(This article originally appeared on page 22 of the March 15, 1927, issue of the Hartford Courant and is reprinted word-for-word below.)

Fly Swatters Aid Women To Regain Girlish Figures

Self Flagellation by Obese Said to Make Avoirdupois Vanish

Springfield, Mass., March 24.— (AP.) —There is a big run on fly swatters in local stores—but not for swatting flies. This time they are swatting women, who, in the cloistered privacy of their boudoirs, apply the little Nemises of the fly to their fatted parts to obtain a perfect figure.

A fly swatter vogue, according to experts of style and fashion, bids fair to become Springfield womanhood’s gift to the nation. A few swats here and there, now and then, bring those parts prone to bulge down to most pleasing proportions.

And it should be borne in mind that this new type of swatting is not a hit-and-miss system, but a real art. It must be done just hard enough to bring the blood to the surface, but not hard enough to cause the tender fat to bruise, which it will do very easily.

The principle of the swatting rests upon scientific facts. Blood breaks up and carries away fatty particles through the veins and arteries. So care should be exercised in selecting the swatter, to make sure it has a firmly constructed handle and an extremely flexible rubber that, with the slightest effort of the hand, can produce a good-sized sting and cause the fat to float away.