Iron History with Joe Roark

Joe Roark's IronHistoryArchives.com

The HUGE library of Iron History compiled by Joe Roark.

Welcome to Iron History with Joe Roark!

Joe Roark has been studying the iron game since 1957, and by 1970 began a systematic gathering of information on index cards. By the time his first computer was acquired, there were several hundred thousand references to be typed into it.
For a few years he published his own newsletter called MuscleSearch: The Roark Report. By 1992 he was appointed as the IFBB Men's Bodybuilding Historian, and began writing about history for FLEX in his column Factoids. For ten years he contributed to Iron Game History from the U of Texas at Austin. Recently he also began writing All Our Yesterdays for FLEX.
His passion has always been the period between 1880 and 1920, with particular emphasis on the oldtime strongmen of that era. Joe will be offering bits of history for Cyberpump once per week, and the text will be relevant to the dates of the calendar for those events of yesteryear relevant to the coming week.
In this column, readers will also be able to ask Joe questions or comment on his posts. Note: The comments are solely for interaction between Joe and the readers only -- not reader to reader.

2/27/2009: The May 25, 1988 Letter From Charles A. Smith to Joe, Concludes
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Conclusion of May 25, 1988 letter from Charles A. Smith to Joe Roark:
Ah ha! Is there any organization in Austin that will come to my home, take me a mall, a whore house, a blind pig, a head shop, or whatever. Yes, there is if you believe the Yellow Pages and other parts of the Austin Telephone Directory- as many of them as there are fleas on a dog. But getting their services is something else. Damn, bugger and bladt those who refer to Old Age as the GOLDEN YEARS. BULLSHIT.
The organization here is known as the Austin Senior Citizens Social Services- try twisting that one around your tongue a few fast times and see what you come up with. However, the Austin Senior etc etc like the US Post Office and the Deity, perform their wonders in mysterious ways. Want an example? You don't? Well you're gonna get one anyway.
Not too long ago, Vera was unable to do my monthly shopping for me- she was off to some conference in Houston. Bob was in a similar state since he had the kids to look after plus scads of school work, so I called the Austin Senior etc etc to see if they had someone who could shop for you. I told them who I was, my circumstances and what I needed. Did they have anyone. Sure they did. Got a paper and pencil handy? Yes, I said, I have. Good they said, call this number.
So I called the number they gave me, told them who I was, my circumstances, what I wanted etc etc. Sure, they said, we have someone, got a paper and pencil handy? Sure I said. Fine they said, take this number and call it, they'll take care of you. So I call the number and them who I was, what my circumstances were and what I wanted. Could they help me. Sure they said. Got a paper and pencil handy. Sure I said. Take this number down they said. They'll help you.
So I call the bloody number--the FOURTH and what do I get? An answering machine. Leave a message on the tone I was told and we'll get back to you pronto if not faster. So I left my name, phone number, my circumstances and what I wanted. I am still waiting for them to call back.
So I did what I should have done in the first place. I called an old girl friend and after half an hour of arguing in which I was told 'You don't love me any more,' and my swearing and vowing by every God of every bloody culture that I did, she finally came over and did my shopping for me
The Austin Senior etc etc also have funny ideas about who you want as home visitors. That seem to think that because YOU are 77 years of age, you want to chat up with people who are 77 too. As a result one gets troops of doddery old bastards knocking at one's door, coming in and talking about nothing but their operations and what they chat about with their second cousin twice removed on their maiden aunt's side and this I don't want.
I know I am OLD chronologically, but I ain't mentally and I want YOUNG STUFF to visit. But above all I want my FAMILY to visit which they rarely do. The only ones who call me are the boys to tell me this and that, who they had punch ups with at school, what tricks they have played on Johannah and how she was mean to THEM. The nerve of it.
So in some ways I am better off as I am. Also the Austin Senior etc etc has the pleasant habit of sending the rich bitches around who act so bloody patronizing its unbearable, and all I can do is to be barely polite. I hate to be 'slummed'.
Anyway I am getting fed up with this sorry world anyway and am happy with the thought I won't be around much longer, then everyone can cheat and shaft to his heart's content and can pollute the atmosphere, screw up the environment and get rich quick without a single thought of what they are doing to anyone or anything. Happily, I won't be here to see the mess.
Man doesn't need atom or hydrogen bombs to destroy the world, He is doing a bloody good job of it on his own with his own greed and selfishness, so UP the Austin Senior etc etc and screw them all bar one and that one can screw himself.
With these inspiring words I leave you to your grisly fate,
best to you, Geni, and Meg,
Chas.

