Timeless classic

Published 12:01 am Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Timeless classic

Historians trace America’s dieting craze to the 1860s and the publication of a widely read book by one William Banting.

Banting recommended a meat-heavy diet that sounds surprisingly contemporary. Just change the original title, “Letter on Corpulence, Addressed to the Public,” to something like “Ultimate Extreme Mega Slim Body Weight-Loss Miracle 2011,” and you’ve got a best-seller.

Speaking of the 1860s, that’s the last time cotton prices were as high as they are now. As a result, clothing prices will increase by about 10 percent this spring, retailers and manufacturers say.

Budget-conscious Americans will just have to stick with last year’s styles in XXXL T-shirts and relaxed-fit track suit pants.

Get your footlongs™ right here: The Subway restaurant conglomerate has sued an Iowa-based convenience store chain, claiming it holds a trademark on the term “footlong” to describe sandwiches.

Apparently, Subway snapped up the trademark when Eddie the hot dog guy at the corner of 69th Street and Fifth Avenue on the Upper East Side forgot to renew it.

— Mark Carlson, Herald staff