Amanda M. Czerniawski
From Average to Ideal
The Evolution of the Height and Weight Table in the
United States, 1836–1943
This article examines the historical origins of the notion of “ideal” body weight by
tracing the evolution of the gender-specifc height and weight table in the United States
from 1836 to 1943. Fewer than 200 years ago, weight was not regarded as an important
health issue. At the turn of the twentieth century, low body weight, not overweight,
was the leading concern of medical practitioners. With the rise of actuarial science,
weight became a criterion insurance companies used to assess risk. Used originally as
a tool to facilitate the standardization of the medical selection process throughout the
life insurance industry, these tables later operationalized the notion of ideal weight
and became recommended guidelines for body weights. The height and weight table was
transformed from a “tool of the trade” into a means of practicing social regulation.
Scales are a means to determine one’s “ft”—how one measures up physically
and, in some cases, morally to others. Introduced to the United States from
Germany in 1885, the penny scale frst appeared in drugstores and groceries
and eventually sprouted up in railroad stations and subways, movie theaters,
banks, and ofce buildings (Schwartz 1986: 186). The penny scale allowed
Americans to measure their body weight to the nearest pound, promoting
the shift from a subjective to a numeric approach to evaluating weight. This
new invention heralded an era in which weight was quantifed into pounds
of fesh, and a new concern emerged—the fght against fat. As Americans at
Social Science History 31:2 (Summer 2007)
DOI 10.1215/01455532‑2006‑023
© 2007 by Social Science History Association