Posted by TheEditor @ 08:32 PM CST
2/20/2009: May 25, 1988 letter to Joe Roark from Charles A. Smith, part two.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
May 25, 1988 letter to Joe Roark from Charles A. Smith, part two.
What do I know of Jim Halliday? A little. We corresponded for a while butthen lost contact for some reason or the other. Jim seems a nice bloke and was a damned good lifter, good enough to take a bronze at an Olympic. He had a very bad time during the war, being captured by the Japs at Singapore and spending four years in Chang jail, which is situated on a point of Singapore Island by the Johore Strait. I will try and get his address for you and you can write him. I believe he lifted as a lightweight. They called him Jumping Jim Halliday because of his habit of jumping over the bar after he had completed a lift. He is a Midlands Bloke and speaks with a broad Yorkshire accent.
If I wanted to possess a set of magazines noted for the accuracy, quality of writing, etc etc. Joseph, I am amazed that you could ask such a question of me, knowing full well that MODESTY prevents me from supplying an answer.
No, I haven't written to [George] Weaver yet, but intend to do so when I am in the mood.
Re Schemansky. I can tell you several stories about him. But might I refer you to my article about him which is due out in the next issue of the mag put out by Glossbrenner and Bob Hise, the International Olympic Lifter. You will find it entertaining. Glossbrenner liked it so much and expressed himself in such terms, I thought he was about to give birth to several tins of jam.
Yes, so far as I know Joe DI Pietro is still living. A very nice little chap, an achondroplastic dwarf and I think he married a girl who was close to being likewise. Joe came under some very cruel fire from some assholes in England who, so tis said, objected to him competing and proposed that he be barred because he had a 'physical advantage that others didn't. They of course referred to his pressing ability.
What he is doing I don't know. Chuck Vinci is also still alive and is said to be operating heavy equipment. Further deponent sayeth naught.
My opinion of isometric- the good old Dynamic Tension so beloved by Atlas and that has been around so long it has whiskers as long as Methuselah's. It is just another aid, a break in the monotony of lifting. I don't dismiss it completely, believing that it does have some advantages in preserving muscle tone and strength to a certain degree. Hoffie made a lot of it. conveniently forgetting to mention in his article 'THE MOST IMPORTANT ARTICLE I HAVE EVER WRITTEN' that the big gains his lifters were making, were steroid inspired under the guidance of Doctor John Ziegler.
Did Schemansky use steroids? I don't know and so far as I know, I don't think so. I recently heard-was it from you- that Grimek used them. This I don't know for sure either. But nothing would surprise me these days- or those either.
No, I didn't get any rubber strands, but did get a set of steel strands. Which I use occasionally to break the monopoly of picking them up and putting them down again.

Posted by TheEditor @ 09:06 PM CST
2/13/2009: Letter from Charles A. Smith to Joe Roark May 25, 1988
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Letter from Charles A. Smith to Joe Roark May 25, 1988
Dear Joe, Thanks for yours of the 22nd, reaching me yesterday the 24th.
What occasioned the move of Meg from a dorm to a 'flat'? Hope everything is well. How is she doing at school. OK?
[Roark note: Meg was doing well, and later earned a doubles Masters]
Yes, I got a copy of MD from Dellinger with a very brief note. Wrote back thanking him for same and mag. I believe I have already mentioned to you that, in my opinion, you have taken the rest pause system and the negative training principle and effected a marriage of convenience. Since both these so-called 'principles' were being used way back in the days of Joe Hise and before. I can't say that the system is new, but rather making the best of two worlds as it were. But none of the present crop of would be 25 inch biceps builders totally devoid of the history of the Game as they are, will know the difference and I won't tell--so there.
[Roark note: Charles refers to an article I wrote for MD called Variable Timed Speed Reps, and I disagree with his analysis]
Did I mention in my last letter that some big Russian bloke, a super heavy, took 661 off the rack and jerked it. And at the Championships he recently in Cardiff, Wales. Taranakov, the other Russian super cleaned and jerked 590, but started to walk forward and lost it. Just ten pounds short of the magical big 6. We might possibly see the first 600 clean and jerk at Seoul, if the Crazies don't rust up the affair and whatever else is around.
Not too much else to report, except to say that I am mildly pissed off at Kennedy and his half arsed editor Zulak would be the understatement of all time. I had written an article for Kennedy about the history and use of the Cheat Training Principle--why does every simple way of doing something get converted into a 'principle'. Anyway, Kennedy sends me a copy of his July MMI with my article in it. To my horror and a flood of four letter words, I discover the lead had been completely changed. I didn't mention Hoffman by name, but referred to him as a deceased Muscle Mogul. Zulak OR Kennedy put his name plus words I never wrote- that Hoffman called himself the father of Weightlifting, that he an article or editorial decrying the Cheat way of training and had at the same time shown shots of himself bent pressing a barbell, plus repeating the same word in a paragraph four times--something I never do. They also changed the word to effuvium to effluvism - a word that is in no dictionary I possess and other stuff making me look like an uneducated asshole. I at once shot off a letter to Terpak setting the score straight, telling him what I had said and what it had been changed to. I also wrote Kennedy chewing his ass out- as only I can chew when I am in the mood--and asking for an apology. I won't hold my breath. This sort of thing should not have been done without first submitting the alterations to me for my approval. If Kennedy wants to put the rap on someone, that's his privilege, but I don't want him putting his words into my mouth. The entire lead was totally spoiled. Why. oh why do these half assed, stuck up, jumped up, never come down again soi disant 'editors' think they can write better than authors- such as me I might add. This is like gilding the lily or the Venus de Milo. I am damn mad.
Yes, I have heard of Kay Baxter. Didn't know too much about her--'Any man's death diminishes me because I am involved in mankind. Therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls. IT TOLLS FOR THEE.'
I doubt very much is Breslin will remember me. But I do remember him on one occasion, when Joe wouldn't pay him for some article on some pretext, Jimmy threatened to come back and 'Blow this fucking joint up.' Joe paid. It would be nice, and even flattering, if Breslin remembered Chas A. But I doubt it.
[Roark note: My letter to Breslin to ask of his days with Weider never received a response.]

