How 1950s Housewives Kept Slim.

[angeljenny]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/a...ves-kept-slim-burning-calories-housework.html

"According to the National Sizing Survey, in 1950 the average woman’s vital statistics were 36, 24, 35. She was a size 12 and weighed around 9st 12 lb. These days Ms Average weighs 11st and has become a considerably rounder 38, 34, 40. The average UK dress size is now 16."

"‘Today’s women have to set aside time in their busy schedules for exercise,’ says Saga’s director-general, Dr Ros Altmann. ‘But this is just fire-fighting. In the Fifties, lack of technology meant a lot of daily physical activity was a necessity.’"

 

[swinggal]

Simple - housework. Scrubbing floors by hand, polishing floors, washing a lot by hand, things were not as easy as today and women tended to walk a lot more too. To the store, their babies. Just more active.

 

[Louise Anne]

One of the reason the dress size has increased is that the food we eat has changed a lot, food that we had as children were very much like treats ,i.e. ice cream was a great Sunday treat, we first had to find a shop open at tea time that was close enough to walk to buy it and get it home frozen, we did not even have a fridge or freezer, today we have a tube in the freezer 24/7 like i bet most people do. there are loads of other items that we only had a few time a year and now have any time we want.

 

[Louise Anne]

Simple - housework. Scrubbing floors by hand, polishing floors, washing a lot by hand, things were not as easy as today and women tended to walk a lot more too. To the store, their babies. Just more active.

That's very true, but there no reason why people cannot make time to do some other exersise these days like walking to shops more. it seams a little odd that they drive to shops then spend money and time at a gym, or just go for a walk at night.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Another factor to consider over the time span noted in the article is that in the UK, food rationing continued in one form or another until 1954. We didn't have that as long here in the US, but there's no question that people ate far differently from the way they do now. For one thing, the snack food industry was in its infancy -- you had potato chips at a picnic, not every night of the week in front of the TV. The idea of constantly shoving things in your face every waking hour wouldn't have been considered possible.

 

[Amy Jeanne]

What Lizzie said and I will also vouch for the housework aspect. When I clean my place I move all the furniture, lift all the rugs, vigorously scrub stuff by hand. I return home from work at 5:15pm and I've usually just able to do ONE ROOM before it's already 9:00 and time to get ready for bed. By the end of the day I am BEAT! But I still manage to squeeze in a workout because I am insane like that

 

[Flicka]

There are studies that show that the Swedes were never healthier than during WWII. People had food, but with an emphasis on stuff like cabbage and potatoes, and very little sugar. Also, since gasoline was rationed, people walked and used their bicycles everywhere, while still commuting further than they had in earlier times. I have been toying with the idea of trying that out - you know, eating and exercising like they did in the '40s and see what would happen. A vintage life style experiment, kinda.

Anyway, I just started riding my bicycle to work, and even though I don't consider it a workout but transportation, it's still about 1.5 hours of pretty sweaty work a day. It makes a difference, I can tell you. A huge difference.

 

[Miss Sis]

The Boy and I were talking about this last weekend as we walked to a nearby village to do some chores. It takes about 45 minutes, and as we don't have a car, we either have to walk or cycle. Most people these days would just jump in their car to do such a journey. I actually enjoy the walk! Later we walked 15 mins in the other direction to our local shops and walked back with some groceries.

I also do a lot of walking everyday to get to the train station and at the other end (uphill) to my work. This works out to be about an hour and a half of fast walking every day. So many people don't get very much exercise at all in their daily life, and combined, as Paul says above, with eating what used to be considered 'treat' food much more often, the average weight of women is bound to rise.

I'm personally quite surprised at the 'amazed' tone of these articles - as if the conclusions they come to are some sort of secret! No, it's just common sense.

 

[Frenchy56]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/a...ves-kept-slim-burning-calories-housework.html

"According to the National Sizing Survey, in 1950 the average woman’s vital statistics were 36, 24, 35. She was a size 12 and weighed around 9st 12 lb.

