Iron History

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08/01/2002 Entry: "Iron History Aug 2-Aug 16, 2002"

Personal comment: There is no illusion on my part that this effort pleases everyone. Nor is there any hope that it will. I am a realist. Some discount me because of my decade long involvement with Weider's FLEX; others find an error and extrapolate that because I got that fact wrong, then most certainly everything I present must be wrong (including the letter of correction from that person?). To the first group I say, quite frankly, that I am proud to have been a part of FLEX for a decade, and have just signed up for my eleventh year. I limit my input in FLEX to what is my (hopefully) strong area- history. To the second criticism, I say, quite honestly, I regret any errors, but have always invited corrections, and here is an offer to those in group two. Starting this morning I begin work on the column for Aug 16 thru Sep 5. You are also invited to begin work on the column. Deadline is the morning of Sep 5. You will be covering about three weeks in the history. When you have it ready, let me know thru the comment button, and you'll be given instructions where to email it. The editor may select you to replace me. So be it. I can use some hammock time.

We expect specific dates, specific references, and generalized overviews, but of course, to maintain the standard you impose if you are part of group two above, if there is a single flaw, the whole matter gets tossed.

A reminder to those of you who print this column: Perhaps you may find it beneficial to print it not on the Friday it appears, but the next Wednesday or so. That way, I can incorporate feedback and corrections into the text, as I did in the previous column when David Chapman pointed out a couple of mistakes I had written, and when Tom Ryan mentioned some typos. Hopefully this effort has thousands of eyes looking for accuracy.

Beginning this week there will be excerpts from some of the letters that Charles A. Smith, employee and master wordsmith for Weider from 1950 to 1957, wrote to me over the course of several years. In the Roark Reference section.

NEWS: As you may know (I did not until Bill Hinbern told me) Anthony Ditillo passed away at the end of February this year. He leaves two sons, Adam, and Anthony Jr., and of course their mother. Anthony was born in early September, so hopefully by next column I will have more info on him for us. He wrote for Ironman, PLUSA, and in more recent times, MILO. Our condolences to his loved ones.

Hard question? How many different men have won an IFBB Pro Bodybuilding contest? We start the data from the first Mr. Olympia and compute to the present time, so if all the men who have won an IFBB Pro Bodybuilding contest were seated in the same room, how many chairs would be needed? Multiple victories by the same man still require that man to need only one chair�

NEWS: Please notice the Iron History Extra courtesy of Tom Ryan who shared copies of his letter to Paul Anderson, and Paul's letter of reply to Tom. Years ago Tom was researching for his book, which has not been published, and in relation to that research Tom contacted Paul. The letters are presented, as was Paul's letter to me, without any comment. So, thanks Tom for sharing!

RED PENCIL HISTORY: MuscleMag Oct 2002 p 237 offers that Health and Strength began in 1896. Actually, it began in 1898, as the mag's own masthead said for several early years.

PINK PENCIL? Also in MMI Ed Corney is quoted as saying he has three children. Ironman in Feb 1968 said he had nine children. Who got it wrong?

SAD NEWS: Brooks Kubik, publisher of the popular DINOSAUR FILES had decided to end publication due to time constraints. Dino Files began in Aug 1997, and the final issue will be Aug 2002 making a total of 61 issues to constitute a complete collection. Each issue has averaged 16 to 24 pages.

Iron History asked Brooks why he began publishing the files. He replied:

"Bradley J. Steiner once wrote (in Peary Rader's Ironman), that the most important purpose of a physical culture magazine was to give the readers a healthy dose of motivation on a regular basis. I was trying to do that for those who subbed to the Files.

"Also, I wanted to have a vehicle to promote and encourage other writers, and to run reprints of some of the better old articles from IronMan, Strength & Health, etc. In many respects, the Files were an effort to pass old information to a new generation, and to preserve in print some of the better training ideas and training articles of the past. You'll note that over the five years the Files were in existence, they included articles by and about Harry B. Paschall, Charles Smith, George F. Jowett, Bob Hoffman, John Grimek, John Davis, Tony Terlazzo, Doug Hepburn, William Boone, Bob Peoples, Norb Schemansky, Peary Rader and many others too numerous to mention, so in that respect they served their purpose".

When IH asked about who read the Files, "Most of the readers who stayed through for the full run were older lifters who were looking for alternatives to the muscle comics. It's very hard to find decent reading material about weight training nowadays".

Brooks adds that "MILO is excellent. Dennis Reno's Olympic Lifting Newsletter is outstanding. I don't read any of the mainstream mags."

Will the Files ever reappear? "They always say, 'Never say never'".

Is the hammock's gentle swinging luring Brooks? "I have been itching to work on a sequel to Dinosaur Training, but have been unable to do so because of the demands of the newsletter. I hope to be able to devote some time to working on another book, so that will be my focus in coming months. I also will try to stay current with weekly posts on my website. www.brookskubik.com"

[For those interested in history, Flex has Factoids, Ironman has Gallery of Ironmen, and MMI carries occasional pieces on history, as does Muscle & Fitness. While it seems stylish to disregard the 'glossies' in some circles, doing so thwarts the efforts of those trying to offer a continuation and review of history.-Roark]

Aug 2, 1878 George Hackenschmidt born; died Feb 19, 1968 At one time, Hack was so famous that articles of clothing were named after him in Europe. He was, of course, The Russian Lion who was more famous in wrestling than in lifting, the latter a venue he all but abandoned in his early twenties.

Those who study wrestling are not surprised that Gotch defeated Hack in wrestling; those who study weightlifting are not so eager to accept that fact, but it does appear to be an 'unfixed' fact.

On Apr 4, 1898 he jerked a 153 pound barbell for 21 consecutive reps; Health & Strength magazine first presented his photo in 1901.

