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How to Be a Real-Life Barbie (1943)

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How to Be a Real-Life Barbie (1943)

Selling the "glamorous curves” of “popular” girls

Peter Pappas
Aug 22, 2023
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How to Be a Real-Life Barbie (1943)

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Kelp-A-Malt (1943) Source

Barbie, the iconic fashion doll, introduced generations of young girls to a lifetime of pursuing an unrealistic and exaggerated body shape. But Barbie wasn’t the only product that sold the idealized female body.

Source

Many dietary supplements sold the “glamorous curves” of “popular” girls. Wate-On was marketed to women who were "thin, flat, skinny and underweight."

"Gosh, Jean, you sure are popular since you put on these extra pounds."

Many ads featured testimonials from B-list celebrities who praised Wate-On for helping them achieve a fuller figure that would make them more attractive and popular with men.

Source

These products reflected the changing beauty ideals of the 20th century.

In the early 1900s, women were expected to have a curvy and voluptuous figure. It was seen as a sign of health, fertility and wealth.

In the 1920s, the flapper style emerged, which favored a slim and boyish silhouette. Women who wanted to fit into the flapper fashion had to bind their breasts, wear loose-fitting clothes and cut their hair short. This trend was short-lived, though, as the Great Depression and World War II made people value comfort and practicality over style.

In the postwar era, the ideal body shape for women shifted back to a more feminine and hourglass figure, which was popularized by stars like Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor.

This was also the time when Barbie was introduced, a doll that introduced low self esteem and unrealistic beauty standards to generations of young girls.

By the late 1960s the idealized female form took another turn - toward the thin and androgynous style of Twiggy. Rinse and repeat.

Source

For more history of the idealized female form see:

Beyond Phrenology (1932)

Peter Pappas
·
May 1
Beyond Phrenology (1932)

The beauty micrometer, also known as the beauty calibrator, was a device designed in the early 1930s to help in the identification of the areas of a person's face which need to have their appearance reduced or enhanced by make-up. It was invented by the famed beautician Maksymilian Faktorowicz also known as

Read full story

Battle Of The Bulges! (1941)

Peter Pappas
·
Jan 2
Battle Of The Bulges! (1941)

The 1941 reel shows six scantily-clad girls grinning and bearing it while their lumps and bumps were pounded by vicious contraptions called Hoops and Tombolas - toning machines from America.

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How to Be a Real-Life Barbie (1943)

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Harry Watson
Writes Harry's Meanderings
Aug 22

One wonders what was in the stuff...

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1 reply by Peter Pappas
Andrew Smith
Writes Goatfury Writes
Aug 22

Fun stuff to examine. I am riveted by the modern Barbie saga (well, maybe not "riveted", but still interested). I grew up thinking Barbies were dumb, and then when I became a teenager (late 80s/early 90s), I saw the idealized form of the iconic doll as being among the most disgusting things in society. Yet there are Gen X women today who say that Barbies meant freedom and feminism to them. It's such a weird mishmash.

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