Originally Posted by Wikipedia
Hobbits are between two and four feet (0.6-1.2 m) tall, the average height being three feet six inches (1 m). They tend towards stoutness and have slightly pointed ears.[3]. Tolkien himself describes Hobbits thus:
Elsewhere he wrote that they dress in bright colors, favoring yellow and green. Nowadays (according to Tolkien's fiction), they are very shy creatures, but they are and have been capable of amazing things.
Their feet are covered with curly hair (usually brown, as was the hair on their heads) with leathery soles, so most Hobbits hardly ever wear shoes. They are fond of an unadventurous bucolic life of farming, eating, and socializing. Hobbits can sometimes live for up to 130 years (with 100 years average). The time at which a young Hobbit "comes of age" is 33. Thus a fifty-year-old Hobbit would only be middle-aged.
Hobbits enjoy at least seven meals a day, not including snacks,[5] when they can get them - breakfast, (arguably) second breakfast, elevenses, luncheon, tea, dinner and later, supper. They like simple food such as bread, meat, potatoes, and cheese, have a passion for mushrooms, and also like to drink ale and beer, often in inns — not unlike the English countryfolk, who were Tolkien's inspiration.
Hobbits also enjoy an ancient variety[6] of tobacco, which they referred to as "pipe-weed" (for Tolkien's linguistic reasons), something that can be attributed mostly to their love of gardening and herb-lore. We can also see that in the name Tolkien chose for one part of Middle-earth where the Hobbits live, "the Shire" is clearly reminiscent of the English Shires.
The Hobbits of the Shire developed the custom of giving away gifts on their birthdays instead of receiving them.[7] They use the term mathom for old and assorted objects, which are invariably given as presents many times over or are stored in a museum (mathom-house).
Some Hobbits live in "hobbit-holes", which were the original places where they dwelt underground. They were found in hillsides, downs, and banks. By the late Third Age, they were replaced by brick and wood houses, however, some older style Hobbit-holes are still in use by more established Shirefolk, such as Bag End and Great Smials. Like all Hobbit architecture, they are notable for their round doors and windows, a feature more practical to tunnel-dwelling that the Hobbits retained in their later structures.
Hobbits (and derivative Halflings in other fantasy settings) are often depicted with large feet for their size, perhaps to visually emphasize their unusualness. This is especially prominent in illustrations by the Brothers Hildebrandt (who may have helped propagate this detail) and the large prosthetic feet used in the Peter Jackson films. However, Tolkien himself never wrote that all hobbits had large feet; instead, he has one hobbit clan, the Proudfoots (or Proudfeet), have exceptionally hairy and large feet.[8]