Food history: the diet squad

Thanks to Fred Tripp who sent me this article from the Wall Street Journal about a little known (at least to me) aspect of food history: teams of intrepid dieters in the early years of World War I who competed to see who could eat for the least amount of money and maintain their weight. The guys managed this for under today’s equivalent of $4 per day, and some of them gained weight–no surprise since they were taking in more than 3000 calories a day. The article is a lot of fun but I wish the writer had provided references. Does anyone know the source?