Diets of Yore

DIETS – and Sticking to’em
(Coronet Magazine, 1958)

Here is an article by a doctor who believed that a modicum of self-knowledge is required before embarking on a diet. It is important to understand why the aspiring dieter overeats in the first place and understands what kind of diet they will be likely to complete successfully:


“Nobody can live on a few shreds of lettuce, a grated carrot and two ounces of boiled asparagus a day, and nobody has to resort to such rigorous tactics.”

Bananas, Anyone?

Here is the skinny on the Bananas and Skim Milk Diet – also known as the Magic 888 – still in use today, the reducing plan is a crash diet designed to remove five pounds within three to four days.

The ‘Raise Your Vitality’ Diet

If you are seeking that alive-all-over glow your body radiates when you are in excellent health, try the 15-Day Revitalizing Diet listed on the pages following. It is designed to give you the protein, vitamins and minerals your body needs for dynamic living…

The Blitz Diet of 1956

A confident declaration makes clear at the top of these columns that all adherents will lose 5 pounds in 2 days if they seriously follow the dictates of the Blitz diet:

Breakfast, lunch and dinner are the same… Eight ounces of fresh creamed cottage cheese; two or three Elberta peach halves and juice…

(F.Y.I. – the Blitz diet allows for Norwegian flat bread, butter, sugar, and cinnamon.)

The Dial Diet of 1955

Within the cozy confines of the attached PDF file rest in honored glory the digital reproduction of seven (7) tried-and-true diets from 1955:


• The Liquid Diet


• The Spring Cleaning Diet


• The du Pont Diet

• The Basic Seven Diet


• The Famous Clinic Diet


• The Hard and Fast Diet


• The Daily Dozen Diet


They were all the necessary diet choices required for the (so-called) Pageant Diet Selector Dial, which is a part of the download. Seeing that there is not a single diet that is right for everyone, there is attached herein a paper dial that can be referred to daily – one for women and the other for men:

Looka at the outside band of the wheel for your age and activity group (whether you lead an active or a sedentary life). Then, select the number of pounds you want to loose.


– finally select the diet or combination of diets, indicated by the number on the inner wheel and follow the directions.


From Amazon:


The Doctor’s Diet: Dr. Travis Stork’s STAT Program to Help You Lose Weight & Restore Your Healthstyle=border:none

The Shelley Winters ‘Get Thin Quick’ Diet

We all know that successful film actresses all seem able to drop weight quickly when the rolls call for it. Attached herein is the 1958 diet plan put to use by the Hollywood actress Shelley Winters.

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