Weekend History lesson hit home.

diannholland1965

This weekend was one of those. "ALRIGHT, What do we do now?" type of weekends.
We do not get them often, but when they come around, we try to find something to do that is, Educational, and involves some kind of exercise.
Sunday we decided to go to our county Museum to see the history of the town that we live in.
Now mind you this is a pretty normal town history museum, with items from the past and stories that went along with them. With being obsessed about eating healthy, exercise, and weight. It did not take me long to note weight trends and eating habits of the past.
This is what I discovered:
In the 1800s when people where moving across America, they ate about two meals a day. Breakfast and lunch. Their plates where about 5” around. (A little bigger then a CD.) Here in the Midwest they ate a lot of meat and bread. Bread was made with corn or whole wheat. They worked hard and walked incredible distances each day. From the size of the outfit, I would guess that they where about 5 feet tall and MAYBE weighed 100 pounds TOPS!
Skip forward to the early 1900s.
A dinner plate is still 4 to 5 inches around. a tea glass is a little bigger then a shot glass. In the early 1900s we drank a LOT of tea! Women did a lot of house work, and cared for a lot of children. Men worked outside of the house, and most often lived close enough to walk to work and more often then not, did. They where moving from Sun up to sun down. I noted that most of the games that the children played where games that required movement. From the outfits of that time, People where about 5' 3" to 5’ 5” and weighed around 100 to 120 Lbs. And talk about WAIST SIZE DANG!!!!!
Now to the more recent past. 1950s - 1960s this is the time that I started to notice the difference in just ONE generation.
The plates where about 6 inches around, a cup for tea was about 1/2 a cup. a Coke bottle was 1/2 the size of today, and read 4 servings per bottle. I could not tell for sure, but it looked like a breakfast bowl was about 1 and 1/2 cup. Kids played outside a lot and where given outside toys. Skates and bikes being the most popular. Families had if any ONE TV per house, and it was watched about 1 to MAYBE 2 hours each day. Women where expected to be about 5' 6" tall and a "GOOD AND DECENT LADY" (Their words not mine) weighed NO MORE then 130 lbs. They showed pictures all through out this exhibit, and one that caught my eye was a birthday party.
Little Boy in classic 1950s cowboy outfit. Blowing out the candles on his 7th Birthday cake. There where 10 kids around him, plus 3 moms. The cake looked like one of those small cakes that they call INDIVIDUAL SIZE cakes today. I assume that this cake fed all 11 children plus the 3 mothers that where there.
Wow, what a difference a few generations make.
Has anyone else had an experiance like this?
--Diann...

diannholland1965

This weekend was one of those. "ALRIGHT, What do we do now?" type of weekends.
We do not get them often, but when they come around, we try to find something to do that is, Educational, and involves some kind of exercise.
Sunday we decided to go to our county Museum to see the history of the town that we live in.
Now mind you this is a pretty normal town history museum, with items from the past and stories that went along with them. With being obsessed about eating healthy, exercise, and weight. It did not take me long to note weight trends and eating habits of the past.
This is what I discovered:
In the 1800s when people where moving across America, they ate about two meals a day. Breakfast and lunch. Their plates where about 5” around. (A little bigger then a CD.) Here in the Midwest they ate a lot of meat and bread. Bread was made with corn or whole wheat. They worked hard and walked incredible distances each day. From the size of the outfit, I would guess that they where about 5 feet tall and MAYBE weighed 100 pounds TOPS!
Skip forward to the early 1900s.
A dinner plate is still 4 to 5 inches around. a tea glass is a little bigger then a shot glass. In the early 1900s we drank a LOT of tea! Women did a lot of house work, and cared for a lot of children. Men worked outside of the house, and most often lived close enough to walk to work and more often then not, did. They where moving from Sun up to sun down. I noted that most of the games that the children played where games that required movement. From the outfits of that time, People where about 5' 3" to 5’ 5” and weighed around 100 to 120 Lbs. And talk about WAIST SIZE DANG!!!!!
Now to the more recent past. 1950s - 1960s this is the time that I started to notice the difference in just ONE generation.
The plates where about 6 inches around, a cup for tea was about 1/2 a cup. a Coke bottle was 1/2 the size of today, and read 4 servings per bottle. I could not tell for sure, but it looked like a breakfast bowl was about 1 and 1/2 cup. Kids played outside a lot and where given outside toys. Skates and bikes being the most popular. Families had if any ONE TV per house, and it was watched about 1 to MAYBE 2 hours each day. Women where expected to be about 5' 6" tall and a "GOOD AND DECENT LADY" (Their words not mine) weighed NO MORE then 130 lbs. They showed pictures all through out this exhibit, and one that caught my eye was a birthday party.
Little Boy in classic 1950s cowboy outfit. Blowing out the candles on his 7th Birthday cake. There where 10 kids around him, plus 3 moms. The cake looked like one of those small cakes that they call INDIVIDUAL SIZE cakes today. I assume that this cake fed all 11 children plus the 3 mothers that where there.
Wow, what a difference a few generations make.
Has anyone else had an experiance like this?
--Diann...

