Baseball, BBQ, and Dead Ponies A History of Fat Men s Clubs in Texas

In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries definitions of and attitudes about fat bodies were remarkably different than they are now. What qualified a man for a fraternal order of fat men in 1890, today, is now a mere four pounds over the average male size in America. But as fat men s clubs were at their peak, people positively associated men of a larger size with wealth and affability. The members of Texas s fat men s clubs certainly were not pinching pennies, and the list of member occupations included assayers involved in gold mining, railroad presidents, successful butchers, and liquor dealers.

Men of large girth were also thought to be a kinder, more sociable sort than those without meat on their bones. The Mineola Monitor ran an op-ed in 1899 about why women should like fat men: It may be observed, without intentional offence [sic] to any young lady who might be enamored of some skeleton-like young man that, as a rule, fat men, besides being the most jolly and convivial of the male species, are also apt to be the most considerate of and charitable to others. The column concluded: The fact still remains that seven out of ten fat men make excellent husbands.

via getpocket.com

When it was heaven for men to be fat. Now it’s just ok.