Hack considered at one time that Bert Assirati may have been the strongest man in the world!

Circa 1912 Hack was traveling to Spain, Portugal, France, Germany, Sweden, Russia, Italy, England, Algeria

He was unaware until 1958 that the Hack squat was so designated in his honor- he, having assumed hacke/hack (in German meaning heel) was the connection.

Hack's exploits were long ranging and broad based. He trained at Siebert's Gym in Alsleben, Germany, spent time at Muscle Beach in California, and lived for a while in Nice, France at his villa and farm, then moved back to London. On his 85th birthday he was able to bench 160 for several reps.

On Monday, Feb 19, 1968, at age 89, Hack died at St. Francis Hospital, East Dulwich, England. He had been living for the past 15 years at 21 Chestnut Road.

After his passing, his widow Rachel under the influence of diminishing mental awareness thought that George had left her for another woman, when he in fact had passed away. Charles A. Smith told me this.

Some references for further reading on Hack: The Chicago Bodybuilder presented an eight part series by Valentine which had been based on the 1907 work of H. Turner. Apr 1948 thru Feb 1949

Muscular Development presented two installments of Hack by Anderson & Todd in the Dec 1973 and the Jan 1974 issues.

Ironman in Jan 1962 offered H- the Strongman- by Willoughby

Health and Strength gave us three parts by Parsley in 1933; see the Sep 9 and Sep 16 and Sep 23 issues. Then in 1947 see the Mar 27 issue for a piece by Aston. In Your Physique Leo Gaudreau examined Hack vs Gotch in a double installment Jun and Aug 1944

Aug 2, 1955 Bruce Randall reached a bodyweight of 401 lbs; cf Jan 3, 1953 MD 3-65 p 25. He deliberately bulked up and sent his bodyweight soaring from 183 to 401. His waist went from 29 to 58.5", arm from 17.5 to over 23" according to Ironman May 1957, though some discrepancies seem to be in the chronology of data. Anyway, Bruce became Mr. Universe 1959 after he lost about half that poundage.

Aug 2, 1988 Craig Licker found his father trapped under a barbell across his neck. His father was 45 when he thus passed away.

Aug 3, 1953 Kurt Sandow Christensen born, son of Vera and Al Christensen, former Strength & Health authors.

Aug 3, 1973 Jay Cutler born. At the 2001 Mr. Olympia, it appeared he would upset defending champ Ronnie Coleman, but Ronnie won. This year, word is that Jay will not compete in the O.

Aug 3, 1994 Lindy Champion died during what was her 50th sky dive. Lindy was born circa 1958 and she remained one of the women in bodybuilding competition who could avoid the raised eyebrows questioning steroid usage. She remained traditionally pretty but muscular. She won, to my knowledge, only one of her eleven or so bodybuilding competitions, and that was the 1982 Ms. Ark-La-Tex. She also place second at the 1982 Ms. America short class, the 1983 Ms. Texas short class, the 1983 Texas Cup middle class, and the 1983 U.S. middle class. Her daughter Leann should be about age 15 now.

Aug 4, 1934 Try this! Under the old deadlift rules, the lifter's heels had to remain in touch with each other (sorta rules out the Sumo style). Anyway, Stan Kratkowski, 68 years ago today, performed such a deadlift with 553 lbs.

Aug 4, 1949 On this date Gabriel Bachecongi wrote to Leo Gaudreau to inform him that Khadr El Touni had recently pressed 281, snatched 270, and cleaned and jerked 335.

Aug 5, 1891 Percy Hunt or born Aug 8? Was also known as 'The Great Marvello'

Aug 5, 1901 Andre Rolet; died 1992, DPW mentions Rolet as lifting a 44 pound blockweight- handle on each end- overhead 1,300 consecutive times in a span of 2 hours, which, of course, is a pace of a rep about every 5.5 seconds! It is not explained how many cleans were involved, nor how many reps from the shoulders after each clean.

Aug 5, 1934 Edgar Mueller, who wrote Goerner The Mighty about Hermann Goerner was an historian with much to offer the fan of iron feats. Irving Clark wrote the foreword to Muller's book and offered this statement of endorsement to Muller on page 11: "If Edgar says it is so, it is so', should be the slogan over the Mueller portal. I pride myself on being a judge of precise, exact, factual people and I have never met such a walking encyclopedia on continental Strong Men and their feats, as this man. Mention a feat and he can state the date, the time, who was present; almost the state of the weather and 'the colour of the engine driver's tie'".

Hopefully that was a proper assessment because the book was published in 1951 which was eight years after '�nearly the whole of his cuttings, records, photographs, books and charts were destroyed by fire.." but Muller re-assembled "�a small but comprehensive indexd record of feats and personalities." This plus a three-decade friendship and association with Goerner "�cemented by his amazing memory." is the package endorsement that Lowry offers readers for the dozens of dates, places, lifts offered mostly from memory by Muller.

On Aug 5, 1934 Mueller recalls that Goerner performed a "Right-hand Swing with three kettleweights of equal size and shape totaling 166-1/2 lb (75-1/2 kilos." On that same day in the same city of Leipzig, Germany, Goerner performed a "Two-hands Swing with four kettleweights- two in each hand- weighing 221-3/4 lb. (100.5 kilos) without moving the feet. The kettleweights were swung from between Gorner's legs to arms length overhead." This must have necessitated a very wide foot stance for Herman- to fit four kettleweights of such size between his legs. Mueller also asserts that Arthur Saxon's hand size was larger than Goerner's, and though this is reinforced by Leo Gaudreau in Your Physique Feb 1952, Arthur's brother Kurt disagreed in Strength & Health Mar 1953 (two years after Goerner the Mighty was published, when he wrote, "We Saxons had immense hands. Herman Goerner's were even larger." Where does that leave us? Kurt spent his childhood and his professional life around Arthur, Mueller spent 30 years around Goerner, but they are at odds on this significant detail! I do not know who was correct. Numbers I have seen indicate 8.25" hand length for Goerner and 9" for Saxon, so why would Kurt have missed this obvious size difference?