kistinbee

Wow. It sure makes you think, huh... It amazes me that there are so many people with the frame of mind that "we need... I need... you need... etc." No! People did without for many, many years and did just fine. Mind you, the life expectancy back in those days was significantly less, but still... So, reminders like this are very good to have!
*kistinbee*

Eve23

Very interesting Vivia thank you for sharing. Last year my mom bought me a new set of dishes and it actually came with large bowls and plates and smaller plates and bowls. We use the larger things mostly for serving and the smaller for our meals. It is definately food for thought on how much they ate then. I know when we took a look at family photos over Thanksgiving it was amazing how tiny some of the women were. Not all of them but many were as small as my daughter in height and she is only 4'11 but much thinner. That is her in my photo.

Thanks for giving us something to consider.
Eve

lotusfromthemud

Eve,
I cannot take credit for Diann's post...

but I agree with it. I recently moved from the 'burbs to a big city, and when I go back there to visit, I'm so frustrated because it is literally impossible to walk anywhere! There are not even sidewalks. I have lost weight since my move, which I contribute to the availability of quality produce (which I walk to the store to buy) and the fact that I sold my car. I tell my old friends back home that I'm on the "sell your car" diet. (LOL) But, if I still lived in the old 'hood, I wouldn't be able to live without a car.

I once saw a nutritionist say that what is impressive is that there are so many people who aren't very, very overweight, as the world is literally conspiring against us. Huge portions everywhere, chemicals in the food that make us crave more food, and shut off our natural "I'm full" chemicals, and drive thrus. (I used to drive two miles out of my way to go to the Starbucks with a drive-thru because I didn't want to park and walk inside....ooof!)

And, I'm usually not one of "those people", and I believe in everything in moderation, but I am convinced that high-fructose-corn-syrup and refined white flour is the devil! (OK, I might be one of "those people", sorry) I tap into my rebellious tendencies, and look at eating well in spite of the fact that advertising and marketing is trying to make me eat crap as "sticking it to the man!".

(thanks for letting me rant...I feel better.)

redalee

I look of the pictures of my family and most were like you said, but somehow those durn Scottish genes (much as I love them, they gave me this wide back and Fred Flintstone feet) got mixed in there and there were some pretty powerful squat and short looking little woman with thick waist lines working hard in the prairies. I like being big and tall rather than short and squat, lmao.:bigsmile:

Eve23

OOps sorry Diane lol
Thanks Vivia for pointing that out I must not have been paying very good attention:embarassed:

On one thing Vivia I definately agree to the corn syrup and white flour. My family has a horrible time with the corn as many of us are allergic. And most white flours have barley in them now too.

Redalee, my family is scottish, german and norwegon so I know what you mean. My middle son is short and very stout. The only one who got any height is my youngest who is 5 and nearly as tall as my daughter. Got that from his daddy.

Thanks ladies.
Eve


You are certainly giving me something to think about on my day away from work.

diannholland1965

I have the Irish genes, So that MUST be where I got the Big feet from. :laugh:
Note that I did not say that ALL people where in shape then, Just from what I saw, most where in better shape the the whole of America now.
And I think that life was not as long for several reasons.
1 being medicine.
2 being cleanliness.
3 being food.
YES FOOD! They ate well from June till about Sept. Then it was canned food and high statch and YES very fatty meats. IE you need fat to keep you warm in the winter. I am sure this was not very good for the heart. After all, has any one of us seen what the Irish called Breakfast? Bangers and Hash is NOT a meal for a DIET! :sick:
There was not a bunch of fish in the Midwest in Dec-Feb. We had to make do with Beef and Chicken. Both where fried. I do not think many of our ancestors in America knew what Olive oil was. So I am thinking Veggie Oils and Butter was the norm.
That said, still with the fried foods and such, they still worked off the extra calories in work and play.
Today we (Meaning people in general.) still eat that way times 2 or 3 what they ate, AND we (Again meaning people in general) sit around doing nothing.
To add to what everyone added:
Today there are growth hormons in most PROCESSED food, and other chemicals that make us want to eat more. (Personal belief that this is why there is more cancers today then before.)
You all are right the BEST "STICK IT TO THE MAN" that we can do today is to eat healthy and work out.
--Diann...

filergirl

Going out in the adult world was my history lesson. I realized I'd been raised partially out of a bygone era. My parents were quite strict compared to those of my friends, operating on BORING old maxims such as "nothing good happens after midnight," and my dad's favourite, "I like radio. The picture's better." As a teenager, I resented it. Why no videogames? Why can't we have a VCR? Why the arcane rules (no more than a half-hour of TV per day)? I complained bitterly that my parents were stuck in the 1950s. Why can't we have a television changer, dad?

