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The History Before Metrecal

Before the 1960s, losing weight was not as popular as it is today. In fact, the societal preference for a woman up until 1914 was for them to have some weight on. A woman was viewed as sexy and desirable if they were somewhat thick, unlike today where it is rather the opposite. As for men, they were considered to be rich and husband material if they were plump. However this mentality changed during World War I because America was at war and the soldiers needed food. This being said, a person was looked down upon as greedy or a traitor of the country if they had on too much weight. People then tried to find every means possible to lose weight so that they would look like proud supporters of the United states. For this reason, the use of thyroid hormone for weight loss became very common; along with the use of diuretics, laxatives, and amphetamines. Unfortunately, these diet pills went off the market due to its risk of toxicity.  In addition to diet pills, cigarettes became an alternative to eating.
Brands such as Lucky Strike would put on their cigarette packaging,”Reach for a LUCKY instead of a SWEET” On these, they would have women who are wearing tight clothes and embracing their slim size to draw women especially, into smoking. Surprisingly, this way appealed to most people and therefore became a popular concept around the 1950s. With America adjusting to new eating habits, diet companies became very popular. It is then that Metrecal becomes a huge deal. Restaurants would have liquid lunches: Metrecal and a shot of bourbon. The company advised that if a person wanted to lose weight, they should drink 4 cans of Metrecal a day (225 per can) People were in-taking 900 calories per day and that was it! Overtime as people complained about the taste of the milkshakes, Metrecal cookies and tuna with noodles were added to the line. However by the late 1960s to early 1970s, people started to realize that they could not live on liquid alone, and along with that 59 deaths were reported about Metrecal. Therefore, the FDA declared it dangerous and ended the company.

Comments

  1. English101S Blog GroupOctober 8, 2017 at 7:51 PM

    Good use of images to clarify your point, especially the poster about eating more vegetables and supporting the troops, as this showed a direct link with the phrase "Save meat and wheat for our soldiers and allies". I thought it was interesting to know the reasons behind the societal shift in diet in the 60's and how to this day the effects are seen. -Dakota

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  2. FRANK47October 11, 2017 at 8:57 PM

    I really liked your way of organizing the information and history on weight loss, and not just on the company history. This allowed me to understand why they decided to make this "weight-loss drink," and why people started buying into it, which also sadly lead to the death of 59 people, which just shows how powerful the rhetoric can be when selling to people.

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