I recall a show in which the boys were discussing how to measure a person’s derriere. They came up with a unit of measure that was either, I think, the Carmichael or the Pinkwater. As I recall they spent considerable time in discussing this and applied it to their own posteriors. Does any one remember this show and which show this was?
Airlines and plane makers do this on a routine basis. If you have ever flown in 1940s British airliner you will have noticed how narrow the seats are. A US airliner of that era, like a DC-4 had very narrow seats compared to today. Today’s US planes probably have the widest seats, for good reason.
If you want to feel really cramped, fly a LOCAL airline in Asia.
Americans have clearly gotten wider over the decades!
Back in the '70s–when I was not overweight–I had occasion to attend a stage event at a very old, historic NYC theater that dated back to the late 19th or very early 20th Century, and it still had the original seats. I am not exaggerating when I say that I had to jam myself between the arm rests in order to be seated, and once I was seated, I felt like my sides were in a vise.
If those theater seats still exist today, I have no doubt that I would be perched on the arm rests, with no ability to actually sit on the seat cushion.
It’s show #0628 The Pinkwater Butt Measure named after Daniel Pinkwater who was a friend of the guys and called in about his cars a few times over the years.
Daniel Pinkwater
One of my favorite’s on Car Talk (right after the one with flaming balls coming out of a Motor Home setting fires along the road) was When Daniel “staked out” a donut shop to see what kind of car fat people drove (and their ease of ingress and exit) to help in his new car shopping. The winner was a Volkswagen “New” Beetle.
CSA
I’ve done my own research in this area, and I’ve always been surprised that folks who buy donuts at my favorite shop don’t appear to be particularly obese, or even any more chubby than the general population. If anything, maybe a little less chubby; but that may be b/c a lot of the donut shop patrons are younger college students who go there to have a donut and a cup of coffee while studying.
If I wanted to find a concentration of high-on-the-Pinkwater-scale people? hmmm … I’d go to the local American-style buffet restaurant probably. And Walmart.
Most “weight challenged” folks I see drive large sedans like the Crown Victoria, Lincoln Town car or they have pickup trucks.
In my area Walmart and Costco are on the same street, 3 blocks apart. The clientele at these 2 establishments are very different.
The Costco parking lot has many high end cars as well. Mercedes, Lexus, BMWs, most with roof racks for skis, are very common. Walmart has younger shoppers and fewer high end cars, and a heavier clientele.