This study analyses the physical stature of runaway apprentices and military deserters based on advertisements collected from 18th-century newspapers, in order to explore the biological welfare of colonial and early-national Americans. The results indicate that heights declined somewhat at...

We trace the introduction of anthropometric indicators into development and labor economics in the late 1970s.

Based on the height data of 18th-century American soldiers the inference is warranted that Americans were taller than Europeans, and the wedge widened during the course of the century.