tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5744170830107487392.post6236008220567208375..comments2024-03-28T07:46:38.114-04:00Comments on Kabinettskriege:: How Tall was the Average Eighteenth-Century Soldier? Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14756736665642650392noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5744170830107487392.post-34845669753516595552020-07-01T07:04:58.136-04:002020-07-01T07:04:58.136-04:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.Healthytipshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15783165585939831319noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5744170830107487392.post-42477343801346553252020-07-01T07:04:36.080-04:002020-07-01T07:04:36.080-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.Healthytipshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15783165585939831319noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5744170830107487392.post-45687193232911240812020-04-21T14:27:34.593-04:002020-04-21T14:27:34.593-04:00I'm dreadfully late to the party, but I must s...I'm dreadfully late to the party, but I must say I'm very suspicious of the claim that British men averaged 5'3" and American men averaged 5'6." Surveys of medieval English skeletons consistently point to a male average of 5'7" to 5'8." While this certainly dropped off a bit in the early modern period, I have difficulty believing that it decreased by a full four to five inches, or that American men, with access to far better nutrition than those on the continent, were two inches shorter than their medieval forebears.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12927251057859350417noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5744170830107487392.post-7097944755602890922019-04-17T11:32:33.305-04:002019-04-17T11:32:33.305-04:00I was going to sit this out and observe, but as so...I was going to sit this out and observe, but as someone who has worked in the historic house museum field for over 20 years, I have to say the comment by Renee about the small door=small people has been thoroughly debunked. Simply put, prior to building codes there was great variety in such things. FFhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17963279451301690600noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5744170830107487392.post-10252452139687958422018-04-20T16:35:34.461-04:002018-04-20T16:35:34.461-04:00I think you raise a good point about the British h...I think you raise a good point about the British height, but this does not explain why the average height in the Prussian army in 1783 was 69 inches, or why the minimum height requirement for the Austrian Army was 5ft 3inches. Moreover, the Prussian height is from later in the century, when most sources agree that height is in decline throughout Europe. Alex Burnshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12276532855224897550noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5744170830107487392.post-21111903033022449782018-04-18T03:49:50.865-04:002018-04-18T03:49:50.865-04:00One difficulty you have to account for when using ...One difficulty you have to account for when using primary sources that recorded people's heights during the mid to late 18th century, is that measurements taken in feet and inches were not standardized. The British foot, was different than the German foot, which was different than the foot used in France. So discrepancies in height between German, British and French military records account for this phenomena, since diets across northern Europe were pretty consistent. Southern Europeans tended to be a bit taller because they had a better diet. <br /><br />In Britain, up until about 1740 they used what we'd call standard Roman measurements. Which means the foot was roughly the same size as our current foot. In about 1740 though, (I believe it was George II) changed the measuring system. Except for land surveying equipment (which they did not want to have to recalibrate) Britain adopted a foot and inch system where the feet and inches were actually shorter than the standard Roman foot and inch we use today. Britain used this differing measurement system between about 1740 and 1790. The foot was now about 10.5 inches and the inch was now about 3/4 of an inch. The colonial measuring system was actually not standardized until 1964 when it was calibrated to the metric system. <br /><br />So in reality, your 6 foot grenadier in 1776 new British measuring system, was actually only about 5 foot 4 inches tall by today's measurement. This also correlates with heights recorded by modern archeologists measuring skeletons from the 18th century. And since we know people don't get shorter after they die, the average height for European males in the second half of the 18th century was about 5 foot 3 inches high. The average height for male American colonists was about 5 foot 6 inches high. We see a correlation here also in old buildings and clothing that has survived. This is more obvious in Europe because they have more old and older buildings and items such as clothing of royalty, military items and suits of armor, than exist in North America. Ever go in Paul Revere's house in Boston? Ever notice how short the doorways are? This is because people actually were shorter in 1775.<br /><br />The comment left by Peter Monahan is correct that poor diet does affect how tall people get. Populations tend to get shorter when they go from hunter gatherer to agrarian; and of course this is further complicated by urbanization when populations tend to congregate in cities. But the discrepancy in height between British soldiers in WWI and British soldiers in the 18th century is accounted for by the fact that Britain was using a different measuring system in 1780 then that were using in 1914. So no, your average British soldier in WWI was not shorter than your average British soldier in the American Revolution. <br /><br />And yes, people in North America tended to be taller than Europeans until about the 1950's. As we get into the late 19 and through the 20th century, the consumption of meat increases, and diets tend to go from primarily grain and starch to meat grain and starch. So yes, people do get taller from the 19th through the 20th centuries. <br /><br />Ironically though if you compare skeletons of Native Americans though out the centuries, they didn't change much in height at all. This is because they were not primarily agrarian. They leaned more toward hunter gatherers, some tribes still being primarily hunter gatherers well into the 19th century, and because they are eating more nuts and berries, along with animal protein, they tend to taller, but also healthier. Now obviously just as with hunter gather tribes in Africa, we see height variations between the different tribes, but those variations tend to be genetic not environmental. Reneehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12919698426545561638noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5744170830107487392.post-16706354747640617272017-06-22T08:06:08.182-04:002017-06-22T08:06:08.182-04:00'My' periods are 1812 and WWI but I am lov...'My' periods are 1812 and WWI but I am loving these posts. Actually saved the last two - Live Firing and Average Heights - for future reference. I often refer to the fact that British soldiers in WWI were a result of a centiry of industrial poverty and that Cdn and Australian born recruits were farm boys: better fed and bigger. The obvious corolllary, which you mention, is that Europeans had actually gotten smaller and less healthy between say 1750 and 1900. That, of course, goers against our common and strongly held though usually subconcious belief that 'things get better' and that there was a steady increase in the quality of life from the Middle Ages to today. Nonsense, of course, but widely held belief.Peter Monahanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18188299370415063759noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5744170830107487392.post-48554814371140817882017-06-21T17:01:43.335-04:002017-06-21T17:01:43.335-04:00Yes, I was trying to be humorous there, thanks! I ...Yes, I was trying to be humorous there, thanks! I am glad you enjoyed the post. Alex Burnshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12276532855224897550noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5744170830107487392.post-72476077385817201042017-06-21T16:55:56.267-04:002017-06-21T16:55:56.267-04:00Another great post and I had to laugh about the ca...Another great post and I had to laugh about the caption about the veritable giants!ScottDouglashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05040713476368749855noreply@blogger.com