The Golden Age Elongated Man

When Ralph Dibny debuted his alter ego in Central City, after extracting the necessary  ingredient from the compound known as Gingold to gain superhuman powers, he initially competed with the Flash. Together they formed an alliance that became a budding friendship. His hyper elastic body allowed him to perform heroic feats that led to team ups with other superheroes such as Batman and, ultimately, the Justice League of America. Concurrent with this, Ralph established his most enduring relationship with his girlfriend turned wife Sue Dearborn.

Ralph was following the footsteps of an older stretching sleuth like he was in Plastic Man. However there were more than one Plastic Man, not only on Dibny’s home on Earth-One but also in the parallel world known as Earth-Two. And in the reality, there was a golden age Elongated Man, though not adopting that name as Ralph had.

That man was Hiram Skinner, nicknamed Stretch due to his unnaturally elongated proportions in his limbs and overall body frame. Skinner like Dibny loves unraveling mysteries, becoming a private detective. He immediate caught the attention of prize fighter Ted Grant, and soon after joined Ted's feline alter ego Wildcat on a case that led to a long lasting partnership. Around this time, Ted and Hiram were assisted by Joan Fortune, although unlike Sue she didn't have a romantic attraction to Stretch.

Eventually, Stretch decided to copy Wildcat by wearing adopting the costumed identity of Tomcat, although this was a short-lived fad. While he never joined the Justice Society, his pal Wildcat had and would team up on occasion with Skinner's cosmic twin Elongated Man when the Society and League fought alongside each other during cross-universe adventures.

What became of Stretch Skinner is unknown, although Ted would later fondly reflect on his old friend when he reopened his gym after retiring as Wildcat.