Posted by TheEditor @ 05:51 PM CST
2/6/2009: Part 2, letter from Charles A. Smith to Joe Roark, May 12, 1988
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Part 2, letter from Charles A. Smith to Joe Roark, May 12, 1988
You say there are some strange people in this world. Brother, you don't know the half of it. I have come across stuff I had to work with in law enforcement that I would never tell to anyone for the simple reason it wouldn't be believed. Here is a MILD sample, I had a kid once charged with a sexual offence. This offence consisted of picking up some queer at the local bus station-- a favorite cruising spot for gays-- going home with him, whipping the shit out of him, tying him up to the foot of his bed, then getting into the bed and going to sleep in it all night, leaving the queer tied up all night. For this he got fifty bucks. You don't believe me?
Bob Hasse begged Hoffie time and time again for a raise. He found it impossible to keep his family on what Hoffie was paying him. He finally quit in disgust. Others, especially those in menial or blue collar positions were paid a pittance. Like thirty five a week for loading weights. Result, a lot of cheating took place and two were fired.
I know from personal experience, at a meet in New York City, a VERY famous employee of Hoffie had brought a pair of 100 pound dumbbells with him to NYC for some bloke I knew. He handed a check to this very famous employee, but the famous etc said, to forget about the check, give me cash, got the cash and in it went into his bill fold. This sort of stuff went on all the time.
No, I haven't forgotten I wrote an article about Koenig. But he was a tad and more over 17 when I wrote it. I had long left the Bronx Union Y and was with the Wanking Wonder.
If I am not mistaken, MacFadden helped get H&S going in 1890 [Roark note H&S began in 1898]. It is hard to believe that this mag was once sold on a weekly basis with a black, red and white cover. There was another mag, around the same time H&S started, called HEALTH AND VITALITY.
Getting back to XXX, it is possible he may have been hustling gays in Cal. I got him hooked up with a Chicago wrestling promoter who had a queer working for him- that queer now being the big shot in Atlanta. This bloke was always complaining to me about XXX hitting him up for money.
Ski was okay. But like me, he had a penchant for speaking his mind too straightforwardly and if you didn't like it- up yours. Hoffie NEVER messed with him. He could have been a very rough man on the stones. But I liked him. Two of a kind I guess.
Bert [Assirati] did do a one legged squat with 200 and did do ten reps with 550 but no one would believe it. His other feats were a straight arm pullover with 200, a strict two hands curl with 200 and a two hands curl of 180 with his upper arms tied to his body. Try it some time. I have written many articles about Bert, one of which appeared in S&H. Bert was also, at a bodyweight of 250-60 an accomplished acrobat.

Now why do you want to know about my parents? What possible interest can they have for you. My mother died in July 1935 at the age of 45 of breast cancer. My father died in the late fifties from a heart attack. Heavy smoker. He was 68. Both working class people as I am.
Mrs. Hackenschmidt is, so far as I know, still alive and must be 95 now. She is completely bed ridden. If she is still alive, then she is living in the home that George bought when they got married. Rachel was a very pretty red head. Just 17 years old when Hack married her. Hack at the time he married her was THIRTY SEVEN YEARS OF AGE. The house is in the Norwood district of London, a southern western suburb or it was once. Now it is another slum district. The house was bought from the Hack estate by an Italian family, who allowed Rachel to live on there rent free and they look after her. She is somewhat non compos mentis, since she can't remember that Hack is dead and keeps saying I wish George would come back. He doesn't love me any more.
Modesty forbids me to remark on your question to who was the most reliable writer. As for me I'd certainly say I was the most entertaining. The nod MIGHT go to Willoughby. But David sometimes repeated what HE had read, like so many of the present crop do about the Old Timers. Never, but never, will I believe Saxon got 448 above his head and NEVER will I believe he ever bent pressed 370, or as BILL Klein claims to have seen, 386. But I think David was the most reliable. The most UNRELIABLE. That must go to two--the Wanking Wonder and Hoffie. They penned such hogwash. Another is Jowett.
I once decided I'd write to the various 'FAMOUS' and ask them what was the greatest feat of strength they had ever witnessed. Jowett wrote about Angus McAskill lifting that 1000 odd pound anchor just as if he had actually been there and witnessed it.
George Paine. Best forgotten.
I am not well. I spend too much time on my own and hardly ever see my family. All I do all day long is try to figure out who I am and who the hell I can blame for it.
Best and all that. Hope Meg is coping with the Byzantine Colvoluetions of College.
Chas.

Posted by TheEditor @ 08:41 PM CST