Aug 5, 1936 Don Peters born. Told me he was with the group that met Arnold Schwarzenegger at the airport in Miami the day Arnold first set foot in America.Don died Mar 16, 2001.

Aug 5, 1956 Freddy Ortiz got his first set of barbells. In Mar 1963 Muscle Builder introduced Freddy as a 'Weider Miracle case'. Later claims had his arm size at 19.5 at a height of 5'5"�.Later at 5'6" his arms were claimed to be 'over' 19.5. I am not communicating belief, just passing along the claim.

Aug 5, 1962 Marilyn Monroe died; born Jun 1, 1926 (four months after Steve Reeves was born). Have you ever seen that postcard photo of MM doing benches with dumbbells?

Aug 5, 1972 Ron Thompson won Jr. Mr. USA. Later won 1972 Mr. World, and 1974 Mr. America.

Aug 6, 1921 Arthur Saxon died at 6 pm; born Apr 28, 1878. We lost the greatest bent presser the world has ever seen.

Aug 6 Betty Weider born either 1934 or 1935. As Betty Brosmer/Broesmer she was the number one pinup model of the 1950s. See Steve Sullivan's books for more on her.

Aug 6, 1941 Part of W.L. Travis' will is published in this issue of the New York Times.

Aug 7, 1906 Iva Palmer born; died Mar 21, 1988. Iva married Frank Hise, who was Joseph Curtis Hise's brother. I interviewed Iva in Danville, Illinois Nov 13, 1985 from 2 pm to 3:45 pm, and bought from her Joe's Jackson 1-A barbell set, which I traded to Kim Wood in 2001. The spin-lock collars weighed 7.5 lbs each, and the tolerance between plate hole size and bar diameter stops the heavy plates from being loaded with one hand only- when the plates are on the bar in a bench press upright, there is no space visible between the bottom of the hole and bottom of the bar.

Iva and I were sitting chatting, and she showed me where Joe had roomed for one year in Danville, then I casually asked her whatever happened to Joe's weights, and she said something like, 'Oh, they are down in the basement.' Actually they were in a crawl space and I literally dug some of the plates up out of the dirt. The bar was overhead in the garage. I also got his Magic Circle, which I gave to Randy Strossen many years ago. Speaking of Randy, he and I chatted on the phone this week, and we remain on opposite sides of the Paul Anderson backlift. Each of us thinks the other is dead wrong! Nonetheless, his MILO publication is very worthy. You can find Randy on the net at ironmind.com.

Aug 7, 1982 Lori Bowen won Mid-Central USA Women's championships. If this is a name you remember, you go back a ways in female bodybuilding knowledge. I don't think anything has been written about her in length since early 1985. As I recall she did some commercial work for Miller Lite beer. She won the heavies at 1983 USA championships, and captured the 1984 Women's World Pro. Sleek Physique (remember that mag?) featured her in its Fall 1984 issue.

Aug 7, 1991 The WBF (World Bodybuilding Federation) announces the signing of Lou Ferrigno

Aug 8, 1825 Josef Siegl was born. Later known for his finger strength. At age 68 Siegl's strength is told by Sig Klein in this way: "He had a stick that was 56 inches long, which he brought along to the editor of the magazine. At the extreme end of the stick a hood was attached."

"On this hook he attached a weight of 4-1/2 pounds."

"He would place the stick with the attached weight on a table, and grasping the stick on the extreme end and lifting it with one hand�lift it clear of the table, keeping his arm straight at the elbow, and keeping his body straight at the waist. He had his thumb outstretched on the top of the stick, and his hand did not move from its original position."

Siegl then loaded a total of 9-3/4 lbs on the stick, placed it on the floor, and lifting it in the same manner, placed it upon the table.

When Willoughby writes of Siegl, the stick is 52" long and the weight is 5.5 lbs, which he says equates to 7.25 lbs on a standard 1-inch long Weaver stick- which most certainly was a typo and should have been i-yard-long. Later when Willoughby wrote of this matter the stick was 56" long and the weight was 5.51 lbs., and it was equal to 8 lbs on a Weaver stick. Cf Ironman July 1958 p 50 to Jan 1977 p 33

Aug 8, 1863 Angus MacAskill died at age 38 or 39. Here are some revised notes from my former newsletter MuscleSearch on Angus MacAskill, The Cape Breton Giant: Seven years after Angus died in his sleep on Aug 8, 1863, his biographer James D. Gillis was born. His book was published in 1926, but a better book was published by Phyllis R. Blakeley in 1970, entitled Two Remarkable Giants.

Angus was prime beef: 7'9" tall, bodyweight in excess of 400, bi-deltoid width at a claimed 44" (but he was buried in a 30" wide casket??). Friends who have seen his coat in a museum say it is approx 30" wide, certainly not 44".

There are many discrepancies reported about Angus: He was born in Harris on the island in the Hebrides chain called Lewis. At age six, or three, the family moved to Nova Scotia, to Cape Breton. He had nine brothers and three sisters.

His weight varied from 400 to 500 lbs. His chest size was 70" or 'around 80" The palm (the PALM, not the whole hand) was 6" wide and 12" long, but the tourist office offers that his hand was 8" wide!

Here are some tales attributed to Angus, which I leave to your imaginative interpretation: 1. Angus replaced one of two horses on plow detail as his father guided the plow. Angus maintained this for two hours.

2. Angus was challenged by a bully, so Angus in a pre-fight hand shake crushed the man's hand until blood spurted.

3. Angus carried an ailing friend to the doctor. The friend weighed 190 lbs, the doctor was 25 miles away, and Angus never set the man down during the whole trip.

