# Who was the earliest "hottie"? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 13, 2007, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-earliest-hottie/399988 "2007-04-13T17:30:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![The\_Controvert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@The\_Controvert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Controvert)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-earliest-hottie/399988/1 "2007-04-13T17:30:45Z")
In the past, most people were rather homely, but who is the earliest known person who would pass as a “hottie” by today’s standards? ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-earliest-hottie/399988/2 "2007-04-13T17:40:53Z")
Betty Rubble? ---
**Author:** ![Reloy3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c68b51/32.png) [@Reloy3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reloy3)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-earliest-hottie/399988/3 "2007-04-13T17:40:57Z")
[QUOTE=The Controvert] In the past, most people were rather homely, but who is the earliest known person who would pass as a “hottie” by today’s standards? [/QUOTE] This won’t go well, but I’ll bite- What in the world makes you think that “In the past, most people were rather homely”? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-earliest-hottie/399988/4 "2007-04-13T17:48:21Z")
Probably this [hottie.](http://donsmaps.com/images8/venus0187.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-earliest-hottie/399988/5 "2007-04-13T17:48:50Z")
I vote for Helen of Troy. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-earliest-hottie/399988/6 "2007-04-13T17:49:57Z")
Finally, one that I know the answer for!! **Barbara Eden**. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-earliest-hottie/399988/7 "2007-04-13T17:50:13Z")
Austin’s first hottie was the [Lenderthal Lady](http://www.forttours.com/pages/hmwilliamson.asp#Lady). ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-earliest-hottie/399988/8 "2007-04-13T17:54:10Z")
I’m assuming fictional people are out. What about the [four beauties of China](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Beauties)? Specifically, [Xi Shi](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xi_Shi) was born ~500 BCE. > [@](#): > > Bewitched by the beauty of Xi Shi and Zheng Dan, Fu Chai forgot all about his state affairs and on their instigation, killed his best advisor, the great general Wu Zixu. Fu Chai even built Guanwa Palace (Palace of Beautiful Women) in an imperial park on the slope of Lingyan Hill, about 15 kilometers west of Suzhou. The strength of Wu dwindled, and in 473 BC Gou Jian launched his strike and put the Wu army to full rout. King Fu Chai lamented that he should have listened to Wu Zixu, and then committed suicide. I’m sure someone could dig up an ancient legend that has a beatiful woman that could’ve been based on a real person, somewhere, sometime. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-earliest-hottie/399988/9 "2007-04-13T17:57:11Z")
I agree with the OP, although I think it’s more of a function of more primitive photography and pre-shampoo/condition/blowdry everyday hair. That and I think the Reubenesque women were considered the hotties before Barbie came along. I can’t give you specific examples, but I’ve definitely seen some photos of actresses from the 30s that made me think “y’know, get that pomade out of her hair, lose the funeral parlor makeup and put her on a treadmill, and I’d hit it.” ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-earliest-hottie/399988/10 "2007-04-13T17:58:10Z")
[QUOTE=Reloy3] This won’t go well, but I’ll bite- What in the world makes you think that “In the past, most people were rather homely”? [/QUOTE] Seconded. You do have to put in the caveat, that people weren’t homely _by the standards of their place and time_. Even though cosmetics go back thousands of years, modern skin and hair care, hygiene, and general grooming - not to mention plastic surgery - have changed standards so that many people in the past may not resemble today’s beauties. But that’s an entirely different statement than a blanket declaration that most people were rather homely. ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-earliest-hottie/399988/11 "2007-04-13T18:10:30Z")
Eve, as far as Adam was concerned. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-earliest-hottie/399988/12 "2007-04-13T18:12:34Z")
[QUOTE=Reloy3] What in the world makes you think that “In the past, most people were rather homely”? [/QUOTE] Hadn’t you heard? [Old things suck](http://johnaugust.com/archives/2007/on-the-topic-of-old-things-sucking). ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-earliest-hottie/399988/13 "2007-04-13T18:22:33Z")
[QUOTE=Exapno Mapcase] Seconded. You do have to put in the caveat, that people weren’t homely _by the standards of their place and time_. Even though cosmetics go back thousands of years, modern skin and hair care, hygiene, and general grooming - not to mention plastic surgery - have changed standards so that many people in the past may not resemble today’s beauties. But that’s an entirely different statement than a blanket declaration that most people were rather homely. [/QUOTE] [The Onion: I would have been considered very attractive in the Middle Ages](http://www.theonion.com/content/opinion/i_would_have_been_considered) ---
**Author:** ![Will\_Repair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a698b9/32.png) [@Will\_Repair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Will_Repair)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-earliest-hottie/399988/14 "2007-04-13T18:56:40Z")
[QUOTE=McNew] Eve, as far as Adam was concerned. [/QUOTE] Lilith? ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-earliest-hottie/399988/15 "2007-04-13T19:01:40Z")
[QUOTE=An Arky] Reubenesque women were considered the hotties before Barbie came along. [/QUOTE] They still are in many places. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-earliest-hottie/399988/16 "2007-04-13T19:07:48Z")
[QUOTE=McNew] Eve, as far as Adam was concerned. [/QUOTE] Well, it’s not like he had many alternatives. Lucy? ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-earliest-hottie/399988/17 "2007-04-13T19:09:52Z")
[QUOTE=The Controvert] In the past, most people were rather homely . . . [/QUOTE] Have you taken a good look at “most” people today? ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-earliest-hottie/399988/18 "2007-04-13T19:15:25Z")
[QUOTE=panache45] Have you taken a good look at “most” people today? [/QUOTE] But on the Internet, isn’t **everyone** attractive? That’s what **they** say, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Scruloose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@Scruloose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scruloose)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-earliest-hottie/399988/19 "2007-04-13T19:17:00Z")
[QUOTE=silenus] Probably this [hottie.](http://donsmaps.com/images8/venus0187.jpg) [/QUOTE] Whoa - isn’t there a ‘two-click’ rule when posting links to such erotic imagery? ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-earliest-hottie/399988/20 "2007-04-13T19:34:47Z")
[QUOTE=An Arky] I agree with the OP, although I think it’s more of a function of more primitive photography and pre-shampoo/condition/blowdry everyday hair. That and I think the Reubenesque women were considered the hotties before Barbie came along. [/quote] And they were called Reubenesque, no doubt, because they got that way by eating too many Reuben sandwiches :D. However, [this](http://www.maineantiquedigest.com/articles/oct02/josi1002.htm) purported poster of Josie Earp (wife of Wyatt), in her music hall days before her marriage, certianly gives the lie to the idea that everyone was homely. This picture was used on a psychedelic era concert poster in the 1960s, but I don’t remember which one. WARNING: Probably not _quite_ SFW. > [@](#): > > I can’t give you specific examples, but I’ve definitely seen some photos of actresses from the 30s that made me think “y’know, get that pomade out of her hair, lose the funeral parlor makeup and put her on a treadmill, and I’d hit it.” I’m with you on the makeup and pomade, but I don’t think most of the old time actresses were overweight. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-earliest-hottie/399988.md?page=2)