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Sept. 15, 1961. New York. "Beauty shops. Helena Rubinstein, 655 Fifth Avenue. Gym class." Where the Ladies Who Lunch go to work off all those Waldorf salads. Large-format safety negative by Gottscho-Schleisner. View full size.
My favorite part of this terrific photo might be that the choice of footwear was apparently either "nothing" or "gladiator sandals." A very interesting choice!
I think those women look great, actually. Look at their posture, something that isn't given enough attention now. Those leotards obviously are not figure flattering like that ones we wore in the 80s. Liposuction had not been invented yet, either.
This is what I remember people calling "calisthenics," before people did any serious working out; done almost just for show, as opposed to for any real benefit.
What is also interesting to me here are the shapes of these women; much broader chests and hips than we are used to seeing today.
I wonder if that exercise was contrived to prevent the flabby triceps that develop sometime between middle age and senility.
When I saw those ladies, a character from the Patrick Dennis novel "The Joyous Season" immediately came to mind. I didn't pick out a particular woman but one of them could be Gaga. She is the modern, cosmopolitan grandmother of the story's narrator. She likes to boast that her doctor says she has the butt of a boy.
The other, old lady type grandmother, Gran, would find the whole thing most undignified and wouldn't be caught dead in such a place.
tterrace wrote: "One wonders exactly how strenuous a workout a society matron would be willing to put up with."
My mom, circa 1974 or so, lost a ton of money when she tried to crank up a women's fitness center in Naples, Florida. After that venture went belly up (no pun intended), those pricey Nautilus machines were crammed into my brother's large garage for a few years before he finally gave them away or hauled them to the dump. I guess Mom was 20 years or so ahead of her time with THAT idea!
I question just how serious these women were about "working out?" Necklaces, bracelets, earrings, in addition to every hair being perfectly in place tells me "staged."
[Or just the way things were done there. This is, as it says, a "beauty shop"; one wonders exactly how strenuous a workout a society matron would be willing to put up with. - tterrace]
["Every hair being perfectly in place" is the whole point of Helena Rubinstein. This photo is posed, not "staged." - Dave]
To tell the truth, I'm not sure I'd want to be photographed during an exercise class either.
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