"The Perfect Girl" -- in 1912

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Azdak
Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I thought this was interesting:

http://gothamist.com/2012/12/20/1912s_perfect_woman_was_from_brookl.php

It is a story from the NY Times in 1912, describing a 24-yr-old Cornell student as "the perfect girl"
According to Dr Esther Parker, Medical Examiner of the 400 "co eds" in the university, Miss Scheel is not only a woman of great strength, but in her physical makeup there is not a single defect.

Height: 5 ft 7 in
Weight: 171 lbs
She eats but three meals every 2 days and almost always goes without breakfast...Her favorite food is beefsteak....She has never taken a drink of tea or coffee...She says she has never been ill and doesn't know what fear is....

It appears that Miss Scheel was an outdoors enthusiast and liked to work on automobiles. She was also an "ardent suffragette".

Good stuff. Gotta think a lot of guys were intimidated.
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Replies

  • ashesfromfire
    ashesfromfire Posts: 867 Member
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    wowza
  • BinaryPulsar
    BinaryPulsar Posts: 8,927 Member
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    I like this, thanks for sharing.
  • BarackMeLikeAHurricane
    BarackMeLikeAHurricane Posts: 3,400 Member
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    I wish they had a picture of her. With those measurements (35-30-40) it doesn't sound all too desirable.
  • Happyme2009
    Happyme2009 Posts: 233 Member
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    Wish those standards would come back! Then I would be perfect too!
  • Sheilagh85
    Sheilagh85 Posts: 33 Member
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    I wish they had a picture of her. With those measurements (35-30-40) it doesn't sound all too desirable.


    Those measurements sound pretty good. I'm 34-29-40 and I think I look damn good!
  • astrampe
    astrampe Posts: 2,169 Member
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    I wish they had a picture of her. With those measurements (35-30-40) it doesn't sound all too desirable.


    Those measurements sound pretty good. I'm 34-29-40 and I think I look damn good!

    Same here at 5'8....Not sure what your idea of desirable would be.... a stick with 25/25/25? That's called a toothpick, not a woman....
  • Sheilagh85
    Sheilagh85 Posts: 33 Member
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    I wish they had a picture of her. With those measurements (35-30-40) it doesn't sound all too desirable.


    Those measurements sound pretty good. I'm 34-29-40 and I think I look damn good!

    Same here at 5'8....Not sure what your idea of desirable would be.... a stick with 25/25/25? That's called a toothpick, not a woman....

    Exactly! I'm 5'8 as well and those measurements are pretty proportionate! ^^^toothpicks are not desirable unless you are looking to be a high fashion runway model.
  • penrbrown
    penrbrown Posts: 2,685 Member
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    They do have a picture of her! And she is quite shapely. :) My how things have changed. Thanks for sharing OP!
  • astrampe
    astrampe Posts: 2,169 Member
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    I wish they had a picture of her. With those measurements (35-30-40) it doesn't sound all too desirable.


    Those measurements sound pretty good. I'm 34-29-40 and I think I look damn good!

    Same here at 5'8....Not sure what your idea of desirable would be.... a stick with 25/25/25? That's called a toothpick, not a woman....

    Exactly! I'm 5'8 as well and those measurements are pretty proportionate! ^^^toothpicks are not desirable unless you are looking to be a high fashion runway model.
    Or have a bit of the chicken bone you are allowed to suck on for calories in your teeth....:bigsmile: LOL, I'm old and curvy and lift heavy and run far and just started P90X...And I love my measurements and eating good food
  • BinaryPulsar
    BinaryPulsar Posts: 8,927 Member
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    Sheesh, to some of these comments. I thought we were admiring the beauty of different women. We can't all be the same size. My waist and hip ratio is 23-34. I'm just not a fan of calling women "not real women", saying why would any man want them, or calling them bones and toothpicks. Just seems degrading (and not a way I would speak around young women). But, whatever.
  • DawnieB1977
    DawnieB1977 Posts: 4,248 Member
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    I wish they had a picture of her. With those measurements (35-30-40) it doesn't sound all too desirable.


