On English Pygmies and Giants: the Physical Stature of English Youth in the late-18th and early-19th Centuries

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On English Pygmies and Giants: the Physical Stature of English Youth in the late-18th and early-19th Centuries

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Komlos, John

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John H. Komlos

Abstract

The physical stature of lower- and upper-class English youth are compared to one another and to their European and North American counterparts. The height gap between the rich and poor was the greatest in England, reaching 22 cm at age 16. The poverty-stricken English children were shorter for their age than any other European or North American group so far discovered, while the English rich were the tallest in their time: only 2.5 cm shorter than today’s US standards. Height of the poor declined in the late-18th century, and again in the 1830s and 1840s conforming to the general European pattern, while the height of the wealthy tended rather to increase until the 1840s and then levelled off.

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Paper provided by University of Munich, Department of Economics in its series Discussion Papers in Economics with number 573.

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Date of creation: Apr 2005
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Handle: RePEc:lmu:muenec:573

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
N33 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Income, and Wealth - - - Europe: Pre-1913
N53 - Economic History - - Agriculture, Natural Resources, Environment and Extractive Industries - - - Europe: Pre-1913
N93 - Economic History - - Regional and Urban History - - - Europe: Pre-1913

This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

NEP-ALL-2005-04-16 (All new papers)
NEP-HIS-2005-04-16 (Business, Economic & Financial History)

References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:

Komlos, John, 2003. "How to (and How Not to) Analyze Deficient Height Samples," Discussion Papers in Economics 56, University of Munich, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
A'Hearn, Brian, 2004. "A restricted maximum likelihood estimator for truncated height samples," Economics and Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 2(1), pages 5-19, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
John Komlos & Peter Coclanis, . "On the 'Puzzling' Antebellum Cycle of the Biological Standard of Living: the Case of Georgia," Articles by John Komlos 9, Department of Economics, University of Munich.
John Komlos, . "Shrinking in a Growing Economy? The Mystery of Physical Stature during the Industrial Revolution," Articles by John Komlos 7, Department of Economics, University of Munich. [Downloadable!]
Other versions:
- Komlos, John, 1998. "Shrinking in a Growing Economy? The Mystery of Physical Stature during the Industrial Revolution," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 58(03), pages 779-802, September. [Downloadable!]
John Komlos & Peter Coclanis, . "Nutrition and Economic Development in Post-Reconstruction South Carolina: an Anthropometric Approach," Articles by John Komlos 15, Department of Economics, University of Munich.
Steckel, Richard H., 1979. "Slave height profiles from coastwise manifests," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 16(4), pages 363-380, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)

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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

Jörg Baten & Dorothee Crayen & Joachim Voth, 2007. "Poor, Hungry and Stupid: Numeracy and the Impact of High Food Prices in Industrializing Britain, 1780-1850," Economics Working Papers 1120, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, revised Jan 2008. [Downloadable!]
Adolfo Meisel & Margarita Vega, 2005. "The Stature Of The Colombian Elite Before The Onset Of Industrialization, 1870-1919," BORRADORES DE ECONOMIA 003627, BANCO DE LA REPÚBLICA. [Downloadable!]
Other versions:
- Adolfo Meisel & Margarita Vega, . "The Stature of the Colombian Elite Before the Onset of Industrialization, 1870-1919," Borradores de Economia 339, Banco de la Republica de Colombia. [Downloadable!]

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