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Behind The Bizarre “Slimming” Cult of Old Hollywood

Swofford

33,549 views

Tomato Juice? Again? 🍅

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CONTENTS:

00:00 Intro
00:59 Good Morning!
02:50 Who Was ... Sylvia?
04:46 Put Pep in Your Step
06:16 Sylvia Stateside
09:46 Tomato Juice?
10:51 Sylvia of Hollywood... in Hollywood
14:09 Late-Nite Infomercial Break
15:38 Flat Ab Roll Hack
17:11 Sylvia's Writer Arc
20:41 Vintage Mewing
21:44 What's to Eat?
24:15 Dénouement for Dinner
26:24 The Big Beef
31:46 Skincare Tips

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This is my 12th deep dive into Old Hollywood and fashion history! If you're new here, I cover the technical and aesthetic history of film, fashion, and beauty through the decades. Today: Madame Sylvia of Hollywood, the masseuse-turned-health-author whose 1931 tell-all book Hollywood Undressed named names and got her blacklisted... before she doubled down with No More Alibis in 1934.

We'll cover Sylvia Ullback's rise from a Chicago massage table to Pathé Studios, her $250-a-week contract, her drama with Joan Crawford, Norma Shearer, Gloria Swanson, Constnance Bennett... And Others... The stars she trained, her 1930s fitness and wellness philosophy, and the real story behind her sudden exit from Hollywood.

Perfect for: Old Hollywood history fans, vintage fitness and wellness history nerds, fashion history lovers, and anyone who thinks influencer self-help culture is a new invention.

This one is also a great watch — or listen — while you cook, do laundry, fold clothes, or wind down before bed. I've seen this series in your playlists, and I'm frankly honored to accompany you on your daily routines :-)

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Swofford | Old Hollywood, Film & Fashion History

Join the Swoffosphere!
📺 YouTube: @misterswofford
📷 Instagram: Instagram: misterswofford
🎵 TikTok: TikTok: misterswofford

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Want to Support Me?

Oh, you're too kind! There are several ways you can support the continued creation of my deep dives, shorts, music and art.

Patreon, for early access to videos, as well as my production blog:
Patreon: misterswofford

Merch, including my hand-painted THUILLIER STUDIO poster:
https://misterswofford.com/merch

Like Retro Synth Pop? Check out my music on Spotify.
https://open.spotify.com/artist/23obf...

Thank you endlessly.
YOURS TRULY,
-SWOFF 💜

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#OldHollywood #MadameSylvia #SylviaOfHollywood #HollywoodUndressed #NoMoreAlibis #VintageFitness #FitnessHistory #WellnessHistory #1930sFashion #BeautyHistory #FashionHistory #HollywoodHistory #SelfHelpHistory #ClassicHollywood #WomensHistory

20 Comments

@nattiedraws 6 days ago

one girl got traumatized and so she decided to make it everyone's problem

@Vommie 6 days ago (edited)

Military people used that sleep trick. Tense your whole body and hold for a certain amount of seconds and release. It puts them right to sleep i read.

@a-fish-on-fire 5 days ago

Certified medical assistant here, and in Sylvia's (slight) defense, she was A LITTLE BIT close with some of these tips:
1) the clenching and releasing technique has been shown to help reduce anxiety, but not because of circulation. Theoretically, it engages the parasympathetic response in the brain. (You don’t gotta hold onto anything, though.) This technique is often used to help people with PTSD or severe anxiety, and relaxation contributes to better sleep.
2) "dabbing" around the eyes as opposed to "rubbing" is preferable because the skin there is thinner with a lot of delicate, complex capillary and muscle nonsense going on, so it prevents abrasion or injury etc.
3) facial massages cannot reduce "facial fat" or "double chins", but if you do it right, it could relieve muscle tension, slightly improve lymphatic drainage, and stimulate the thyroid (you've gotta be REAL careful messing with the thyroid, though. It's a weird gland that does weird things, like create additional tiny thyroids etc, so yeah). These techniques are not gonna change your face structure or fat distribution, but they help with relaxation, which can affect health and appearance.

