Tampa, Fla.  April 5th  Mrs. Ruth Pontico, 800 pound jovial circus fat lady, bemoans bad luck which postponed her reducing operation when her hospital bed broke.

AP Wirephoto April 5th 1941

REDUCE FAT LADY SAYS 800 TOO MANY POUNDS

April 5 In her own words whoever heard of a circus fat lady having to lose weight. That was the question Mrs. Ruth Pontico posed to friends while preparing to enter a hospital today to have some of her 800 pounds carved off to make it possible for her to go on her annual tour with a carnival company.

She vowed the operation just had to be done because she's been putting on weight so rapidly this winter that it's almost impossible for her to get around.  She expects to be in the hospital several weeks  Ruth and her husband  are staying in a hotel they purchased several years ago because the floor beams were heavy and support her. 

She doesn't know how much the doctor is going to take,  it probably will be from her legs and other parts of her body.  

Her ringside weight is around 725.

This is the first time she's  had an operation, she once went on a starvation diet but gained nine pounds in four days and gave up.

Mrs. Pontico, was the fat lady on the Ringling Bros. Sideshow for a number years.