This was a little too trivial to put in GQ. Here’s a death certificate from 1936.. I’m trying to make out cause of death but it’s pretty hard to read. The closest I could come up with was “myocarditis,” but the rest of the letters don’t seem to jibe. I’m not sure. Anyone???
It looks like myocarditis to me.
“my?c??ditis” is pretty clear, though the coroner’s signature doesn’t help on the last bit.
The height of the connecting line from the first ? is consistent with an “o”.
The second ? is consistent enough with the “a” in “May” in the date to lock it in, I think.
I first took the dot above the third ? to mark an “i”, but I’m pretty sure the dot belongs to the signature. There’s not a really good sample of an “r” to match it with (the others are either final or link to letters that start on the line, not at mid-height), but I think that’s what it is.
All of which is to say that I think you’re right–it’s “myocarditis”.
Thanks. That’s good enough for me.
In 1936, the only way myocarditis was diagnosed was at autopsy.
Well, that’s interesting. It also says there was no autopsy (but I guess you saw that, too).
It was also signed by a coroner, who is not necessarily a doctor, by an elected official. They have, over the years, played fast and loose with diagnoses in some jurisdictions.
The deceased was only 21. Weird how a death certificate from 70 years ago can make you feel kinda sad.
Was this someone in your family?
No, it’s not a relative. And it is truly sad. It’s this young chap at the bottom right.
In the background are Mickey Daniels (born October 11, 1914), Mary Kornman (*December 27, 1915). I don’t know the young lady in the center, but the one on the left is Mary Ann Jackson (January 14, 1923).
Chubby is obviously bottom right, and in this photo (dated 1930):
Three weeks younger than Mickey Daniels (background)
One year older than Mary Kornman (background)
Eight(!) years older than Mary Ann Jackson (far left).
He obviously had some unknown medical condition. Contemporary reports said his height at the time of his death were 4’5" to 4’7", which helps to explain how his parents were able to pass him off as being four years younger than his real age. He replace the aging Joe Cobb as the resident “fat kid” despite being a couple of years older.
Source of the photo?
Have no idea. I’ve seen it on a number of websites, but never with any attribution, so if there’s some concern that it might run afoul of copyright, I do understand and won’t complain if it’s removed.
Chubbsy Wubbsy!!! Love me some “Our Gang”!!
Earl–I notice the death certificate, if I’m reading it correctly, says he’s 21 and born in 1914. His Wikipedia page says he died at 18 and was born in 1918.
What’s the straight dope?
Ha! Did you read the discussion on the wiki. I was one of the participants, the losing one, as it turned out, in the edit war that ended up getting the 1918 date reestablished, and getting my own ass chewed out for not following the guidelines of “verifiability.”
Chubby obviously had some serious medical problems, and there’s a photo of him from 1935 (which I don’t have a copy or link of) in which he doesn’t look much different from his “Gang” years. Contemporary reports mentioned a vaguely defined “glandular ailment” and “corrective surgery,” but there aren’t any details. He had a sister Ruth, born about 1916, as I recall. She’s probably dead, but I’ve always wondered if she had any family that knew anything more about him from what she remembered. I posted a question a while back on his condition that simply resulted in crickets chirping, but I also know that trying to give an informed medical opinion on a photograph is dicier than getting one from a message board posting.
One other suspicious factoid is the oft-reported claim that his weight had gotten as high as 300 pounds. 300 pounds on a person of about 4’6" would have been. . . extremely globular, I would think.
They haven’t heard the last on the wiki, though.