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Before and After...
Perhaps the most curious mutation of the corset advertisement is the
transformation, or clinical type, consisting of two photographs. The first
shows a rather bedraggled young matron in a gaping, misshapen girdle at
least half a dozen sizes too large for her, cringing under the cool
inspection of a trained nurse and several friends. Judging from the flowers
and the tea service, the hostess has invited her neighbors in to deride her
physique, for they are exclaiming in unison, “Ugh, my dear – you’ve got
lordosis [unlovely bulge and sagging backline!]” The second photograph,
naturally, depicts the miracles wrought by the proper girdle, which, in
addition to the benefits promised in the test, seems to have removed the
crow’s feet from under the subject’s eyes, marcelled her hair, reupholstered
the divan, and papered the walls.
S.J. Perelman (Most of the Most of S.J. Perelman)
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