Weights and Measures

[steepholm]

I posted a few days ago about Nelson's hat size. Today, we have Byron's dieting programme. Thank goodness for the record-keeping tradesmen of St James! People who'd just bought a hat at Locks could nip round the corner to have themselves weighed on the scales of Berry Bros & Rudd, whose primary business was selling wine.

Louise Foxcroft's Calories and Corsets, from which this comes (I think), looks as if it may be an interesting book. I'm glad at any rate to have been introduced to the Size 0 Empress of Austria:

She exercised vigorously, resembling an outlandish bird as she hung from gymnastic rings in a black ostrich feather-trimmed gown. She also swallowed only emetics, laxatives, oranges, and thin broth or one glass of milk from her own personal cow.

Roll over Cleopatra, and tell Semiramis the news.

Comments

Personal Cow

[karinmollberg.livejournal.com]

So you see, this is why I smoke cigars, not because I am bored, or anything. Btw, may I beg borrow or steal this for theboringclub? I feel, it belongs there at this time of year!

Re: Personal Cow

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

Of course you may - I should have thought of it myself.

Re: Personal Cow

[karinmollberg.livejournal.com]

Oh, please do! Though I thank you so much for your confidence as a true-bore but I feel I am currently already overposting my neighbores quite a bit due to acute boredoom mainly stemming from non-acid (no c-vitamin at all as far as I can see) rainfall and having to think of the End of The World and what to wear there all the time. As opposed to all the other who have important things to do, you understand. If you don´t feel like, I´ll come back to your offer after having checked that absolutely noone understands german humour (though in the short sketch-form) as is right and just so then we might need something used because we are, after all, against The New. (& so on...)