1949: Correct Proportions

Someday I’ll do a comparison of all of the “average” or “ideal” weight charts, by age and height, in all of my books. I just stumbled across another one, a bit surprisingly in the Searchlight Homemaking Guide, revised in 1949 from an earlier 1937 edition published by Household Magazine. The chapter title, nestled among the ones on cooking and cleaning, caught my eye: “Exercise and Good Looks.”

But instead of focusing on the weight chart right now, I’d like to share something the authors titled “Correct Proportions.” This caught my eye, as I have recently been “reducing” as they used to say, and also had to get myself measured for the wedding dress in the past few months.

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Many women like to have some basis for correct proportions of the body to guide them, especially if they are attempting to gain or lose weight. The following figures will serve as a guide. Measurements should be increased a little for persons of greater height, and reduced a little for shorter persons.

Height…………………………5 feet 5 inches
Shoulders, over arms…… 42 inches
Bust…………………………… 34 inches
Waist…………………………. 26 inches
Hips………………………….. 38 inches
Ankle………………………… 8 inches
Wrist…………………………. 6 inches
Weight………………………. 122 pounds
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Who knew there were guidelines for what the ideal size of women’s wrists and ankles should have been!?