Vintage Fat Guys II: Oliver Hardy

Behold Oliver Hardy. The 250 lb. successor to the Fatty Arbuckle designated endomorph domain.

Granted, Hardy did have a double chin. And yes, his girth did seem to blossom over time. Still, by today's standards, he just wasn't that large.






I could not locate the date of this photo but I believe it was probably late 1920's. Whereas the bust shot above was probably from the mid 30's. So maybe this clouds my argument. But I assure you, Oliver Hardy at his greatest mass is not all that big by 2009 standards.

Tangent #1: This is a baggy clothes era, so it is hard to get a good grasp on people's physiques. But then as now (and as always with adolescents) baggy clothes were worn in an effort to make people look larger. Hardy wanted to look bigger to enhance his comic fat man motif. Stan Laurel, as with most men of his era (or at least those in movies, the men who established style and fashion for their time) is wearing a suit that disguises his pipe cleaner build.

Tangent #2: The disappearing American scarecrow. Stan Laurel was a designated skinny guy. But almost everyone in the movies in his era, and for decades to come, was ectomorphic. The exceptions were the designated endomorphs like his partner, Oliver Hardy and the designated mesopmorphs, John Wayne being the most famous. This is a topic I want to return to. We don't see Stan Laurels or Fred Astaires or Bings or even people built like the young Frank Sinatra. Why are they disappearing? And the scarecrows of yesteryear might have reflected an aesthetic ideal but their manner of dress says otherwise. Their manner of dress reflects an effort to literally cover up their true physique.



Here we see one more body shot of the subject. He is neatly contrasted by his partner, Stan Laurel. Olly's chin is in full bloom but the rest of him does not look all that large. Of course, we are viewing him with modern eyes.

So let us summarize:

1. They DO make fat men like they used to. In fact, they mass produce them. Yesterday's sideshow attraction is today's 2X.

2. Skinny men are disappearing from the landscape. They don't make beanpoles like they used to. Men today are either muscular or fat or somewhere in between. Even distance runners carry more muscle than yesterday's movie stars.

3. While it is easy to offer explanations as to why men dressed up in the old days (they had more class, they were more concerned with image and decorum, etc.) one must consider that The Scarecrow would prefer looking like The Tin Man or The Cowardly Lion. The ongoing, concerted efforts to shift shape cannot be ignored.