Not only does this 1949 Life article on model Brynn Noring (aka Brynhild Andrea Johnson) dis her “simple outfit” as too pedestrian to help her would-be movie career, but offers a double dis to the diminutive, sphere-shaped fellow waddling in the background.
And who could argue the point? Heels, gloves, long skirt, necklace–it reeks of laziness. Like she threw it on just to go pick up skim milk at Wal-Mart.
And as to the patron of the Fat Men’s Shop, my mind immediately went to Oliver Hardy, pictured here with Stan Laurel.
And hey, you guys, did y’all know that Hardy lost quite a bit of weight at the end of his life? Yup. He went on a crash diet and died of a stroke the following year. Check out this last pic of the twosome.
I Don't Get It 
Well it boggles my simple brain that someone thought the model’s outfit as simple. As for the fat man the picture says it all. Shame about Hardy. I wonder if his “crash” diet had anything to do with his stroke?
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Some sites did say it did more harm to his organs than good, yes.
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I thought life was making a snide comment about Hollywood, not Miss Noring. But perhaps I see layers of complexity where there are none. The comment about the fellow was just a cheap shot.
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Yes, you could be right about that. Hollywood is a better target.
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Great find on the Laurel and Hardy pictures. I love your new header photo. It’s interesting what passed for a “simple” outfit, making it a target for the Life reporter.
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Just think what they’d say about folks who wear pajamas to shop. Glad you like the header; just a bunch of seniors holding a bench up. 🙂
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Well, I’m digging her garb. I especially love the gloves and pocketbook! (Snarky story, indeed!)
~Theadora
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Me, too. The pocketbook is great.
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Cool photos Kerbey. Brynn still looks stunning, even with her Walmart look. That is an amazing photo of Hardy -I didn’t know he had lost weight. Personally, I believe that a bit of extra weight gives you a cushion in case of illness. When I was diagnosed with cancer I lost almost 80 pounds – 40 of which was not good. I was about 260 and went to 180, which , at 6’3″ was painful. Then a side effect of the radiation treatment caused kidney failure some years later and I again lost 50 pounds before rebounding. I often wondered what would have happened if I had not had that extra weight to lose in the first place. You see Hardy died shortly after losing the weight – which fits perfectly with my theory, get skinny and die. Ha! So, have another do-nut – we are well on our way to good health. 😀
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I think you are right about that. Dang, what a trial, Paul. I hope you never have to deal with that again. You are not on dialysis, are you?
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I am and have been for 10 years now. I have a small amount of kidney function left, so I am lucky, which is why I haven’t agreed to a transplant yet – I will lose that remaining functionality if I do and then if the kidney is rejected, I am worse off. Better the devil I know than the devil I don’t. 😀
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I suppose you’re right. We all do have thorns in our flesh, and that one is a sticky one. Do you think that small kidney function could continue for a few more decades, so you can avoid transplant altogether? Forgive my ignorance.
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Excellent question Kerbey. I asked the same question when I was getting adjusted to the issue. The docs say no – they say that partial functionality frequently diminishes as the body comes to rely on the dialysis for the cleaning of the blood. There was short period of about 6 months where if any functionality were going to return it would have – but it didn’t. So then the question of the remaining. Contrary to the docs prediction, functionality has maintained or even increased a very small amount (not significant). This is rare so I am holding my breath that it continues – it’s been 10 years now and still the same. Still this is not the first time my health has surprised the doctors – for better or worse. The damage to the kidneys from radiation is so rare that my radiation doctor said I was special and wanted to do a paper on me. Blaaaaah. I can do without that kind of “special”. My remaining function keeps most electrolytes and fluids in balance as long as I don’t overdo either = a major, major challenge for most dialysis patients. It does not remove the by products of muscle use – i.e. creatinine or urea. Nor do they do the hundreds of other things that kidneys do- like phosphate and calcium balance (that’s a bugger), create the hormone to produce hemoglobin ( I take hormone shots – actually EPO, the doping drug) and a long list of other duties.
You come to accept it and structure your life so that dialysis does not control your life but still has priority. Dialysis clinics are very understanding and realize this is chronic and cannot be allowed to color your life any more than necessary. They will move around times if required (I can do two back to back and skip a day if I wish, like to attend a wedding or funeral or special occasion). With notice, I can move my dialysis temporarily to another city or clinic anywhere in the world – although if it is outside Canada, I have to pay and get reimbursed. The kidney foundation will pay the full nut if I have to do a one time shot out of the country for say a job interview or medical consultation or any other quality of life improving reason. There are also dialysis cruises organized yearly, shared with the US, where the ship is outfitted with a complete dialysis clinic including doctors, etc. that’s nice. Our local hospitals also go together yearly and rent a whole cottage based campground in the country between Ottawa and Toronto and patients can sign up to rent cottages or shared accommodations there for a week – and a whole dialysis unit is moved there. That sounds hard but all it really requires is a huge amount of water processed so it is very pure (they installed the filtration facilities at this camp some time ago). Because dialysis has to be done regularly for patients who are in ICU or Emerg or in rooms and can’t be moved – every thing they need is on wheels. The machines, the infection control centers, the supplies, etc. They can and do, just wheel it all onto a truck and out to the cottages. Then wheel it all back into the truck when done.
Anyway, there is a whole sub-culture built around this illness and it is interesting. Thanks for your concern Kerbey.
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Golly, Paul, I didn’t know about any of this. Fascinating and encouraging and heartbreaking all at once. Another example of being part of a “club” you wish you’d never had to join, but you seem to be managing it. I guess you can get bitter or take each day as a gift. It’s nice that Canada pays for all that.
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So sorry to see losing weight didn’t pay off on this case for Oliver Hardy. Poor guy!
As far as style goes, I am not picky as long as person is decent and presentable. This woman didn’t seem like high fashion but my mom wore long mid calf skirts often. 🙂
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I think the actress out on her own stroll looks pretty dang great, Kerbey. Life magazine photog and cutline writer ought to have been ashamed of themselves, both of them. It looks as if she’s even carrying a lunch box, for goodness sakes. Maybe she wasn’t “on contract” or whatever they called the top-tier actresses pulling in the big buckos. And lampooning the round guy was out of turn. Do you think the photog camped out in front of the Fat Men’s Shop sign on purpose? How about the fact that Sig. Klein called his joint the Fat Men’s Shop?! I wonder if old Sig was svelte. Anywho. Great post here, my friend. And Laurel and Hardy both look more beat up by life in that “after” photo. It’s almost as if they sense something bad is afoot.
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Good question about camping out. I bet he did wait for a “fat man” to walk by to take the shot. That’s the last thing we’re allowed to mock now, and Jimmie Fallon does it every night to Chris Christie. He’d get in trouble if he did that to a woman. I feel sorry for Christie at this point.
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He would get in trouble if he did that to a woman. And I like Fallon. What would happen if somebody made fun of a woman politician’s hair as relentlessly as they dump on Trump’s? And for sure there are other things to address other than the swoop at this point.
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