aero4 Posted August 18, 2013 Share Posted August 18, 2013 Does anyone know any health and fitness facts about old Hollywood? I would like to add some to my FB page. https://www.facebook.com/Aero4sCorner Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesJazGuitar Posted August 18, 2013 Share Posted August 18, 2013 I have seen some short films on TCM made in the 50s that promoted health and fitness. These were interesting since many people believe the 'issue' about 'living right' is a recent one. These programs mention things like eating the standard American breakfast of fatty pork and eggs as well as not getting enough exercise. Sorry I don't remember what these shorts were called but maybe you can search at TCM and find them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swimminginaqua Posted August 19, 2013 Share Posted August 19, 2013 There was a health guru, Gayelord Hauser, that had a fanatical following in Gloria Swanson, Greta Garbo and some others starting in the 1920s. I remember reading Gloria Swanson's autobio and she would bring her own organic, vegetarian food to dinner parties. Hauser had products, like 'Spike' seasoning (might still be around). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DownGoesFrazier Posted August 19, 2013 Share Posted August 19, 2013 I believe some stars did a little swimming, but that's about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sepiatone Posted August 19, 2013 Share Posted August 19, 2013 Ann Davis, who played "Shultzie" on the "Love That Bob" sitcom, talked about Robert Cummings' heath "obsession" on MIKE DOUGLAS one time. She said they both went out to dinner once. Bob ordered what seemed to be nothing out of the ordinary; ie: steak, potatoes, vegetables. And in front of him was a row of supplements positioned like a wall around his plate. His "health nut" reputation was widely known back in the day. Sepiatone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hamradio Posted August 19, 2013 Share Posted August 19, 2013 I get a kick out of the old electric exercisers we see sometimes in movies. One is shown briefly in "The Singing Kid" (1936) This is the machine they used to "exercise", lose weight and retained one's figure. LOL! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EugeniaH Posted August 19, 2013 Share Posted August 19, 2013 Here's poor Marie Prevost on one of those things, in a promo picture for "Ladies of Leisure": Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hibi Posted August 19, 2013 Share Posted August 19, 2013 What could those machines do aside from jiggling the fat around??? It's not like you are using any muscles to work off anything..........Cant imagine they were anything but rip offs......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LonesomePolecat Posted August 19, 2013 Share Posted August 19, 2013 I first heard of those things in a Betty Boop cartoon that I saw as a child, and I always think of that cartoon when I see them in movies. Here is said cartoon: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DownGoesFrazier Posted August 19, 2013 Share Posted August 19, 2013 ...and I believe that Cummings' exercise regimen consisted mostly of walking to and from the mens' room, which I'm sure he had to do frequently in taking all those supplements. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twinkeee Posted August 19, 2013 Share Posted August 19, 2013 Aren't you glad you didn't live back then financeu......just think, no theardmill machines ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EugeniaH Posted August 19, 2013 Share Posted August 19, 2013 *What could those machines do aside from jiggling the fat around??? It's not like you are using any muscles to work off anything..........Cant imagine they were anything but rip offs.........* Maybe it was something more to make other people laugh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noir_Kiss3 Posted August 20, 2013 Share Posted August 20, 2013 In the pre-code days they called diet and exercise "reducing". There was even a movie with that title. Here's a link to a YouTube clip from it. Reducing(1931) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hamradio Posted August 20, 2013 Share Posted August 20, 2013 LonesomePolecat, (clicked on the wrong reply) I like that cartoon, lol never seen it before. Was the point at the end, you're wasting one's time? I noticed the mechanical horse, wondering was it the forerunner of this... (So that's why John Travolta stayed fit ) Edited by: hamradio on Aug 19, 2013 8:38 PM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hamradio Posted August 20, 2013 Share Posted August 20, 2013 Centainly was a *small* gym class in the "Ruducing" clip. Marie looks like my school cook. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dothery Posted August 20, 2013 Share Posted August 20, 2013 Carol Channing was a fitness freak, at least about her food. She carried it everywhere, on planes, trains and buses. Once she was talking to a friend who asked what she had to eat on the trip. She said, "Elk. I brought it with me; you can't eat just any old elk." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dothery Posted August 20, 2013 Share Posted August 20, 2013 (So that's why John Travolta stayed fit ) I believe he got that body being trained by Sylvester Stallone for "Saturday Night Fever." At least he credited him with it. Someone asked him how he felt about the new body he got for the picture, and he said, "I'm in awe of it." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twinkeee Posted August 20, 2013 Share Posted August 20, 2013 That Group in the YouTube clip has a longgg ways to go.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MelissaW. Posted August 20, 2013 Share Posted August 20, 2013 Here is an ad from the May 1938 issue of Modern Screen addressing a particular women's health issue: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hamradio Posted August 20, 2013 Share Posted August 20, 2013 What *exactly* did women had that needed Lysol !? Unless.... You KNOW this is Pre-code! Edited by: hamradio on Aug 19, 2013 10:23 PM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MelissaW. Posted August 20, 2013 Share Posted August 20, 2013 What exactly did women had that needed Lysol !? Let's just say that there's more than one floor a woman needs to keep clean. Ad also contains a veiled suggestion that the product is an effective contraceptive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfpcc2 Posted August 20, 2013 Share Posted August 20, 2013 Does anyone know how effective Vitametavegamin was? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hibi Posted August 20, 2013 Share Posted August 20, 2013 Could be. LOL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DownGoesFrazier Posted August 20, 2013 Share Posted August 20, 2013 So , if you were naturally thin, no need to ever get out of bed. Even today, many think the only purpose of exercise is to lose weight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sepiatone Posted August 20, 2013 Share Posted August 20, 2013 Talk show host Craig Ferguson used to joke that HIS new system for weight loss was, "Eat less---move around more". Indeed, in today's climate of countless books being sold containing dietary peculiarities, such simple advice is really spot on. It was it's simplicity that made Ferguson quip that in America, it'll never catch on. America CAN'T settle for simplicity. Everything has to be overdone. My doctor told me that he always, and still DOES believe that walking is the best, accessable excersize one can do. Anything more excessive is just icing on the cake. And just WALKING. He insists that a daily stroll can have many benefits than NOT walking much. But of course, Americans aren't satisfied with that. We have to have a special WAY to walk, special SHOES to walk in, and specific CLOTHING to wear while on our "power" walks. I contend that America is probably the only country in which one would drive around a parking lot for 30 minutes or more in able to find the closest parking spot in order to not have too far to walk to the health club where he/she will spend the next 45 minutes on a TREADMILL! And I recall one day, when walking to a nearby store, one man was yelling across the street to a neighbor, inviting him to, "come over and check out my new treadmill. I got it for only 3,000 bucks!". I looked down on the SIDEWALK I was walking on, and figured in my town alone, there must be 2,000 miles of it available to walk on whenever one wanted and shook my head in amusement. Sepiatone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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