“Smithsonian Magazine” dug up a 1924 issue of a magazine called ”Science and Invention”, and found a four-item LOVE TEST.  It was supposed to scientifically predict whether a marriage would succeed or fail.

Could YOU pass?  Here are the four parts of the test . . .

#1.)  Are you deeply physically attracted?  The author says that physical attraction is THE most important element for a marriage.  So he’d test whether a couple got shortness of breath or a fast heartbeat when they looked at each other.

#2.)  How sympathetic are you?  In this test, each person would watch the other one go through something mildly traumatic, like giving blood.  And they’d be tested on whether they had strong physical reactions to seeing the other person in pain.

#3.)  Can you deal with each other’s body odor?  This is great . . . the author says he believes more marriages are destroyed by BAD BODY ODOR than any other reason.

In this test, each person was put in a tight, enclosed capsule, and a hose would pump the scent from the other person’s capsule RIGHT into their noses.  If they could handle that, they were a good couple.

#4.)  Do you balance each other out in stressful situations?  For this test, the author would surprise the couple by firing a gun into the air.  He wanted to make sure one person had a more nervous reaction than the other, to show balance.

And that’s it.  If you have a deep physical attraction, you feel each other’s pain, you don’t mind each other’s smell, and you do a good job balancing each other out under stress, you’ve passed a 1920s marriage test.

Smithsonian