When women used to be depressed or were not “taking care of their men” properly their husbands could send them to the psych ward for attitude adjustments. This was part of conditioning them to always wear a smile. They believed that if a woman saw herself smiling that it would become natural practice and that she would be “cured”. This often went along with shock therapies.
This gives a whole new level of creepiness to when random men tell you to smile.
People who talk about the 50s like they were this golden Era frighten me