“Middle age is when your age starts to show around your middle”

“Middle age is when your age starts to show around your middle”—that is, you’re fat—is a jocular saying that has been printed on many images.
     
“Here are some definitions Press Association has supplied us: (...) Middle Age: When your age starts to show around the middle” was printed in the Henryetta (OK) Daily Free-Lance on March 19, 1962. “Middle Age: When your age starts to show around the middle” was printed in the Northwest News (Bethany, OK) and many other newspapers on March 22, 1962. Authorship is unknown.
 
“Middle age is when your age starts to show around your middle.—Bob Hope” was printed in the Casper (WY) Tribune on December 22, 1964. British-American comedian Bob Hope (1903-2003) is often credited with the line, but there is no evidence that he said it first.
 
     
Newspapers.com
19 March 1962, Henryetta (OK) Daily Free-Lance, “This P.M.” with Bill Tharp, pg. 1, col. 1:
Here are some definitions Press Association has supplied us:
(...)
Middle Age: When your age starts to show around the middle.
   
Newspapers.com
22 March 1962, Northwest News (Bethany, OK), pg. 5, col. 5:
Middle Age: When your age starts to show around the middle.
   
Newspapers.com
22 March 1962, Norman (OK) Transcript, pg. 3, col. 3:
At Any Age?
Middle Age: When your age starts to show around the middle.
     
Newspapers.com
22 December 1964, Casper (WY) Tribune, pg. 4, col. 1:
Middle age is when your age starts to show around your middle.—Bob Hope.
 
Newspapers.com
9 October 1965, Daily Reporter (Dover, OH), “Daily Cryptoquote,” pg. 18, col. 3:
Yesterday’s Cryptouote: MIDDLE AGE IS WHEN YOUR AGE STARTS TO SHOW AROUND YOUR MIDDLE.—BOB HOPE
   
Google Books
Adult Life:
Developmental Processes
By Judith Stevens-Long
Mountain view, CA: Mayfield Publishing Company
1979
Pg. 215:
Middle age is when your age starts to show around your middle. BOB HOPE
 
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QuotesBlog
@quotesblog
*“Middle age is when your age starts to show around your middle.”*—Bob
Hope
http://tinyurl.com/yst42m
10:00 AM · Aug 15, 2007·Twitter Web Client
     
Google Books
Age Happens:
The Best Quotes & Cartoons about Growing Older
By Bruce Lansky
Minnetonka, MN: Meadowbroo Press
2013
Pg. ?:
Middle age is when your age starts showing around your middle. — Bob Hope
 
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Middle age is when your age starts to show around your middle. - Bob Hope #QotD #QuoteOfTheDay
12:23 AM · Apr 24, 2022·Saying Sender