Apparently the stuff was Quinine to fight off malaria, where the active ingredients were in a syrup in non-soluble form so it was more palatable. what it had to do with making people fatter, no idea. Maybe at the time malaria fewer burned off people's fat storages.
being fat implied that you had enough wealth to have more than enough to eat. so yes, fat = health and wealth. the whole "having enough money to starve yourself thin" is a relatively new idea.
and no, fashion magazines and mail order catalogs have ALWAYS drawn people thinner than the actual public are, this is evidenced by doing actual measurements of clothing that are still in fashion/clothing museums. :)
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2012-12-21 02:48 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-12-27 12:59 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-12-27 01:12 am (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2012-12-21 07:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-12-21 02:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-12-21 05:27 pm (UTC)and no, fashion magazines and mail order catalogs have ALWAYS drawn people thinner than the actual public are, this is evidenced by doing actual measurements of clothing that are still in fashion/clothing museums. :)
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Date: 2012-12-27 01:00 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-12-21 03:26 pm (UTC)