Great video as always! I also 100% agree with your own personal health tips. A little sunshine, some stretching, good hydration, and a total 30 minutes of brisk walking per day goes a long way. And when it comes to food, diet culture always makes some foods out to be either "poison" or "curative", but our bodies are usually more flexible than we give them credit for. Vegetables and fruits are a good go-to because they do multiple helpful things at the same time with few drawbacks (like how greens provide fiber, vitamin e and a, and potassium all in one swing) so it can just make feeling good a bit easier. Nutrition is complex, and everyone has different needs, so just try to listen to your body and adjust as needed.
I hope everyone gets to feel healthy, strong, and beautiful. Have a wonderful day! ❤

@r.a.l.p.h 6 days ago

All that tomato juice 😭. If you had GERD you could go to hell 🙉

@GenevieveLouiseGrace 5 days ago

Oh, the US obsession with tomato juice, she did not get that from Denmark or Germany, lol. Californian canneries made it the cheapest fruit for preservation and transport in the 1920s. But more importantly, as it became a recognised soft drink, it was used to conceal alcoholic drink during Prohibition. Asking for a tomato juice was code for that little bit extra in respectable restaurants. Sylvia swears by it, don't you know.

@Mitchellfw 6 days ago

So THAT's why Great Grandnana would drink so much tomato juice "for her health and figure".

@ThinWhiteAxe 6 days ago (edited)

my goal in life is to be as effortlessly lofty as swoff's hair in bed, and as sharp as that all-black exercise demonstration outfit

Also I'm about to go to bed myself so I'm not eating atm but I had some nice sautéed salmon, okra, & kale with white rice, which my dad made for dinner ❤

@MikeVal1369 6 days ago

You've taken a subject I had absolutely no interest in and made it fascinating. Keep up the good work!

@GoodTroubleGirlsClub 6 days ago

There's nothing new under the sun. Weird diet programs have been part and parcel with Hollywood...

@lagerthamercy5154 9 days ago

I love the pre-sleep exercises lol. What makes me really sleepy is putting my 25 pound weighted blanket over my head and pushing it up until my arms get exhausted. Then I get insanely sleepy. Lol so maybe its something similar

@herrflick1244 6 days ago

Bouncy around in the morning would have my neighbours knocking on my door, asking me to keep it down as they were still sleeping. My dog would be not so happy too as she sleeps on my bed. At 7am i sneak down the stairs, have a quiet cup of coffee to the radio and youtube, finish my coffee then the dog wakes up to be let out in the garden. Then i get dressed.so that enthusiastic dancing around first thing in the morning is not for me 😂

@kreissthekeeper 4 days ago

I ate a burrito bowl and bagels during this video 🙏 I think Sylvia would've exploded at the sheer sight of the amount of carbs I was consuming

@rlberry90 16 hours ago

2:27 this is the method that the US Army suggests to fall asleep and it’s supposed to work on almost everyone unless you have ADHD which is why it’s never worked for me

@HeddaSade 6 days ago

5:21 Mr. Swofford, I’m going to have to ask you to settle down. I was not ready for your hips to swivel with your arms up - and clasped - like you were given a visitor’s pass to the Church of Sappho on dance night. 😂😂😂

@InksplatOops 6 days ago

I had always thought that the crazy filming schedules of early Hollywood plus the doctor prescribed cocaine was how stars kept their figures. This is pretty wholesome. I mean in comparison. Glad that the bullying has mostly gone out of fashion. 😊

@GamerGorlTabs 4 days ago

i like tomato juice!!!

@mollietenpenny4093 4 days ago

I can see why Sylvia got a lot of Hollywood secrets. Whenever I get a massage, I usually love to talk to the massage therapist. For some reason, the massage therapist loosening up my muscles causes my tongue to loosen as well. 😅😅🤣🤣

@geeker6350 3 days ago

The picture for the stretching section is like something out of 'Insidious'.

@lyylski 5 days ago

I don't know if you've had that old hollywood soft filter all the time but I love it

@GiftSparks 2 days ago

Yes, they were really into tomato juice back in the 1920’s and 1930’s. I had some magazines from that era and several of the beauty tip articles recommended tomato juice.