a-2 shoulders

[Robman]

Today's people have wider skeletal mass than those of the 1940s---has nothing to do with being overweight even though many are but the fact is we are larger-framed, bigger wrist diameters, etc.

 

[dujardin]

yep,
that"s also my simple explanation.
morphology of human have change this century.

byeeeeeeee marcel

 

[Robman]

When my father was my age he was a 44 as I am. He is now 79. I found one of his old suits stored away recently in my attic for over 30-40 years (wide lapels and all!).

I tried it on and the shoulders were snug as hell, definitely would have needed a larger size even though most 44s of today fit me well.

 

[Lignemaginot]

I believe that it has to do with the widespread malnutrition that Americans suffered during the depression, not to mention the relatively poor diet even before the depression hit (there was pretty much no middle class in the US before 1945 - it was the wealthy and everyone else).

So, if the average age of a soldier/air crewman was (let's say) 21 in 1942, then he would have been born in 1921, and would have been 8 in 1929 - spending his adolescent years at the peak of the depression.

Most of us, on the other hand, never had any problem with getting all the calcium, fluoride, and all the other stuff we need while we were maturing, so our bodies have achieved their potential. And then continued off down the other side....

 

[bazelot]

It has to do with all the crap that's in our food. Growth hormones have a lot to do with it. Studies have been made with babies. If you give them breast milk they grow normally but if you give them formula they grow bigger. All we eat is processed, from meat to vegetables, and all have growth hormones in it.
Nothing to do with evolution and this change is not for the best.

 

[airfrogusmc]

that's very wierd. it taked thousands of years to evolve. how could our physical structure change in such a short time period. this ones for the scientists i guess. it still sucks cause I can't get a decent jacket to fit right.

One word nutrition. My fathers generation was that of the great depression and food especially meat protein was in very short supply. Pre-natal and infant nutrition plus adult nutrition are all reason for more larger folks.

Go custom...

 

[Robman]

Exactly that. Also, evolution. WW2 warriors for example were larger on average than Civil War soldiers, etc.

Bottom line is that using my dad's suit as an example, my shoulders were structurally wider than my dad's were when he was my age, even though our chests may have the same measurements.