4. Angus during a wrestling match threw his 200 lb opponent OVER a wood pile which stood 10' high and was 12' wide.

5. A pinch grip lateral raise of a 100 lb bag of sugar using only two fingers and holding the bag straight out from the shoulder- for ten minutes!

6, Angus lifted up a 140 gallon container of wine and slowly drank from it.

7. Finally, the famous anchor lifting feat than injured him and led to his decline in health. Details vary greatly- it happened in New York City, or Boston, or New Orleans. The anchor, lying on the dock weighed between 1,200 lbs and 2,600 lbs (I told you details varied). It did or did not have a chain attached. He lifted it to his shoulder and walked either a few feet or one hundred yards. Or he lifted it overhead. All versions agree that after this he was never the same and could not stand erect easily, so it is bewildering that one author places this incident AFTER #1 above (plowing)!

By the way, have you ever wondered if such heavy anchors even existed in the time of Angus? Well, they did exist, but were not used for ships at sea but ships at dock, so at least that part of the story fits.

I will not relate the Queen Victoria encounter (which did not happen anyway). In my newsletter we went into much more detail, but these are the overviews.

Aug 8, 1894 Eugen Sandow/ Blanche Brookes wedding in England.

Aug 8 (or Aug 9) 1903 Tom Tyler born; died May 1, 1954. Real name was William Joseph Markowski, though he was also known as William Burns. He was a star in western movies starting with the Galloping Gallagher in 1924 where he had a bit part, thru the early 1950s- the final movie I have for him is Cow Country. Webster's book The Iron Game page 115 has a photo and another name, Tom Burns

Relevant here for his strength: At the 1928 Olympic trials he pressed 230 lbs and snatched 230 and C&J 300 for a 760 lb total. When S&H reported his death in the Sep 1954 issue it was mentioned that he had once C&J 340 lbs. Ironman Sep 1954 reported that he passed away at his sister's house in Detroit.

Though he was selected for the 1928 Olympic team he did not compete. He was, I believe, the first American to C&J 300 in official competition.

Aug 8, 1907 Gustav Schwarzenegger born; Arnold's father.

Aug 8, 1925 William Frank Hise wed Iva Palmer in St. Joseph, IL, It was the day after Iva turned 19 (see Aug 7, 1906 above). Frank and his brother Joe in their later years were not close, though Joe did visit, and left his Jackson 1-A barbell set at Frank's house in Danville, IL. This is the set that I traded to Kim Wood- you should have seen his eyes light up when he saw that set! The only other time I have seen Kim so wide-eyed was at the Arnold Classic Fitness show. I'm kidding, I'm kidding!

Aug 8, 1926 John McCallum born; died Sep 21, 1989 (or born Aug 20?). John was a popular and informative writer in Strength & Health beginning in Apr 1963 thru May 1965 on various subjects, then the series known as KTP (Keys to Progress) began in Jun 1965 and ended with the Nov 1972 issue. Ironmind offers a compilation of these articles in one volume, and MILO began reprinting the pieces in the Oct 1993 issue.

In Nov 1988 John began writing for MuscleMag Int'l thru Dec 1989 wherein his part 2 of The Hard Gainer's Solution is mistakenly mentioned as part 3.

McCallum was a skilled writer who taught lessons in a humorous way, and often mentioned various characters in his ongoing sagas. I spoke to him years ago and asked if he was aware that some people were saying he had passed away. As expected, he laughed and then began writing for MMI until his death.

Aug 8, 1937 The summer strength show at Hoffman's house at Lightner's Hill, PA., drew an estimated 2,000 people. Attendees came from about half of the states in the U.S. as well as from Cuba and some Canadian provinces.

The sun was so hot that the bar of the barbell was very hot to the touch. Holding a bent press contest out of doors with just the clear blue sky as a fix-point caused some confusion- Sig Klein remarked that the first time he ever tried to bent press outside, he managed only 100 pounds until he focused on a tree branch. For a lengthy report see Strength & Health Oct 1937.

Aug 8, 1949 Scott Wilson born. Scott became one of the men to win an IFBB pro contest when he won the Portland, Oregon Grand Prix on Apr 16, 1983.

Aug 8, 1956 Rocco Signorille purchased the Rolandow dumbell from Sig Klein. What happened to the Rolandow dumbell is a mystery to me. The barbell is in the York Hall of Fame. Again, if anyone knows the dumbell's whereabouts, please share that info. I know someone who would like to buy it.

Aug 9, 1904 Leo H. Gaudreau born; died Jun 1, 1990. Leo's two volume work on iron history, titled, 'Anvils, Horseshoes, and Cannons' is a wonderful text written by a man able to read and translate from French, thus enabling him to share with us many articles and facts we would have missed. Anytime you have an opportunity to read a Gaudreau piece, don't miss it.

Aug 9or 10, 1949 Ivan Padoubny died; born Sep 26, 1871. Wrestler, who, as much as it pains me, defeated Apollon, albeit Apollon was age 46 at the time and Ivan ten years younger. It was to Padoubly that Inch claimed to have left his 172 lb bell at Hengler's Circus in London, and when, upon returning with Saxon to see if anyone had lifted the bell, was told nobody had. Thereupon, according to Inch, he grabbed his bell and walked to a waiting vehicle.

Aug 9, 1969 Sharon Tate died; born Jan 24, 1943. Sharon was murdered on this date, killed while pregnant. In happier times she had starred with Dave Draper in Don't Make Waves.

Aug 9, 1987 Don Noel died; born Aug 5, 1929. Man known around Homer, Illinois (hometown of Joseph Curtis Hise) as a man with exceptionally strong hands. For the past several years an annual bass fishing tournament has been held that is named in his honor.