Just a trivial point, but whilst that bust measurement may be close to a size 12, that waist and hip measurement is teeny-tiny. I was a UK size 6 (a while back, those days are long gone ) and my waist was 24-5 inches. Seems like the wasp waist was not entirely down to engineering...!

 

[Louise Anne]

I do not have a car and people seam to be surprised when I say I have been walking for a hour or so to get to them.

 

[Grant Fan]

People also only had thing when in season. We have everything all the time. I try really hard to eat seasonally as much as possible and it seems to help. The Fiance and I just had 3 weeks of less than good eating and I have gained a bit of weight nothing I won't have off in a month or so. But I normally sit at around 36 or 37, 27, and 42 (I am very hippy) , I am also 5 foot 9 (so on the tall side) but so I think that the being careful of eating correctly and in season has been very helpful in that.

 

[sheeplady]

Many women smoked to maintain their weight as well- I know my grandmother lamented giving up smoking as she gained weight. That helped to keep a woman trim, in addition to a better diet and more exercise. Nicotine slows down your digestive system, making you feel fuller longer and also acts as a mild laxative.

Also, I think individuals had better portion control of treats. If you look at most cake recipes, they were for a 8" pan- not a 9x13. The juice glasses were essentially about the size of shot glasses and you only had one glass a day, unless you never drank juice because of the cost. And like LizzieMaine said, the snack industry didn't exist.

My grandmother was the master of portion control. She ate potato chips as a treat once a week, and to keep them from getting soggy she stored them in the freezer. And when she served them she served them in berry bowls, so you actually got a serving like stated on the package. To this day, I love cold potato chips. She drank a small glass of juice everyday and pretty much ate a very healthy diet- at least compared to the average person from the US. When we used to go out to eat at McDonalds (my grandmother loved going out to McDonalds about once a month) my grandparents would each get a small burger, sometimes one small fry, and then they would eat out in the car the feast that my grandmother had prepared that normally consisted of boiled eggs, celery and carrot sticks, and well water. I don't think it ever occurred to them to have a lunch or dinner that didn't have vegetables- real vegetables.

 

[Flicka]

My paternal grandmother was rather big and in the '60s she got some dieting pills -- uppers, you know. I asked my mother if she lost a lot of weight from them and she said "No, but they made her very cheerful."

 

[John in Covina]

As a side note many believe that the use of corn syrup as a sugar substitue is considered to be a change that seems to make weight gain inevitable for aportion of the populace. The step to greater processed foods is also a possible factor.

 

[angeljenny]

As a side note many believe that the use of corn syrup as a sugar substitue is considered to be a change that seems to make weight gain inevitable for aportion of the populace. The step to greater processed foods is also a possible factor.

I watched this - http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01k0fs0 and I am sure it mentioned how bad corn syrup was!

 

[MissNathalieVintage]

Sorry not 1950's: I was watching the documentary The 1940's house and the ladies of the house were doing exercises. And I have always been on the look out for an 1940's exercise book. I saw a few photos from one posted on Solanah's twitter page.

 

[lolly_loisides]

My paternal grandmother was rather big and in the '60s she got some dieting pills -- uppers, you know. I asked my mother if she lost a lot of weight from them and she said "No, but they made her very cheerful."

My Grandmother did that too. She lost a lot weight when she was on them but put it all back as soon as she stopped taking them. I remember her telling me that they gave her lots of "energy" and taking them made doing the ironing and housework a breeze.......

 

[fortworthgal]

^ Hmmm... anything that makes housework a breeze couldn't be ALL bad. :laugh:

I agree with pretty much everything that has been said here already. Today, the general lifestyle is more sedentary with more conveniences, and processed foods are much more widely available, cheap & fast.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I think the modern substitue for "uppers" is those giant espressos you see everybody carrying around. The housewife in the Era would have been satisfied with an occasional cup of instant Sanka.

 

[fortworthgal]

^ In that case I should be good to go, since I take coffee with an IV drip. (I know it is vintage, but I can't stomach Sanka!)