BBC News - A brief history of breast enlargements
It is 50 years since the first breast enlargement using silicone implants. Today it rates as the second-most popular form of cosmetic surgery worldwide, undergone by 1.5 million women in 2010.
It was spring 1962 when Timmie Jean Lindsey, a mother-of-six lay down on the operating table at Jefferson Davis hospital in Houston, Texas.
Though the operation boosted her self-confidence - and she enjoyed the extra attention - she had never planned to have a breast augmentation.
Lindsey had been to hospital to get a tattoo removed from her breasts, and it was then that doctors asked if she would consider volunteering for this first-of-its-kind operation.
Fifty years on she remains delighted with the results, though there is no stopping the passing of time, she says.
"You would think they would stay real perky, but no - they are just like a regular breasts, they begin to sag over the years. That surprised me. I figured they'd just stay where they were."
The surgeons were two ambitious pioneers, Frank Gerow and Thomas Cronin.
It was Gerow who had first come up with the plan for a new kind of breast implant.
"Frank Gerow squeezed a plastic blood bag and remarked how much it felt like a woman's breast," says Teresa Riordan, author of Inventing Beauty: A History of the Innovations that have Made Us Beautiful.
.....................................................................................................................................
In search of a bigger bust
Injected: Paraffin was tried in the 1890s, but quickly dropped because it leaked to other parts of the body
Transplanted: In the 1920s and 1930s doctors tried moving fat from other parts of the body to the breast
Inserted: Polyurethane, cartilage, sponges, wood and even glass balls, were all tried in the 1950s
Non-surgical solutions: Vacuum pumps, suction devices, a multitude of lotions and potions, and padded or inflatable bras
Source: Inventing Beauty by Teresa Riordan
........................................................................
It was the decade in which Playboy magazine and Barbie launched, and film stars played a big role too.
"The busty look of Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell and also Dior's New Look of 1957, really emphasized this curvy silhouette, and got women thinking about augmenting their breasts," says Teresa Riordan.
"Falsies" - basically stuffed bras - were popular, but increasingly women wanted something more.
Marilyn: Did she or didn't she?
There have been many advances over the decades, like 3D-imaging, and implants that are increasingly rupture-proof - and the range has widened.
"In the early days, we only had four choices or sizes - large, medium, small and petite. Now we have over 450 choices," says Biggs.
Around the world, breast enlargement is now the second-most popular cosmetic surgery operation, after liposuction (the removal of fat). In many countries - including the UK - it is the most popular operation.
Witness airs weekdays on BBC World Service. You can download a podcast of the programme or browse the archive.
It is 50 years since the first breast enlargement using silicone implants. Today it rates as the second-most popular form of cosmetic surgery worldwide, undergone by 1.5 million women in 2010.
It was spring 1962 when Timmie Jean Lindsey, a mother-of-six lay down on the operating table at Jefferson Davis hospital in Houston, Texas.
Though the operation boosted her self-confidence - and she enjoyed the extra attention - she had never planned to have a breast augmentation.
Lindsey had been to hospital to get a tattoo removed from her breasts, and it was then that doctors asked if she would consider volunteering for this first-of-its-kind operation.
Fifty years on she remains delighted with the results, though there is no stopping the passing of time, she says.
"You would think they would stay real perky, but no - they are just like a regular breasts, they begin to sag over the years. That surprised me. I figured they'd just stay where they were."
The surgeons were two ambitious pioneers, Frank Gerow and Thomas Cronin.
It was Gerow who had first come up with the plan for a new kind of breast implant.
"Frank Gerow squeezed a plastic blood bag and remarked how much it felt like a woman's breast," says Teresa Riordan, author of Inventing Beauty: A History of the Innovations that have Made Us Beautiful.
.....................................................................................................................................
In search of a bigger bust
Injected: Paraffin was tried in the 1890s, but quickly dropped because it leaked to other parts of the body
Transplanted: In the 1920s and 1930s doctors tried moving fat from other parts of the body to the breast
Inserted: Polyurethane, cartilage, sponges, wood and even glass balls, were all tried in the 1950s
Non-surgical solutions: Vacuum pumps, suction devices, a multitude of lotions and potions, and padded or inflatable bras
Source: Inventing Beauty by Teresa Riordan
........................................................................
It was the decade in which Playboy magazine and Barbie launched, and film stars played a big role too.
"The busty look of Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell and also Dior's New Look of 1957, really emphasized this curvy silhouette, and got women thinking about augmenting their breasts," says Teresa Riordan.
"Falsies" - basically stuffed bras - were popular, but increasingly women wanted something more.
Marilyn: Did she or didn't she?
There have been many advances over the decades, like 3D-imaging, and implants that are increasingly rupture-proof - and the range has widened.
"In the early days, we only had four choices or sizes - large, medium, small and petite. Now we have over 450 choices," says Biggs.
Around the world, breast enlargement is now the second-most popular cosmetic surgery operation, after liposuction (the removal of fat). In many countries - including the UK - it is the most popular operation.
Witness airs weekdays on BBC World Service. You can download a podcast of the programme or browse the archive.
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