It seemed obvious to me that statues generally HAD to have fat ankles to prevent them from falling over, but in any case it was a silly thing meant to highlight the "ankle slenderizing" designs of the latest stockings; a desperate advertising meme and nothing more.
Now, one year later in real time (and almost three years in "New Yorker time," September 1st, 1928), it's the editors making the jibes:
"Across the street from Sherman and his golden horse is a good statue--the lady in the fountain. It is not the best statue we have ever seen (the lady has fat ankles..."I'm AMAZED that people ever noticed the ankles on statues. I'm even MORE amazed that intelligent people thought that statues should physically conform to real human bodies. It truly is no lie that folks WERE obsessed with ankles in the 1920s.
4 comments:
I once met a man who said that his requirements for a woman was her own job, slim ankles, and a first-floor residence.
I lived on the seventh floor at the time. Lucky for me.
Wow! I wonder if there ARE a sizeable number of men who are unswerving about ankles, and if many women feel the same way?
I've always felt that ankles were just, you know, part of "the legs" in terms of physical attractiveness.
The first-floor thing confuses me.
Muffy - can I just say how fabulous I think it is that you comment on stuff like this? That's why I check your Blog on a daily basis!
It's all about the variety! I enjoy the world's odd nooks and crannies, and if my study of 1920's attitudes about ankles and statues is where my fame lies, I'm so there.
The downside, of course, is that there's no easy continuity to this blog. But I sure pull in Google search hits from the strangest places!
For example, here are the search strings that brought the most recent people here: vaseline glove, midget cartoons, tantalized werewolves, and golf in servile. I understand all of them but the tantalized werewolves, which is weird.
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