Aug 10, 1749 Thomas Topham died age 39. David Horne had written a fine text on Topham, which hopefully he (David not Topham) will reprint.

Aug 10, 1885 St. Petersburg Amateur Weightlifting Club founded in Russia.

Aug 10, 1905 Joseph Curtis Hise born in Scottland, Illinois; died Sep 26, 1972 at 6pm. Some maps say Scotland (one t) others have two t's. When he was born there, it had 2.

Aug 10, 1945 John Grimek sent a telegram to Dan Lurie regarding Lurie's challenge regarding "America's Most Muscular Man".

Aug 10, 1964 Nicole Bass born. Female bodybuilder who for a brief time was involved with the World Wrestling Federation.

Aug 10, 1986 Mac Batchelor died; born May 24, 1910

Aug 11, 1917 Abbye 'Pudgy' Stockton born; still living, and thus becomes 85 today! Not a finer female in the history of the sport! It thrills me to speak with her and with Les on the phone. They have great stories and wonderful outlooks on life. Les has chronicled Pudgy's lifting and physical culture career and is proud to be known as Mr. Pudgy Stockton. Pudgy is demur about this, but is deserving of it.

Pudgy used to walk down the sands of Muscle Beach beside Steve Reeves and people would actually walk up to ask if they were movie stars! Other females on the beach would comment that Pudgy looked like a man from behind (toned and had some lats) but certainly no one made that accusation when she was viewed from the front.

If you ever get a chance to chat with this wonderful couple, jump on the chance. They are warm, friendly, enjoy speaking of their history, and are full of life!

Pudgy wrote BARBELLES for Strength & Health from Jul 1944 thru May 1955 in a total of 85 installments. She used the term 'female bodybuilders' in a Dec 1944 article. She and Les helped judge the 1947 Miss Muscle Beach. They owned and ran gyms together in Los Angeles. Pudgy won Macfadden's contest Miss Physical Culture Venus in 1948.

In Women's Physique World Mar 1992 Steve Wennerstom wrote Credit Where Credit is Due and in Sep 1992 I offered Pudgy Stockton- an Original Fitness Pioneer for Women. She was inducted into the Joe Weider Hall of Fame with Flex magazine in Apr 2000. The Stocktons have one child, Laura whose photo appeared in Health & Strength Sep 2, 1954.

Aug 11, 1931 Doris Barrilleaux born. Doris placed 3rd at the 1979 Ms. Gold Coast, and was involved in the IFBB's early efforts to shape women's bodybuilding. She has been responsible for many cover photographs on leading bodybuilding magazines, wrote dozens of articles for the mags and for awhile had her own magazine S.P.A. and some calendars connected to that mag which are now collector's items.

She hooked up with Dan Lurie in the Spring of 1984 to publish a mag called Body Talk, and though I have seen references that two issues were published, I know for sure of only one issue before the mag folded. She ran a column in Muscle Training illustrated for Lurie called 'Curves and Peaks', starting in 1980, which was the year she won Ms. Gold Coast Over 35.

Aug 12, 1942 Paul Anderson's wife-to-be, Glenda Garland, is born. On Oct 9, 1956, Paul's engagement to 17 year old Gail Taylor was announced, with a planned wedding date for the spring of 1957, but this never happened. Instead Glenda and Paul were married on Sep 1, 1959.

Aug 12, 1964 Karl Norberg bench pressed 460 lbs at age 71.

Aug 12, 1973 Sergio Oliva won Mr. International at age 32. This was Sergio's 25th bodybuilding competition, and his only one in 1973.

Aug 13, 1948 John Grimek becomes the second man to win Mr. Universe. Steve Stanko was the first. Now a personal note. When I pointed this out in Ironman magazine years ago, someone very close to John contacted Balik at Ironman and asked why I would write such a thing (that Grimek was not the first Mr. Universe). The answer is, because it is true. Grimek was sitting in the audience when Stanko won the first Mr. Universe- it is no slam against John that he was not first- he would have been first, I suspect, if he had chosen to compete!

Which brings us to reality. Do you suppose that if I claimed to have won Mr. Illinois that someone might just point out that I did not? (I was robbed, I tell ya!) I never won Mr. Illinois, never competed in it, barely qualified to buy a ticket to watch it! My point is that truth is truth; it is not good sometimes and bad sometimes, it is always good. So, just as I (following years of therapy) can adjust to not being a bodybuilding champion, I expect others to adjust to the truths of whoever their idols are in this sport. If you cannot accept that your favorite participant may not be all he was touted to be, I can recommend a good therapist.

Aug 13, 1971 Los Angeles Herald story about Dave Draper being drugged.

Aug 14, 1934 Bruce White born. Gripmaster supreme from Australia, who once took measurements of the Inch 172 lb dumbell so that he could, and did, have his own replica made. If the Saxon's also had a replica made, as Thomas Inch claimed, then Bruce's replica was the second made; if not, then it was the first. Bruce developed the strength to perform chins on rafters by using a pinch-grip- a feat that is simply incredible! I understand that he still competes, and is today becoming 68 years of age!

Aug 14, 1948 Bill Hinbern born. Bill has a lengthy history in the lifting/bodybuilding world. A family man from Michigan who is grounded and very interested in the history of the sport, and who bemoans the trend it has taken in recent years.

Years ago when Eddie Robinson was shown on the cover of MMI with a woman slung over his shoulder so that her butt was facing the camera, Bill's wife asked him, when she saw MMI arrive in the mail, 'What are you going to do with that! Keep it away from the children!' or words to that effect. He agreed that perhaps that image was not how he would like to see the sport portrayed.

Bill began trading and selling magazines many years ago, and is now involved in publishing out of print classic texts about oldtime weightlifting. He offers several reprints which are professionally presented and which otherwise would not have been available to the modern masses.

