Fat men's clubs were a type of

social club A social club may be a group of people or the place where they meet, generally formed around a common interest, occupation, or activity. Examples include: book discussion clubs, chess clubs, anime clubs, country clubs, charity work, crimin ...

that peaked in popularity from the late 19th to early 20th centuries, primarily in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

. Membership was typically limited to men weighing over , and members were generally quite wealthy as well. Fat men's clubs declined in the 20th century as male

obesity Obesity is a medical condition, sometimes considered a disease, in which excess body fat has accumulated to such an extent that it may negatively affect health. People are classified as obese when their body mass index (BMI)—a person's ...

transitioned to being perceived as a primarily negative trait.

Description

Fat men's clubs typically required prospective members to weigh in at over 200 pounds in addition to demanding a small membership fee. Club members were typically wealthy, and the clubs often arranged busy social calendars for their membership that included balls, sports events and banquets, which often doubled as networking events. Fat men's club events often opened with a public

weigh-in In boxing, a weight class is a measurement weight range for boxers. The lower limit of a weight class is equal to the upper weight limit of the class below it. The top class, with no upper limit, is called heavyweight in professional boxing and ...

of the membership, with prizes for the heaviest men. Competition at these public weigh-ins was heated enough to inspire widespread cheating, with participants loading down their pockets with weights in order to appear heavier. Many clubs ran eating contests before the official weighing. Fat men

History

Fat men's clubs were most prominent during a time when societal attitudes towards male obesity were largely positive: being overweight was seen as a sign of economic success, and was also thought to correspond with kindness and good humor. The first fat men's club was founded in New York City in 1869. Some fat women's clubs existed as well, but these were much less common, as fat was seen as less desirable in women. Fat women's clubs in the style of fat men's clubs were outnumbered by women's weight loss clubs even at the fad's height. Fat men's clubs were popular throughout the United States, and were particularly common in the state of

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. Fat men's clubs were started in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hung ...

, and the

U.K. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

as well. In the early 20th century, the popularity of fat men's clubs waned as

became increasingly associated with bad health. The New England Fat Men's Club, which at one point had 10,000 members, disbanded in 1924 with only 38 members, none of whom actually met the 200 lb. standard prerequisite for membership. The advent of the

bathroom scale A scale or balance is a device used to measure weight or mass. These are also known as mass scales, weight scales, mass balances, and weight balances. The traditional scale consists of two plates or bowls suspended at equal distances from a ...

also contributed to the decline of fat men's clubs, as weight measurement transitioned from being a public spectacle to an exercise that was carried out in the privacy of one's home.

References

{{Reflist Clubs and societies American culture Texas culture Human body weight