# Fat 1940s/1950s cowboy? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 11, 2017, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fat-1940s-1950s-cowboy/796102 "2017-09-11T23:09:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2017, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fat-1940s-1950s-cowboy/796102/1 "2017-09-11T23:09:10Z")
I was at a burger joint last week that has lots of burger-related memorabilia. One of the pictures was of three 1940s/1950s-style cowboys (jeans tucked into boots, ‘cowboy shirt’, etc.). Two men of normal build are on either side of a seated man in a white cowboy costume. The seated man is enormous, and he’s getting ready to eat a burger that’s looks like it’s a foot and a half across. The burger shack behind him is Buffalo Burger. I don’t know where the photo was taken. I don’t know _when_ the photo was taken, but I suspect it was sometime in the early-to-mid-'50s. I tried to find an image, and I found a rodeo cowboy known as ‘Mr. Six-By-Six’, but I’m not sure that’s the guy. Does anyone know who he was? ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2017, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fat-1940s-1950s-cowboy/796102/2 "2017-09-12T00:00:30Z")
WAG: Andy Devine? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2017, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fat-1940s-1950s-cowboy/796102/3 "2017-09-12T01:42:19Z")
I’m _pretty_ sure it wasn’t Andy Devine, but I’m not _entirely_ sure. The cowboy in the photo seemed fatter. I’ll have to snap a pic if I get there again. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2017, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fat-1940s-1950s-cowboy/796102/4 "2017-09-12T04:25:18Z")
Was it a drawing? It might have been Kyle Baker’s [Cowboy Wally](https://society6.com/cdn/0034/v/15936233_16460069_lz.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2017, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fat-1940s-1950s-cowboy/796102/5 "2017-09-12T08:08:55Z")
[Radio DJ Texas Tiny eats Buffalo Burger](https://www.reddit.com/r/TheWayWeWere/comments/3myjcp/radio_dj_texas_tiny_eats_buffalo_burger_buffalo/) [Obituary](https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=108341846) ---
**Author:** ![Greathouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greathouse/32/2992_2.png) [@Greathouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greathouse)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2017, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fat-1940s-1950s-cowboy/796102/6 "2017-09-12T13:52:39Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > [Radio DJ Texas Tiny eats Buffalo Burger](https://www.reddit.com/r/TheWayWeWere/comments/3myjcp/radio_dj_texas_tiny_eats_buffalo_burger_buffalo/) > > [Obituary](https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=108341846) That has to be the guy. Your google skills are impressive. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2017, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fat-1940s-1950s-cowboy/796102/7 "2017-09-14T13:45:26Z")
> [@Greathouse](#): > > That has to be the guy. Your google skills are impressive. If that’s **not** the guy, there is something wrong with the Universe. Is it just me, or do those two other fellas look kinda… _menacing?_ ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2017, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fat-1940s-1950s-cowboy/796102/8 "2017-09-14T16:26:14Z")
Heh, sody pop. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2017, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fat-1940s-1950s-cowboy/796102/9 "2017-09-14T17:01:14Z")
Your question has clearly been answered, but I’d like to point to another period image of a “fat” cowboy. William Conrad had a magnificent voice, and he played Marshall Matt Dillon on the original radio run of **Gunsmoke**. He wasn’t as big as he’d get later on, when he played Frank Cannon and (for a bit) Nero Wolfe, but he was still bigger than average: [http://pdxretro.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/william-conrad-gunsmoke\_thumb.jpg](http://pdxretro.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/william-conrad-gunsmoke_thumb.jpg) [![](http://www.radiospirits.com/email/news/images/William_Conrad_0914_sm.jpg) ](http://www.radiospirits.com/email/news/images/William_Conrad_0914_sm.jpg) [http://a4.mzstatic.com/eu/r30/Music/v4/17/e7/bf/17e7bf43-b885-6461-54c3-bfe3c116ec50/cover326x326.jpeg](http://a4.mzstatic.com/eu/r30/Music/v4/17/e7/bf/17e7bf43-b885-6461-54c3-bfe3c116ec50/cover326x326.jpeg) [http://media.gettyimages.com/photos/radio-program-gunsmoke-featuring-william-conrad-image-dated-february-picture-id534302332?s=594x594](http://media.gettyimages.com/photos/radio-program-gunsmoke-featuring-william-conrad-image-dated-february-picture-id534302332?s=594x594) …in fact, executives clearly thought he was too big. When they cast the role for TV, it went to the taller, slimmer James Arness. The same thing happened to Conrad when he played the title role in the 1948 radio adaptation of **Leninger and the Ants** \*. When they made it into a film in 1954, the part of Leninger went to taller, thinner Charlton Heston. But at least Conrad got a role in the film, as the Commissioner. \*Conrad played Leninger. Not an ant. ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2017, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fat-1940s-1950s-cowboy/796102/10 "2017-09-17T22:32:24Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Heh, sody pop. Buffalo burgers and buffalo beans, but no buffalo chips.:rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2017, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fat-1940s-1950s-cowboy/796102/11 "2017-09-17T22:44:03Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > [Radio DJ Texas Tiny eats Buffalo Burger](https://www.reddit.com/r/TheWayWeWere/comments/3myjcp/radio_dj_texas_tiny_eats_buffalo_burger_buffalo/) That’s the very photograph! Thanks! > [@Greathouse](#): > > That has to be the guy. Your google skills are impressive. Impressive, indeed! ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2017, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fat-1940s-1950s-cowboy/796102/12 "2017-09-17T22:54:15Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > [Obituary](https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=108341846) Huh. The newspaper clipping says he was 46 when he died. The dates on the Find A Grave page put him at 53. ---
**Author:** ![from\_a\_to\_z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5fc32e/32.png) [@from\_a\_to\_z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/from_a_to_z)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2017, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fat-1940s-1950s-cowboy/796102/13 "2017-09-17T23:31:17Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > The same thing happened to Conrad when he played the title role in the 1948 radio adaptation of **Leninger and the Ants** \*. When they made it into a film in 1954, the part of Leninger went to taller, thinner Charlton Heston. But at least Conrad got a role in the film, as the Commissioner. > \*Conrad played Leninger. Not an ant. [Carl](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Stephenson_(author)) [Stephenson](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Stephenson)’s 1937-1938 [story](https://web.archive.org/web/20150111081938/http://thenostalgialeague.com/olmag/stephenson-leiningen-versus-the-ants.html) Leiningen Versus the Ants (Leiningens Kampf mit den Ameisen). Two [radio versions](http://www.escape-suspense.com/2007/04/escapeleiningen.html). 1954’s [The Naked Jungle](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0047264/fullcredits). (How did Eleanor Parker end up in the story, and as a character named “Joanna Leiningen”? Oh, [Never mind](https://madhulikaliddle.com/2010/06/26/the-naked-jungle-1954/).) ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2017, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fat-1940s-1950s-cowboy/796102/14 "2017-09-17T23:47:34Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > That’s the very photograph! Thanks! I suppose you know this, as you’re from LA, but you see that one guy with a name on his boots, Gene Clark, he built the Buffalo Ranch, which was literally a ranch of bison in Newport Beach. I tried to find some info of where it was, maybe the Buffalo Burger stand pictured still existed I thought, but it’s long gone. It was located somewhere near MacArthur Blvd, Bonita Canyon, and Bison Ave, but it shut down in the 60s and though bison still roamed for a long while after, it’s been built over many times since. These facts were found on this 15 year old thread [here](http://www.octhen.com/2005/03/buffalo-ranch-in-newport-beach.htm).