Sandow the Magnificent

Life-size bronze statue of Sandow, taken from plaster casts of his body in 1901.  Better views of the statue can be seen here.

An excellent documentary about the Father of Modern Bodybuilding, whose physique and feats of strength awed the Victorian world:

 

In other places, I have read that he had a longtime male partner the public did not know about, but you'll have to look that up on your own.  It's my nap time here.

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Waitin' for the Weekend: Shaping Up

Since it's an historic week, here's a happy little flashback to the 1960's by Bruce of Los Angeles.

Need your grass trimmed?

Waitin' for the Weekend

A look back to a somewhat calmer time with this ingenious montage of every page of a bodybuilding mag from 1962:

Waitin' for the Weekend

This week, a little something different:

Unknown muscleman "Apollo," age 22, circa 1900

Bobby Pandur, 1912

The great Eugen Sandow, posing as the Farnese Hercules, 1893

The Reuter Brothers, circa 1900

Stereoscopic view of two unknown models, late 19th century

What made the Gay Nineties so gay . . .

The great Eugene Sandow . . . the Father of Bodybuilding . . . and a (closeted) committee member.

Yeah, I know what you're thinking . . . but get your mind out of the gutter. The pose is an imitation of a famous Roman statue, The Dying Gaul. Really.