Jacob Levy asylum records

[GregBaron]

How high was he...?

Uhm, I am not sure this is accurate. Mary Kelly's bed was not that wide, about what I would imagine is about a twin size today looking at the photos though I don't have exact measurements in front of me, I admit. I am sitting next to a bed now, in a chair, putting me well under 5'2 and I can reach from one end to the other without problem. And I've got significant striking force to slash a throat, even if she were on the far end of the bed. Even if the bed were queen size, it is an assumption to state that "she was too far away from him to use the knife". She might have been right on the edge. Not saying I think Levy is the ripper, just saying, I don't think this particular argument against him has merit.

Completely agree Ally. We can't say anyone was too small to slit someone's throat in a small hovel with a small bed in a small corner. I see no reason why Toulouse Lautrec couldn't have pulled it off.

And Levy was 5'3" Errata, don't take that angry inch away from him. As someone pointed out, he was taller than most of the victims. Perhaps that's why he pulled Stride by the scarf, to get her to slicing height......

In your height researches, keep in mind that Levy was a Dutch Jew (I think)..Not sure if that precludes him from the Ashkenazi gene pool...?

The tallest people in the world today are in Denmark. Can anyone explain that...the fish perhaps?


Greg

[Digalittledeeperwatson]

5'3"

Consider what shoes and a hat does for witness sightings as well. Could make him appear up to 5'5" or so. As far as being around six feet I think is unlikely. That 5 5-6 range or abouts seems a decent enough bet for "JTR". Something around average.

[Cogidubnus]

Height is very much related to childhood nutrition...recent studies of poor Guatemalan Maya immigrants into the USA claim that average adult male height in their communities increased by 4" between the 1970s (5ft 2" in S.America) and 2010s (5ft 6" in the USA)...this is attributed to better childhood nutrition and improved healthcare...over a mere forty years...

I recall reading an account (though frustratingly I can't recall from where) of Glaswegian infantrymen in WWll anecdotally being of far more "runty" appearance than their counterparts elsewhere...even then it was attributed to poor childhood nutrition.

In the early 19th Century the average height of working class citydwellers was reckoned to be as much as 22cm (over 8 1/2 inches!) less than their upper crust counterparts - This was based on a study comparing Sandhurst students (upper class) with Maritime School students (lower class).

Given the chronically bad conditions in the East End of 1888 I don't suppose, therefore, that 5ft 3ins was looked at as particularly short in JtR's Whitechapel!

All the best

Dave

[Errata]

Uhm, I am not sure this is accurate. Mary Kelly's bed was not that wide, about what I would imagine is about a twin size today looking at the photos though I don't have exact measurements in front of me, I admit. I am sitting next to a bed now, in a chair, putting me well under 5'2 and I can reach from one end to the other without problem. And I've got significant striking force to slash a throat, even if she were on the far end of the bed. Even if the bed were queen size, it is an assumption to state that "she was too far away from him to use the knife". She might have been right on the edge. Not saying I think Levy is the ripper, just saying, I don't think this particular argument against him has merit.

The bed looks to be a double, but either way, that's not what I'm talking about. There is only so far a person can lean over before reaching the literal tipping point. Standing at the bed with your legs pressed against it, you have I think 20 degrees of lean before you faceplant. And there is math that would let me calculate height based on assumed bed width, but I should never be left alone with math. The shorter the person the less distance they can cover. I'm sure Levy would be able to bend over and touch her, but I don't that he could get far enough past her to make a clean throat cut.

But you know what? Not the point. All I'm saying is that certain assumptions about method would need a rewrite. Which would also be true if Levy was 6'4. None of which makes him more or less the Ripper. So I think I've derailed this enough.

[GregBaron]

Land of the Giants...

Height is very much related to childhood nutrition...recent studies of poor Guatemalan Maya immigrants into the USA claim that average adult male height in their communities increased by 4" between the 1970s (5ft 2" in S.America) and 2010s (5ft 6" in the USA)...this is attributed to better childhood nutrition and improved healthcare...over a mere forty years...

I recall reading an account (though frustratingly I can't recall from where) of Glaswegian infantrymen in WWll anecdotally being of far more "runty" appearance than their counterparts elsewhere...even then it was attributed to poor childhood nutrition.

In the early 19th Century the average height of working class citydwellers was reckoned to be as much as 22cm (over 8 1/2 inches!) less than their upper crust counterparts - This was based on a study comparing Sandhurst students (upper class) with Maritime School students (lower class).

Given the chronically bad conditions in the East End of 1888 I don't suppose, therefore, that 5ft 3ins was looked at as particularly short in JtR's Whitechapel!

All the best

Dave

Thanks Dave, this is the sort of corroboration I was looking for. I agree that 5'3" wouldn't have been far off the average in Whitechapel at the time and the weights would be equally low.

If we brought an Eastender through a time warp and dropped them in an
American high school today, they'd think they were transported to the land of the Amazons....



Greg