According to information published in "Questions & Answers" (Vol. 3, No. 6, December 1982) a bimonthly publication of the Department of Interpretive Education at Colonial Williamsburg, people were not significantly shorter in the eighteenth century. Records indicate that soldiers (white males) during the Revolution averaged only .63 inches shorter than army recruits in 1957 and 1958. Andree M. Mey Curator of Collections -- Lehigh County Historical Society PO Box 1548, Allentown, PA 18105 (610) 435-4664 [log in to unmask]