When Everybody Was Slender
I have been viewing American historical films made before 1950 for a little documentary I am making. I have been struck--repeatedly struck every time I view a movie--that everyone is slender. Men, women, children, young, old, the demographic makes no difference. Everyone was slim. In archival photos of US soldiers in world war two, the young men sometimes have their shirts off. They pose for girl friends and family back home. They are so slender that in some poses you see hints of ribs. No fat hanging anywhere. They posture and mug for the camera. They were not body builders. They didn't have the bulging muscles, rippling six-packs, and over-sized necks of today's body builders. But they looked fit. Through the black and white photos, they glow with energy, stamina, alertness, motivation. In movies of the WACs and other women's branches of the services, service women all look slender and well put up; they walk tall, straight back, bright eyes, and with a briskness that reveals body confidence. Any woman today viewing such images would be instantly jealous. Scenes of factories, families at home, people walking on city streets, the same tale doth repeat. I know that not everyone was trim before 1950s. I look at my own family photo albums, and my grandparents were heavy by the time they were in their fifties. But when viewing documentary movies, historical scrapbooks, and archival photos of public places, you have to search to find anyone who looks overweight. The corpulence and hefty bodies we see now everywhere did not exist then. We looked healthier, more vital and alive. We looked like a strong people then.
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