Awesome photos

[kyrathaba]

Some awesome photos, some will make you smile, some are gorgeous vistas -- all are color photos (or maybe "colorized") from early 1940s.

[Darwin]

Spectacular, kyrathaba! Thank you for sharing the link 

[Renegade]

Interesting.

This is kind of off topic, but I couldn't help but notice...

Count how many fat people are in there. Here's the total.

Count

0 (zero) -- Not even a single person in there was fat. Not one.

Now, the next time you are in a public place with 20 or more people, count. Compare.

Why?

Sugar intake. Not fat intake. Sugar. Specifically, fructose.

[Stoic Joker]

I didn't notice any "Health" clubs in there either... Interesting.

[tomos]

they're great photos all right!
it says they're from colour slide - i.e. no 'colourised' photos

[joiwind]

Thanks for these great photos. Check out the other links at the end of the page too, particularly Archives of American cities

[Deozaan]

Count how many fat people are in there.

I did see one "larger" man in photo 12.

I'd also say it's probably not fair--or accurate--to blame it all on one singular cause (sugar/fructose) since so much of the modern lifestyle has changed in the past 70 years.

[tomos]

Thanks for these great photos. Check out the other links at the end of the page too, particularly Archives of American cities

more great photos thanks.
I find I relate more to the more recent ones - guess it's more like the modern world. Crazy changes with the car coming in and electricity.

Was a bit surprised to see cities destroyed by the civil war (I always thought of that as being fought in the countryside. History not my strong point...)

[joiwind]

Was a bit surprised to see cities destroyed by the civil war (I always thought of that as being fought in the countryside. History not my strong point...)

Yes, I was surprised too. These photos could have been from London or Berlin during the 1940's.

[app103]

Interesting.

This is kind of off topic, but I couldn't help but notice...

Count how many fat people are in there. Here's the total.

Now, the next time you are in a public place with 20 or more people, count. Compare.

Got to remember something...these photos were mostly rural farm folk and the poor...during the depression. There wasn't much of any food for a lot of people. My dad grew up in that era and told me why he hates oatmeal to this very day was because he had to eat it for breakfast lunch & dinner for weeks on end, because it was all his mother could afford. Kind of hard to get fat under those conditions.

[Stoic Joker]

Fair point, but those rural farm folk were also much more active than we are today. If one was to use the bloated sloths in their hover chairs from the Disney movie Wall-E as the other end of the scale ... I'd say our current(ly) "advanced" society is on about the middle of that scale.

[Darwin]

There is also the reality that before WWII, much of North America was rural - the majority of people lived in small towns and/or on farms. Post-WWII the North American economies BOOMED (well, Canada and the USA did - not sure about Mexico) and people en masse moved into the cities and away from hard manual labour. Instant, processed, and ready-made/pre-packaged foods were also developed as part of the war effort and started to appear in greater numbers on grocery store shelves after the war ended, fast food restaurants proliferated and many more women entered the work force, so there was more of a market for pre-packaged food. Overall, North Americans in general and Americans in particular have been the victims of their own economic and social success, with respect to the overall health of the population(s).

Another shift that has occurred as the industrialization of western economies in general has matured is one away from manufacturing (and manual labour) and production and toward service industries.

These are genearlizations, of course...

[Deozaan]

What I find most interesting is how most people don't seem to care that there's a camera around. They don't look at the camera, they don't smile for the camera, they don't put on a pose for the camera.

It's a bit eerie, making some of them seem to go into the Uncanny Valley (for example, the child on the bed with her eyes open, or most of the folk at the dance).

When did smiling for a camera become the thing to do?

[Darwin]

I think it may be that the pics were taken by a professional photographer who probably wanted to capture people "naturally" as opposed to standing in an awkward, stilted pose, grinning like an idiot!

Most of our family photos from the period feature smiles when the picture was taken by a family member/friend and serious looks when taken by a pro. The exception are photos of my grandfather - very dour!

[zridling]

Great collection, indeed. Thanks for posting. I have neighbors in their 80s whom I talk to often and they're informative to say the least.

