ANOTHER Fine Mess I’ve Gotten Myself Into!

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Here’s another fine mess I got myself into…and something you probably never thought about. Oliver Hardy, half of one of the most iconic comedy duos in film history, was a southerner. A Georgian. I knew that…but it didn’t really pop into the forefront of my brain until I passed a sign near Harlem, Georgia that indicated the Laurel & Hardy Museum was at the next exit. The museum isn’t much. I didn’t see any personal artifacts of Oliver Norvell Hardy there. It’s basically a couple of rows of Laurel & Hardy ceramic items, statues, dolls, and a theater playing L&H short films. And, on a 102-degree Georgia afternoon, it was a great place to be. While lacking in personal memorabilia, there are quite a few fascinating facts around. Did you know Hardy played the Tin Man in the 1925 version of The Wizard of Oz? Or that Hanna-Barbera made a cartoon show of Laurel and Hardy? Speaking of the latter, there was a display showing the influence that Stan and Ollie had on The Flintstones. In the collage you can see one of the photos of a “normal” Oliver Hardy. There were also a number of photos of their movie scenes (including one of Hardy in The Wizard of Oz and promotional photos (the funniest of which, to me, was Laurel lying on the ground with a golf ball on his head while Hardy stood over him with a golf club, ready to tee off). Although their movie partnership was over, Englishman Laurel and southerner Hardy remained friends until Hardy’s death from complications of a stroke in 1957. “Babe (Hardy’s nickname since childhood) was like a brother to me,” Stan told newspapers upon hearing of Hardy’s death. (Laurel died in 1965.) It was a nice pause to enjoy cool air and memories of a classic cinematic comedic team. COLLAGE: *Hardy ready to tee off on Laurel’s head *Oliver Hardy without the make-up *Displays in the museum, including (background) a wooden car (even the tires were wooden) with figures of Laurel & Hardy holding mannequins of themselves *Photo of the 1925 version of the Wizard of Oz, featuring Hardy as the Tin Man.