Dutch-born Wilhelmina Cooper, whose features adorned the covers of more than 300 magazines before she and her husband started their own model agency,
In 1956, she borrowed money from her father to go to modeling school. She took on the stage name Winnie Hart, and in 1958, and she graduated from high school and joined the Models Bureau.
Patricia Stevens, a booker at another agency, approached Wilhelmina at the 1959 International Trade Show in Chicago and instructed her to lose 20 pounds if she wanted to become a successful model, as well as get rid of the stage name Winnie Hart. After losing the weight, she traveled to New York, where Ford Modeling Agency told her that she needed to lose 20 more pounds and then she could go to Paris.
In Paris a colleague introduced Wilhelmina to diet pills. She reflected,
I was on continuous diets. I’m not fat as far as real life is concerned, but I certainly was when it came to modeling. I ate twice a week. In between, it was cigarettes and black coffee. On Wednesday, I had a little bowl of soup so I wouldn’t get too sick, or a little piece of cheese on a cracker. On Sunday, I’d have a small filet mignon without salt or any sauce. I was running on nervous energy as well as determination.