    Those measurements sound pretty good. I'm 34-29-40 and I think I look damn good!

    I'm 5'6" and 38-30-40 and I have a nice shape! i'd like to lose a couple of inches still, but I have no desire to be a size 0.
  • BarackMeLikeAHurricane
    BarackMeLikeAHurricane Posts: 3,400 Member
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    I wish they had a picture of her. With those measurements (35-30-40) it doesn't sound all too desirable.


    Those measurements sound pretty good. I'm 34-29-40 and I think I look damn good!

    Same here at 5'8....Not sure what your idea of desirable would be.... a stick with 25/25/25? That's called a toothpick, not a woman....

    I'm also 5'8" and 35-24.5-32. I'm not even really happy with that. I kind of hate hips though and I would be upset if my hip measurement was bigger than my bust measurement. Ideally I'd like my hips to be <30.
  • DawnieB1977
    DawnieB1977 Posts: 4,248 Member
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    I wish they had a picture of her. With those measurements (35-30-40) it doesn't sound all too desirable.


    Those measurements sound pretty good. I'm 34-29-40 and I think I look damn good!

    Same here at 5'8....Not sure what your idea of desirable would be.... a stick with 25/25/25? That's called a toothpick, not a woman....

    I'm also 5'8" and 35-24.5-32. I'm not even really happy with that. I kind of hate hips though and I would be upset if my hip measurement was bigger than my bust measurement. Ideally I'd like my hips to be <30.

    My hips are probably the same as my shoulders which makes me an hourglass. Each to their own, but I wouldn't want to be straight up and down like a boy! I have D cup (US C i think) boobs, so I have a nice figure I think. I just need to tone my stomach more after having 2 kids!
  • Natihilator
    Natihilator Posts: 1,778 Member
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    She says she has never been ill and doesn't know what fear is....

    What more would you want in life, really?

    *new hero alert* This woman sounds awesome.
  • BinaryPulsar
    BinaryPulsar Posts: 8,927 Member
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    Wish those standards would come back! Then I would be perfect too!

    You are beautiful!
  • skywa
    skywa Posts: 901 Member
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    this is an from an era where thinness was actually frowned upon.

    here's another link that might interest people:

    http://the-f-word.org/blog/index.php/2009/04/22/vintage-weight-gain-advertisements/
  • hughtwalker
    hughtwalker Posts: 2,213 Member
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    How would any magazine that published such an article be received in 2012?
  • cjsacto
    cjsacto Posts: 1,421 Member
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    The weight gain stuff is still marketing to men as muscle building powders, etc. I guess to some extent to women athletes, too. I remember seeing the "98 pound weakling" ads in the back of comic books, I'm pretty sure into the 80s, advertising the Charles Atlas method of gaining weight for boys. http://www.flickr.com/photos/paxtonholley/4531752344/

    Regarding the first article, when I weighed about 171, I looked pretty good and felt great. Now I would love to get there again!

    Some of the earlier discussion about "toothpicks" AND saying the subject of the article is undesirable seemed meanspirited: Some women have a straight figure, some women have hips. I have big 'ol hips, but I cringe when I hear other body types put down. Some women are naturally thin, and maybe don't feel great about how they look, either. Some of us see them and think they have it easier than those of us who struggle to get down to a healthy weight, but there are negative messages about small breasts, just as there are about big hips. We all get bombarded with "you're not good enough" messages, no matter how we look. We are all in this together, let's try to be accepting of each other's individual unique beauty.
  • taunto
    taunto Posts: 6,420 Member
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    I like how the conversation IMMEDIATELY went to how a woman should look and which figure is womanly and which isn't (That's called a toothpick, not a woman.... ? REALLY?)
  • EvgeniZyntx
    EvgeniZyntx Posts: 24,208 Member
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    Same as Taunto, and I hadn't even seen his post.
    Why oh why the need to determine if someone is desirable with three numbers? Makes no sense.

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