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A supplemental textbook for the New York Institute of Photography, for example, addressed the physical characteristics that would not work under the camera’s gaze. Long necks screened better than short necks, “clear, white skin” looked better than the alternatives, a height of five-feet, two-inches worked best, and “a good figure counts for much on the screen.” According to the textbook, it was necessary to “make allowances,” since “the camera exaggerates…Many an actress who looks beautifully slender off the screen… must diet to keep thin enough for the camera."<ref name="Inez and Helen Klumph"> [Inez and Helen Klumph, Screen Acting: Its Requirements and Rewards, New York Institute of Photography, (New York: Falk Publishing, Co., Inc., 1922), p. 215-216.].</ref> Increasingly actors, and mostly actresses, found that contacts could only be signed or renewed with the addition of “weight clauses” that stipulated termination upon going over a certain weight.
As a particular image took hold of Hollywood, beauty books and magazines urged their readers to dress for their height, recognizing not much could be done to change it; however, weight and size were a separate issue—“people do love fat women but probably it is in spite of their size, not because of it… Unless you have something very seriously wrong organically, you can make your weight just what it should be…”<ref name="Antoinette Donnelly" >[Antoinette Donnelly, “Reducing with the Stars,” Chicago Daily Tribune, October 18, 1925, p. B4].</ref> Beauty writers castigated women for overeating—citing the importance of changing habits to enact change in bodily composition. Fat bodies reflected poor eating habits, and slim bodies reflected self-control. According to Lulu Peters, dieting and slimness required discipline, work, and denial.
However, some people did not have the patience for self-denial and work, and the early 20th century also saw the rise of a plethora of fad diets that promised quick results with minimal effort. Diets like the “pineapple and lamb chop” diet, “the skim milk and baked potato” diet, or the Mayo diet and different creams and soaps promised to melt or wash away the fight, eliminate double chins or provide a more youthful appearance. Lulu Peters abhorred these dietary agents—calling for stricter federal enforcement against “these fraudulent advertisements” that took advantage of people who wanted to look a certain way. And while Peters herself spoke out against those who advocated "freak diets" that averaged between 600-700 calories per day, the fact was that many of Hollywood's leading ladies sometimes only had about 10 days to get their figure.