Once, he acquired several photos of John Grimek, which he was offering for sale. John thought that Bill had made multiple prints, but Bill had purchased them. Nonetheless, to not diminish his relationship with The Glow, Bill boxed and sent all the photos to John. By the way I spoke to John not too long before he died and he told me that he was looking through old photos and putting some in a box labeled 'To be destroyed upon my death'- these were out of focus photos and otherwise faulty prints. Wonder what happened to that box?

Check Bill's website www.superstrengthbook.com/ or email him at bill@superstrengthbooks.com

The highest compliment to be paid is that no one has a bad word about Bill, or about his business dealings- this cannot be said of some other mag dealers. Behind the scenes, Bill has conducted years of research and letter writing and telephone calls trying to reach relatives of some of the great oldtimers- and he has reached many. Hopefully someday he will publish his own book. To clarify, the simple fact that Bill reprints some of the old texts does irritate some people. Better for you to have to pay top flight prices than to be able to get the reprint at a reasonable rate?

I am personally indebted to Bill because more than once he loaned me dozens of magazines so that I could file their contents and then send them back- The Chicago Bodybuilder, The British Amateur Weightlifter and Bodybuilder, and others. He asked for nothing in return except that I return the mags when I had finished filing them. Ah, there's always a catch!

So, Bill becomes 54 today, and I know of no one who has made more iron history books available through reprints than has Bill. Many of the very rich men in our sport should have undertaken this task, perhaps, but Bill is the man who came through for us. So please check out his website.

Aug 15, 1994 Paul Anderson died; born Oct 17, 1932 Paul may have been the greatest squatter the world has yet known. His kidneys had been a lifelong problem for him. I asked him point blank on the telephone one day if he had ever used steroids, he said he had not.

Paul is a figure that transcends decades. Although many of his most famous feats were unofficial lifts, and quite frankly not well documented, his legend grew with the passing of time.

One 'historian' told me that he had done some checking and that at one time Paul, from the chest inside a power rack, had jerked 720 pounds for three reps. I have done a little checking myself and can find no substantiation for this claim- certainly it is a claim that Paul never made to anyone else who has come forth, so Paul's image is tarnished when those who 'mean well' end up making outlandish claims such as this. Indeed the year that this lift was supposed to have happened was also the year in which Paul had failed on his third rep with nearly 300 lbs LESS than 720! Obviously 300 lbs less would literally be a warmup if one was able to lift 720. My point is that when people enter into crusades to establish false claims on the behalf of others, that the very person they intend to 'help' is harmed. Paul himself never made such a claim and should not be blamed for it.

So Paul should be remembered for his great accomplishments done in the official arena of lifting competition, and not blamed when his disciples' discretion disintegrates.

INCH 101: part 15

Aug 4, 1910 This was the date proposed for Edward Aston to contest against Max Sick- Sick had hoped to meet Inch but as H&S Mar 7, 1963 "By the end of 1910 the cards had been reshuffled and fresh hands dealt to the players. Saldo had presented Sick at the Apollo-Saldo school (then functioning near Leicester Square), the Bavarian's display positively staggering everyone who saw it; Inch, looking the facts squarely in the face (and still being his own best advisor) had resigned his middle-weight title in Aston's favour; the latter (trained now and backed by Inch) was defiantly inviting Sick to try to take the title from him".

Aug 6, 1921 The death of Arthur Saxon, the greatest bent presser who has yet lived. Shortly after Arthur's death, there appears in print for the first time Inch's claim that Arthur had never been able to lift his 172 lb dumbell.

Aug 10, 1862 Albert Henry Hengler born- connected to Hengler's Circus; died Jun 30, 1937

Aug 11, 1960 issue of H&S Inch publishes his message as President of the H&S League

Aug 12, 1933 this is an issue of H&S I am missing; anyone have it for sale?

Aug 12, 1939 Inch writes the article, Training for Strength in H&S

Aug 14, 1957 The fourth in a series by Inch in H&S titled Physical Culture Plus- the other installments ran Jun 20, 1957, Jul 4, 1957, and Jul 31, 1957

Aug 15, 1934 Historian W. J. Lowry wrote of this date "I shall visit the Long Eaton W.-L. Club, the principal of which is T, J, Fairbrother, one of Inch's famous pupils". The address was 7, Derwent Street, Long Eaton, Notts.

Roark Reference #15 In my files, I have several hundred pages of letters from Charles A. Smith, who remains one of the better writers to ever address the issue of muscle. I spent a week as Charles' houseguest in Austin, Texas in the mid 1980s and he and I would spend the days at the Todd-McLean Collection. He answered many questions for me, supplied an amazing amount of behind-the-scenes detail, and displayed a wondrous memory. He was at the time, and for the remainder of his life, in a wheelchair, but he occasionally used dumbbells while in the chair to continue exercising.

After the week in Austin, I was exhausted. Mentally. I liked Charles, I admired him, I respected him, both when I met him, and for his previous contributions to the body of work for the magazines. But Charles suffered one large regret: he had helped propel Weider's magazines to the fore in the marketplace- a fact supported by a letter Joe wrote to Charles, but Charles stepped out of the limelight just as matters muscle magnified in the American marketplace, and in my view, he always regretted doing so. He saw articles being written by people with only one third his skill and zero percentage of his knowledge, and it bothered him to be on the outside looking in. Lest I leave you with the wrong impression, I consider meeting Charles A. Smith, and chatting with him for hours, and exchanging hundreds of pages of letters. Meeting him was among the very high points in my involvement in this sport. I miss him, and hope he has found peace.

