that the wife had been caught being "tag-teamed" by the local bowling league - so it's safe to assume that the grounds were trivial).

Regards,

197 posted on 05/23/2026 1:36:31 PM PDT by alexander_busek (Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.)
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