"Pounds and Personality"
Very recently, I posted about an old-timey ad from the 1970s; here is another one, this time from 1957! Here is the ad copy:
If your favorite little girl is on the plump side, dress her in Chubbettes and see her blossom into a lovely lass—as happy and self-assured as her slimmer schoolmates. Chubbettes are created for the chubby-size young figure—a perfect combination of fit, comfort and slenderizing design.
You can see another ad in this same vein here, with the headline “She can have a tummy and still look yummy!”
Both these ads offer a free booklet called “Pounds and Personality”:
Free! “Pounds and Personality”—a booklet for parents of a chubby girl (understanding her problems, talent development, shyness, tactless remarks, the “game” of dieting, etc.) Written by Dr. Gladys Andrews of New York University’s School of Education.
Of course the whole idea of being a “chubbette” is mortifying, but at least the ad seems supportive. The goal here is for the girl to feel “as happy and self-assured as her slimmer schoolmates.” Of course, this is being done via “slimming” clothing and god only knows what’s in that booklet. Man, if I could only get my hands on that booklet!
Posted by mo pie
Filed under: Advertising, Fashion, Kids, Magazines, Old Timey
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OMG, that is too funny! I love looking at old Weight Watcher books too – It’s amazing to see how they have changed their program so many times over the years!
I looked it up, and it seems that there is an archive of Gladys Andrews Fleming’s work. I sent them an email to see if they had it, so I’ll pass it along if they ever get back to me.
I would be sooooo interested to see the pamphlet!
Look at the waist on the girl in the illustration! Did they really consider that “chubby” back then?
Aine: Considering nowadays they’d consider her downright unhealthily fat and a good candidate for bariatric surgery, I’ll take ‘chubby.’
Has anyone else noticed that chubby and anything like it have disappeared from our vocabulary. Nowadays it’s either thin/healthy or fat/obese/disgusting. There’s no inbetween at all.
I personally don’t think any of the girls in those advertisements looks that chubby at all!
But if they’re forced to wear clothes called Chubette that just might change I suppose.
The Chubbettes! FINALLY, the perfect name for my band!
The girl in the advertisement looks healthy to me! And probably uncomfortable in that little black belt but that’s just me.
Jen, healthy as opposed to chubby? Because chubby is going to totally kill you?
I don’t believe the girl in the “yummy” ad was chubby, much like a woman who wears a size 10 is currently considered a “plus size” model. The girl looks about the same build I was as a kid, and I wore regular girls’ sizes. Of course, even at six or seven years old I wished I wore slim sizes, and was so glad I didn’t need chubbies. I also remember wondering why boys and girls both wore slim, but girls had chubbies and boys had huskies.
Cue the “Huskarooooos!” theme song! (That’s a Weeds reference if anyone doesn’t get it.)
@ Ashley – Yep, in the last 10 years or so we seem to have removed the concepts “average”, “chubby”, “stocky” and even “slim” from the lexicon. It’s either skinny or fat.
What disturbs me most is that this has been accomplished be re-labelling any body type other than “skinny” as “fat”, at least for women. In fact even skinny with slight signs of flesh such as a butt or a stomach without a six-pack is now considered “fat”.
I don’t think my mom would have put me in one of those “Chubbette” fashions as she always dictated I wear A line dresses to make me appear thinner than I was.
I would love to have that dress! I would wear the hell out of it.
Hello Mo, first time commentor, long time reader ^_^.
I like the ad, it’s cute and the dress is actually pretty. At least they’re not being derogatory in it as so many ads now seem to be. Very abrasive and in your face. Even some that are suppossed to be for fat people.
I wonder what “the “game” of dieting” is supposed to mean.
I found the info for the booklet! I wrote to the college, and here’s what they wrote back….
Jamie…
I thought it was going to be a much longer search than it turned out to be! “Pounds and Personality: Advice for Parents of Chubby Girls” is located in Box 1, Minor writings, 1955-1971, 1982 and undated, of the Gladys Andrews Fleming Papers, 1939-1983. To obtain copies, please submit our reproduction request form (http://library.uncg.edu/depts/archives/Repro_Order_2009.pdf) along with payment. The cost for providing photocopies will be $5.70. We will send out your request as soon as payment is recieved.
If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to ask.
Thanks,
J
Now, due to recession reasons I do not plan on spending the $5.70, but its there in case anyone would like to read it!
I expected an ad from the 1950’s to be even more nasty toward “overweight” girls. This was the era of conformity and following the crowd.
I find the media these days even meaner about weight issues. In 2009, it’s not about following the crowd anymore, since most of the crowd would be considered fat. It’s about striving, at all costs, to be like the very, very few people who meet today’s “ideal” standards.
We’ve come a long way, but I don’t like where we’ve ended up. Let’s move in a different direction.
I remember seeing “Pretty Plus” sizes in the girls’ clothing section of the Sears catalog, back in the 1980s. The ad does seem supportive, in that it offers pretty and fashionable clothing for plus-size girls.
I too wonder what’s in the booklet; going by the list of topics, it seems to me that it’s less about getting a girl to diet than it is about helping build her self-esteem. Unless, of course, the “tactless remarks” section advocates using such remarks as inspiration to lose weight, rather than how to cope with insensitive people.
I was recently re-reading Anne of Green Gables and was suprised that for the most part “plump” is presented as a desirable thing. Anne bemoans at the beginning of the book how skinny she is and her best friend Diana is described as very pretty and plump and dimpled.
I remember that about Anne! Part of the reason I loved the books… although I envied Diana’s creamy skin and “raven black” hair. I had Diana’s plumpness but Anne’s freckles.
I also noticed that in the Anne books (and other books by LM Montgomery). I would have been such a hit in the late 1800’s!
I’m a little disturbed by the implication that only “chubby” girls need to be encouraged to develop their talents. Because thin girls will be noticed either way and their thinness will lead them to positive self esteem?! Right….. that’s why there are no neurotic, self loathing size zeros! Fun post, wish I wanted to shell out the money for the pamphlet.