It is an odd concept – that everyone should be lean and healthy. Not a bad concept, just an odd one.
In today’s superficial society, we relish the ultra-thin fashion models, and the young men whose body fat content is less than 5%.
The problem with our adoration of all things thin, is that most of us likely do not fit into that category (or fit in many things).
Yet, there was a time when the issue of fat versus lean was not one of the fat contents of a pound of hamburger, but something to be admired for men of a certain size to be joined together to eat and to play sporting games.
While this all sounds a bit strange, even for me, please let me explain.
Starting in the 1870s, announcements began to appear in the Owego area regarding clubs of fat men. They were called Fat Men clubs and consisted of men of at least 200 pounds in weight.
The Owego Gazette mentioned them several times, and included the names of some of the members, who proudly wore the moniker of “Fat Man.”
To be truthful with the readers, I, too, could also be a member of the Fat Man’s Club. It is an issue which I have battled for most of my life.
I won that battle for a time in college and my early working days, but time and the ability to spend endless hours exercising seem to go the way of the dodo bird. As time marched on, there always seemed to be the effort to keep my weight down to better my health. But I could still be a member of that club.
Ed Nizalowski wrote a wonderful article in 2023 entitled “When America Had a Different View of Weight.”
It deals with the first Fat Man’s Clambake held at the Newark Valley Trout Pond in 1874. Not to be outdone, the group organized a second Annual Clambake for the Fat Men to be held on Sept. 8, 1875 at the same location.
Each gentleman attending had to be weighed before entering to ensure they were, indeed, fat men of over 200 pounds. The cost to attend was one dollar, whether they were alone or with a lady partner.
As the program wrote, the organizers wanted to ensure that this was “Solid Enjoyment,” and that anyone could pay the normal entrance fee of twenty-five cents, but not take part in the exercises.
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There was an evening hop with fun for all, regardless of weight. Yet, the program felt it necessary to list some of the "Heavy Weights" who were part of the club. About 100 attended the function that day.
Not to be outdone, the members of the Lean Men club also held a clambake at the same location. No one could be a member of the club unless they weighed less than 160 pounds. According to the newspaper article, about 800 Lean Men attended. Despite the difference in the number attending, the 100 Fat Men consumed as many clams as the 800 Lean Men.
Lest you think these clubs only dealt with food, you would be wrong. Those clubs also took part in the playing of “Base Ball” as it was listed in the 1880s. There were examples of Fat Men versus Lean Men on the playing field.
One even called them the Nines, and the score ended up 25 for the Lean Men versus 16 runs for the Fat Men. While playing baseball, lean men had to weigh less than 150 pounds.
In the collection of the Tioga County Historical Society are business cards adorned with the graphic of Fat Men playing baseball and advertising the sale of Merchant’s Gargling Oil which was a liniment aimed to cure many things. The concept of a fat man was not thought anathema to the advertising world. No, it was seen as a positive image during this period.
This period of Fat Men and Lean Men Clubs and teams carried well into the 1920s.
Perhaps, the coming of the flapper girls, and the Great Depression took away our interest in the fat men of yore, and toward a healthier tomorrow.
Gerald Smith is executive director of the Tioga County Historical Society and a former Broome County historian. Email him at historysmiths@stny.rr.com .
This article originally appeared on Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin: Fat Man's Clubs hosted clambakes, baseball games in the 1880s: Spanning Time
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