Pictures of Health

There was once a time, not so very long ago, when people actually felt good about gaining weight.  In the age before antibiotics, our great- grandparents knew that one of the best ways of avoiding some nasty germ (or of mitigating its effects) was to build up a nice protective layer of fat.  So when an Edwardian belle worried about her weight, she generally worried if there was enough of it.  Our fleshy forefathers (and foremothers) spent summers at the spa or by the seaside in order to revive their flagging appetites, or swallowed patent medicines (at a dollar a bottle) guaranteed to do the same.  Putting on weight was their metaphor for rosy good health, not to mention a sure sign of a stress- free, disease-free vacation.  As these cards reveal, their idea of the good life was a fat life.

Donald McGill Inter-Art Co. (London) ca. 1910 - 1937		Donald McGill unknown mfg. (British) postmarked 1915		Donald McGill Bamforth (Holmfirth, UK) postmarked 1927

Advertising card for Mt. Clemens Spa Young Post Card Co. (Mt. Clemens, MI) ca. 1901 - 1907	Artist unknown, Bamforth (Holmfirth, UK/Mohegan Lake, NY) undated

Artist unknown Bamforth (UK/NY) undated		Douglas Tempest Bamforth (UK/NY) ca. 1911 - 1937		Arnold Taylor Bamforth (UK/NY) postmarked 1957

Artist unknown Tichnor Bros. (Boston, MA) postmarked 1942	Artist unknown Asheville Post Card Co. (NC) ca. 1930 - 1950

Created by Karl Niedershuh, an old-fashioned guy who still admires a healthy appetite.