The Boston Globe also has great pictorials:
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/

[Darwin]

Another nice set, thanks Zaine 

[Renegade]

Count how many fat people are in there.

I did see one "larger" man in photo 12.

I'd also say it's probably not fair--or accurate--to blame it all on one singular cause (sugar/fructose) since so much of the modern lifestyle has changed in the past 70 years.

Perhaps unfair. There are certainly other factors, but the bulk is likely just sugar.

If you have time, check Sugar: The Bitter Truth.

[mateek]

Wow, Picture #61.  When was toothpaste invented?

[Renegade]

Wow, Picture #61.  When was toothpaste invented?

Apparently well before facial soap.

[Jibz]

If you have time, check Sugar: The Bitter Truth.

That was quite interesting, takes a good lecturer to make even the biochemistry stuff not that dull.

[tomos]

If you have time, check Sugar: The Bitter Truth.

That was quite interesting, takes a good lecturer to make even the biochemistry stuff not that dull.

also posted, with some discussion, in this thread: How much soda (pop) do you drink?

[tomos]

Wow, Picture #61.  When was toothpaste invented?

Apparently well before facial soap.

I'd say this guy (photo #70) had a hard time getting clean at the end of the day...

[attachthumb=#]

[Rocketboy]

Interesting.

This is kind of off topic, but I couldn't help but notice...

Count how many fat people are in there. Here's the total.

Now, the next time you are in a public place with 20 or more people, count. Compare.

Naa.. it couldn't have anything to do with our higher standard of living, greater leisure time, and overall easier way of life.

Just corn sugar.

[app103]

Interesting.

This is kind of off topic, but I couldn't help but notice...

Count how many fat people are in there. Here's the total.

Now, the next time you are in a public place with 20 or more people, count. Compare.

Naa.. it couldn't have anything to do with our higher standard of living, greater leisure time, and overall easier way of life.

Just corn sugar.

What is that I see on the table in photo #17?  Is that what I think it is? Why, yes it is! It's a big red bucket of Karo corn syrup!

It was a lot cheaper than cane sugar, molasses, honey, and maple syrup and was often used by people as a substitute for all of them, long before the food industry began using it in soft drinks and junk food. Yeah, people used it a lot back then and even put it in their coffee! Women that bottle fed their babies instead of breast feeding used to mix up their own infant formula, consisting of cow's milk, water, and corn syrup. Early commercial infant formulas were the exact same thing. Corn syrup use became even more popular during WW2 when cane sugar was hard to get and its purchase was rationed. During the war, cane sugar was reserved for use only in things in which corn syrup or sweetened condensed milk couldn't be substituted, such as baking cookies (granulated cane sugar mixed with some sort of fat is required for proper cookie texture).

[tomos]

Curious how corn syrup compares to other processed sugars I did a search:
What is Corn Syrup? (www.wisegeek.com)

the pulpy middle layer called cornstarch is first separated from the outer husk and the inner germ layers. The cornstarch is then stored in giant vats, where natural enzymes are added to break it down into glucose.
[...]
Light and dark corn syrup both have a balance of dextrose, fructose, malt and glucose to keep them chemically stable, although corn syrup does have a limited shelf life compared to other sweeteners. The most controversial form of corn syrup, however, is rarely sold directly to consumers, although it can be found in a majority of processed foods sold in grocery stores. Welcome to the world of high fructose corn syrup.

(my emphasis)

I'm basing these comments on Renegade's linked video (and it's a while since I looked at it!):
Glucose is what the body is 'designed' to work with - it breaks down all foods to glucose before they actually can get used by the body.
The corn syrup seems therefore to be a healthier sweetner than the regular processed sugars, and certainly better than the High Fructose versions of anything -  which amongst other things suppress the body's natural system of letting us know when we're full.

I dont know personally ... there's so many theories - but I did find Renegade's video link fascinating, and very convincing.
I suspect though, as others are saying that the lifestyle at the time made a huge difference too...