Charles A. Smith's letters to Joe Roark, excerpts: Please keep in mind that these are the words of Charles, but I have edited for typos, continuity, and discretion. Charles used an old-fashioned, manual typewriter and he used lined-paper upon which to type so some of his messages are difficult to read quickly. I once offered to buy him some blank typing paper, but he took offense and I dropped the matter. These are blurbs from his letters to me: I am not using quotes, but these are his typed words. Nothing is taken out of context, and the text is in the order which he wrote it- though to save myself from lawsuits, I have edited out sections.

June 14, 1985 letter to Joe Roark from CAS:

The first Olympic type bar, a Berg Hantel, was brought to this country by Henry Milo Steinborn. He loaned it to the York crowd and hence we finally got the York International Bar. Source: Told to Terry Todd by Steinborn himself recently, when Terry visited him in Orlando, Florida. Steinborn is now 93 years of age, scales around 180 and STILL working out with weights.

George Hackenschmidt used to wear long flannel night gowns when he went to bed, Source from my foster brother, Charles Assirati, whose wife used to make them for him. His wife, Rachel, is still living in a suburb of London, England and is over 90 years of age. She was twenty years younger than Hack, he having married her in France when she was 17 years of age.

Eugen Sandow: Another fact of his life was that, whenever he went out to eat, he not only reserved a table at which he ate, but those tables surrounding it. They remained empty so others using the establishment could watch the great man dine.

Jun 25, 1985 letter to Joe Roark from CAS

I started to work for Weider on January 1st, 1950 and left him for reasons which I'd rather not go into, but one of which was that I found out he was paying some of his other staff more than triple what he was paying me�.All told I was with him 8 years, and one glance at his mags of 1950 and what they were in 1956 will show you what my contributions were.

I have a great deal of respect for Weider and what he has accomplished not only for bodybuilding, but for himself. It should be noted that his reasons, rather his methods weren't exactly altruistic. It was Joe first and foremost. And at bargain prices.

Joe was not a bad lifter either. I believe he won a regional Canadian championship, Olympic lifting. I saw him clean, way back in 1951, 300 on an old exercise bar and bent press 170. Sig Klein also saw him do a fair one arm military press with one hundred. His bodyweight at the time couldn't have been more than one seventy five, but I am guessing.

I was the food and beverage editor of Jem, a mag that was a take off of Esquire. I wrote articles on oysters, beer, wine, steak, ice cream, and they were pretty good, so good that True and Argosy mags contacted me and wanted me to write for them. Joe said NO. I was his boy. I should have told him to get stuffed.

When I left Joe and came to Austin- my wife was pretty sick and I thought a change of climate might help- I had loads of letters from Jowett, Liedermann and other greats of the game, but my wife and elder daughter threw them away. Down the trash chute.

Incidentally, if it hadn't been for me, Bill Pearl would never have won the Mr. America contest. I was one of the judges and when the totaling up of the scores was being made by the chairman of the judges' committee, I saw he had made an error in tallying. HE WAS A CPA! He pretended he didn't know what I was talking about, but I insisted he count the column with ME again and again and again, and he at last admitted he had made an error. The reason why I kept a sharp eye on the score was that WELL before the contest took place there were a lot of rumors that it was 'fixed' for another guy to win.

As for the feud with Weider and Hoffman, I did all I could to make Joe ignore the remarks made against him by the York people. I thought it all childish and told Joe to just give them all the rope they needed, to let them say what they liked and THEN clamp down and hit them with a law suit. I often thought it was all a put up job between Hoffman and Weider to keep the mags going and up the news-stand sales. Just a thought.

Unfortunately, the York group blamed me for all the trouble, calling me Weider's hatchet man. I wasn't, in fact refused to write anything derogatory about anyone. For some reason Grimek always disliked me and behaved towards me in what I thought was a hostile manner. I have ALWAYS thought a great deal of him and so far as I am concerned, he is in a place with Sandow, Hackeschmidt of others of that ilk.. And I am also of the opinion that there never was nor there never will be- with the single exception of Sig Klein- anyone who will have his posing ability. None of the present crowd come remotely close.

Getting back to cheating exercises � There was one guy who never failed to knock cheating in his mag but who used to go around exhibiting his prowess on the bent press. Trouble was that he used ALUMINUM PLATES on his bar, giving the witnessing spectators the impression he was lifting a hell of a lot more than he was.

Jun 26, 1985 Letter to Joe Roark from CAS

My wife's name was Harriet. She died Xmas Day of breast cancer- one of the reasons my daughter went into cancer nursing. She was only 42 when she died. I have never remarried.

So getting back to when I left Weider, it must have been in late 1957. I came to Austin in February 1958. I have now lived in the US for more than half my life having arrived here from naval discharge on George Washington's birthday, 1946. I served six years in the Royal Navy COMBAT duty all the time from entry until the war ended in the Pacific. I saw service in Norway, Dunkirk, Murmansk Convoy, the Battle of Crete, the Battle of the Atlantic, was off the beaches on D Day, Omaha Beach from midnight the night of the invasion and continually for three weeks later.

Came out of it all without any physical scars but plenty of mental ones. I was decorated seven times. And here I am. While my daughter has achieved some prominence I often feel a lot of disappointment that I have done so much for the game in the US and am unknown today.

In the women's mags I wrote under the name Harriet Holmes- my wife's first name and my mother's LAST name.

When Harry Paschall died, I, not being with Joe at the time, phoned Johnny Terpak with whom I was always on pleasant terms and asked him if they would consider employing me. His reply was that he 'Would see". I never heard another thing. I was later told- another unsubstantiated piece of information that Grimek and someone else had threatened Hoffman that they'd quit if he employed me- but in all fairness I must say I find this hard to believe merely because I had never said or done anything harmful to ANYONE in the York crowd.

I see you live in Champaign County. That's the area where the unsung genius of American lifting and bodybuilding came from, Homer, Illinois, Champaign County and as if you didn't know his name- Joseph Curtis Hise.