"What, you don't have two legs to get up and change it?" This was in about 1995 . . .

When it came to food, our "treat" was a once-weekly trip to the general store, where we were allowed to pick out a small bag of chips and a pop (much smaller than the "smalls" of today).

In an odd way, the strictness and inflexibility -- which I rallied bitterly against -- taught me to think independently. It showed me that you can choose your ideals and you can stand by them, despite what the rest of the world is doing.

filergirl

P.S. For all you Canadians out there, the pop and chips, a Sunday ritual, was followed by Road to Avonlea.

kistinbee

We had a Sunday ritual quite similar when I was little! I'm a fellow Canadian now living in the States, so the Road to Avonlea thing I can completely relate to!:bigsmile:
*Kistinbee*

diannholland1965

Born and raised in the States over here, but our Sunday ritual was a little the same.
Dinner and then THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF DISNEY. Then it was off to bed.
I have to hand it to your Mom and Dad Mehughes. It might have been hard to understand for a kid, but NOW days I bet you are less likely to watch (As my Dad always called it.) the Boob Tube.
I noted the other day, that there was nothing GOOD on. Which I consider good in a way. At LEAST for ME, this means that I am not stuck in front of it waiting to find out what happens on any given program and I can go do something else. Like... Oh I don't know.... WALK? Meet my neighbors? Go to the park with the Dog Boys? Go out dancing with my man? Or Learn about my city?
--Diann...

filergirl

Oh yeah -- I hear you! I don't even have cable. I received a flat-screen TV as a gift last Christmas, and I have never used it. I did plug it in before my housewarming party so as to avoid the inevitable questions about what I do with my time (working, reading, trying to write, boyfriending, resisting high calorie Indian food boyfriend always scarfing, logging food . . .wow, there sure are quite a few new flavours of Doritos I'd like to try . . . working out, sleep. . .).

The Dog Boys? Whozzat?

redalee

We went and bought the Beverly Hillbillies, Bonanza and 50 movies of Family, War, Sci Fi and Westerns each of the oldies from the 1940's to 70's. (That's 200 movies) When there is nothing on the tube, which is quite often as we only have peasant vision, 3 channels, then we pop in an old show.... put another log in the fire, and curl under a blanket! The Sci Fi one is pretty hilarious, especially the special effects of yesteryear were a little....hmmm, in-ter-est-eeeng.::happy:

ariannedavis

Too funny. I had a moment in college that I called my sister (12 yrs. my senior) and said, "don't tell mom, but she was right!" No one could have convinced me that no Nintendo or other video game system (other than the broken Atari in the basement) was a good thing. My younger sister & I would beg our brother's friends to bring theirs when they spent the night so we could play. We grew up in the country of central Ohio and played flashlight tag, capture the flag, etc. Only the flag was at a house a mile away, and your biggest opponents were cows and cornfields! I now have a child and am already protesting video games! Please, don't say it, I know, I am my mom & dad :laugh:

We also had Sunday Snack. Dad would bring home some type of cookies and orange juice, and we would have KFC while watching the Disney movie! Who would have thought that these things would define our generation! :happy:

Eve23

I grew up in a nontraditional home where it was just my mom most of the time. She ran a daycare and we lived in an apartment building where there were alot of kids. I spent most of my time doing flips across the grass and using the swingset as a set of gymnastics bars. Then as I got older I rode my bike, walked to the stores, and played kick the can and base ball even water tag outside. We rarely stayed in until she went to work. Then being the oldest I took over making dinner every night for all my siblings. I spent a good deal of my time growing up taking care of younger kids. Not much time was spent in front of the tv.

diannholland1965

To Mehughes: The Dog boys are our Golden Retriever and Mini Schnauzer dogs. :happy:
To Ariannedavis and everyone else for that matter. Yes they say that TV defined our generation, But to what extent I am sure is up in the air. I was making dinner last night and watching the Charlie Brown Christmas special. Tonight it is Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. Has ANYONE ELSE noticed that these shows are way under today’s ½ hour time allotment? No wonder we could watch 4 or 5 shows in the 1 to 2 hours that our parents let us watch TV.
I worry about the next generation not having any imagination AND of course the lack of exercise.
I guess the theme of this blog line is, We need to grab a little of the past to be able to survive the future.
--Diann...

diannholland1965

AND to REDALEE: Have you watched LOST IN SPACE RECENTLY?! Talk about INTERESTING EFFECTS! I remember once they used Beach balls to show land mines. BEACH BALLS!
I kid you not. :noway:
And the Trouble with Tribbles from Star Track, I wonder if there is a list somewhere of how many powder puffs they had to get for that show?
One of my FAV silly-ness shows of the past.
Has ANYONE seen the orig Live Action BATMAN?!?
I had no idea that aqua-net hair spray with a name tag label over the Aqua-net name could repeal a shark! :laugh:
TOO FUNNY!!!:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
--Diann...