@kevin: thanks for the link. never seen this movie before. so it's made in 1954, 60 years later and nothing has changed (except for the savings bit, now they wouldn't):
"In a rapid piece of exposition, we learn Gladys has been in New York for two years, has just lost her job as a model of girdles, because her hip size is 3/4" larger than it should be, and still has the $1000, which she "saved up." Gladys is discouraged at having gotten nowhere in two years and she wants to make a name for herself. "