My best wishes to you and yours, Chas.

Jul 3, 1985 Letter from Charles A. Smith to Joe Roark

As for my various pen names, There were so many that I can't recall them. Those I can remember were Carelton Squires, Harriet Holmes, Charles Smith, and of course the various 'star' bodybuilders who were- some of them- so illiterate they thought brothels were sop kitchens. These I rewrote under their own names. I also did scores under 'as told to' in which the so called author had nothing with which to do. How's that grammatically?

When I said that Joe made his first break away I didn't mean he stopped publishing them. What I meant was that he issued his first mag that WASN'T A MUSCLE MAG. That was WRESTLING MAG which was subsequently enlarged to BOXNG AND WRESTLING MAG.

If he had stuck to WRESTLING and not enlarged it it might still be going today. It was very popular and I established great rapport with the various promoters even to the extent of being invited to their annual conference in St. Louis- the conference where they decide who will be the current world champ and for how long. HONEST.

I know the name of the person who egged Joe on to reply to every snide remark that Hoffman made, but HE is still living, where I don't know, and I'd rather not give out his name.

Weider DID NOT begin the attacks on Hoffman. It was the other way around as you will see if and when you get all the mags and if and when you visit the Collection in Austin.

Getting back to the feud. Joe began to encroach on Bobby's turf and Bobby didn't like this one bit. The limelight was being taken away from him and someone who was putting out a BETTER MAG in which- at the time- no personality cult was evident. But how times have changed. Therefore the basis of Hoffman's attacks on Weider were two fold. Financial and anti-Semetic. Look back over the old issues of S&H and see the remarks made, for yourself. Hoffman didn't like having his enormous monthly take cut into by a new comer. Hoffman by the way is many times a millionaire.

I am at a loss here to understand the attitude of the Raders, It is true that they are pretty honest and do have integrity. But�they are fence sitters and prefer to let others take sides rather than they. I can understand this since it is amazing what Rader has done with a mag that no one gave a prayer to when it first came out.

Rudy Sablo. Rudy is a very old friend of mine and I have known him since 1946. Anyway, Rudy has the same sort of mentality as Dave Willoughby, a stickler for accuracy and what was, and what was stuff and nonsense.

So to set the matter straight, I first began writing for Ironman, being urged to do so by Joseph Curtis Hise, in the late 1930s- 37 or 38 I believe. I met my wife when I was in America, my ship being repaired in the Brooklyn Navy Yard after being dished up right royally in the Battle of Crete. I married her, she was a Brooklyn girl, and, since there was nothing in England for me and I had only my sister living there, AND since I was fed up to the teeth with the British social and class distinction and since I didn't want to subject my wife and oldest daughter to it, I came to NYC. The Raders had nothing to do with it and I doubt even knew of my arrival here. I did go to Alliance in 1949 with family to see if I could work there and on the mag, but things didn't work out, Joe offered me a job and since my family came above all others I took it. The RADERS had NOTHING to do with me coming to live in America. I HAVE known them a very long time- almost half a century- AND respect them. They don't ying/yang you around like Joe does. So, I got here under my OWN steam and with no help from ANYONE.

Joseph Curtis Hise is the unsung genius of American bodybuilding, and if, in my opinion, there is a single man who can rightly be called the Guru of modern lifting and bodybuilding, it is Joseph Curtis. He it was who first scorned the old ideas, the old shibboleths, and began to train for BULK and POWER and thought about shape after. As opposed to Sig Klein who always said, 'Train for Shape and strength will follow." I believe it was Hise who first saw the real, the ACTUAL potential of cheating exercises- getting the MIND as well as the body to become accustomed to moving quickly with heavy weights.

He was definitely an eccentric. I wrote to him, I believe, 1933 to 1959 when my wife died and I simply lost interest in everything. I never heard from him again. He was an UNTIRING correspondent.

It was impossible - as it is for me -for Hise to write a short letter. Every one was at least ten pages in length AND handwritten- never typed. And his knowledge was amazing. I recall in the early fifties writing to tell him that I had become interested in archery to the point where I was not only competing but also making my own bows and arrows. I sent a letter one week and a week later got back the usual lengthy letter and was amazed that he knew everything there was to be known about archery. He mentioned such great American archers as Doctor Saxon Pope and Doctor Robert Elmer, what they had done, where they had been, how Pope had shot lions in Africa with bow and arrow, of Doctor Elmer's research into the Archer's Paradox, how he had discovered a Chinese repeating bow, how you should NEVER believe a thing the Arab and Turkish archers said about their feats of archery since they always began their treatises with the words, 'In the name of Allah, the compassionate, the merciful,' which meant they were asking for forgiveness for the pack of lies they were about to tell. How he knew all this I don't know. Certainly he had no time to research the stuff from Britannica or other sources. And at the time Pope's books as well as Elmer's were long out of print and owned by a very few. I HAVE THE FIRST EDITIONS.

But he knew. He must have written me- and I him- hundreds of letters, none of which I now have, Hise it was who first saw the potentials in the use of a cambered bar for squatting, having seen Bill Pullum's old patented cambered bar- something else that's claimed as NEW today. Pullum came out with it in the very early 1900s- 1903 if I remember correctly. I understand that Hise was a diabetic but he rarely discussed his personal life. So far as I know he was never married, and so far as I know never had a girl friend. I don't believe he ever had a woman. He certainly WASN'T homosexual. I met him once in a world's championships in Philadelphia- was it 46 or 47. About five feet nine and heavy and helping everyone with training questions. He was also a great one for heavy shoulder shrugs. All my correspondence I left or gave to my foster brother Joe Assirati when I left England. Joe is 80 now, married for fifty years and a tribute to the physical culture life- still working out.

Warm regards, Chas.

See you Aug 16th