The Sandow Museum: Historic Photographs
of Historic Bodybuilders
History
of Bodybuilding and a tribute to
Eugen
Sandow and
the first modern bodybuilders.
These photographs are the legacy these men have left us.
These remarkable images were made between 1880
and 1930.
The most famous bodybuilder
in the early days of the sport, indeed perhaps the first modern
bodybuilder was Eugen Sandow. Born Friederich
Wilhelm Mueller on April 2, 1867. Born in Prussia (now
part of Germany), he began his career as a sideshow "strongman".
Early in life, and with the help of showman Florenz Ziegfeld,
Sandow decided it wasn't enough to simply demonstrate his strength,
but to actually display his muscular physique as though it were
a work of art. He soon made his "Muscle Displays" the main feature
of his stage show.
Official
Sandow Museum
Poster by Artist Ron Dunn
To purchase one, click the image!
THE FIRST BODYBUILDING MOVIES!
Thomas
Alva Edison
was just beginning to make motion pictures. He was also fascinated
with the musculature of the body and the human form in motion.
Natrually, he was the first to photograph bodybuilding posting
rountines...
and here they are...
Enjoy
Eugen Sandow in 2 Thomas Edison
motion pictures! Presented here for your enjoyment in 4 different
formats, see excerpts from Sandow's wonderful "Muscle
Display Performance"...
See
the winner of "The Most Perfectly
Developed Man in the World" - Al Treloar
and his award winning posing routine of 1904. See the winner
of "The Most Perfectly Developed
Woman in the World"... Beatrice Marshall!
THE
STORY OF THE
MR. OLYMPIA TROPHY
The Coveted "Sandow" by David L. Chapman
The
most prestigious prize in professional bodybuilding today is
the Mr. Olympia contest. The trophy is a statue of Eugen Sandow.
Read the incredible story of this magnificent award and be surprised
to find out who was the first recipient!
SANDOW,
TEXAS is a mining community eight miles southwest of Rockdale
in southern Milam County, Texas. The town is about midway between
Austin and Bryan/College Station, Texas. When the McAlester
Fuel Company took over the operation of the mine in 1922, it
renamed the town "Sandow", after Eugen Sandow, famous
strongman and bodybuilder. Construction of the Rockdale, Sandow
and Southern Railroad was completed in 1923. For twenty-five
years the Sandow mine provided lignite to several plants in
Texas, including the central heating plants at the University
of Texas and Texas A&M University, the San Antonio Public Service
plant at New Braunfels, and the Texas Power and Light plant
at Trinidad. The Alcoa aluminum company owns the railroad and
the town of Sandow is nearby the plant.
"Suffused with glory,
honor, and money, Sandow left on a pilgrimage to the scenes
of his youthful hardships, where he was abandoned, discouraged,
and unhappy"
"The
last shall be first," saith the Evangelist. After leaving the
stage, Sandow became a great personage and deserved to be considered
so. He proved this by his generosity and his goodness. Sandow
discovered in the very square where he once struggled dejectedly
to earn his daily bread a man who seemed to be his own reflection,
and he noted this odd twist of fate. Moved by this coincidence,
Sandow open heartily gave the unfortunate a small fortune and
thus transformed the existence of this nomad who finally found
a place at the banquet of life.
THE
STORY OF SANDOW'S GRAVE
Putney Vale Cemetery - London, England
A
strange story in itself. Sandow's grave has remained unmarked
for 75 years due to family request. There are now plans underway
to install a monument on the plot. Because of his generosity
to charity and the Olympic games in London, to his influence
with the King of England, and of course his work popularizing
physical culture the world over, Sandow deserves better than
the blank chunk of second hand concrete that covers his plot
today....
Author of "Muscle Building",
"Secrets of Strength", Jujitsu", "Endurance"
and many other books- the picture at right is circa 1924 - His
measurements were as follows: height: 5'9" - weight: 185 lbs.
- chest: 47 3/4" - waist: 32" - biceps: 16 1/2" - quads 23 1/2".
His offices were at 305-309 Broadway, New York City. His muscle-building
course was highly successful and extremely popular, especially
during the 1920's....
Gustav
was very powerful and
could do the continental press with 308 lb With
his strength, he grew an impressive physique. He was to win
a World Physique Championship in 1903.
He
was 6' tall and weighed 220 lbs. with extremely low bodyfat.
Gustav was one of the best built of the Victorian bodybuilders
and his physique would be remarkable even today. He possessed
near perfect genetics for bodybuilding.
GEORGE
HACKENSCHMIDT
Championship Physique and
Early Wrestling Star
One of the most famous
of the early physique stars, the "Hack" was also a
championship wrestler. His arm measured 19", his chest 52".
He also had amazing back muscle development. In
his "Complete Science of Wrestling" published in 1909, even
in his photos where he is demonstrating holds on an opponent,
he shows us what made him a matinee idol and a celebrity of
the time. Hackenschmidt is stripped down, wearing only short
trunks while his opponent, in contrast, wears black tights and
athletic shirt...
One
very tough feat to perform is the one-arm lift.
It is rarely done today because it requires the
complete trust of the man who is doing the lift,
and the ability to set ego aside and relax enough
to allow your friend to lift properly and without
injury...
A
fascinating look into one of the main reasons Victorian champions
won so much acclaim and actually presented their physiques in Vaudeville
shows. "Maxalding" is the lost art of extreme muscle control.
Men like Maxick and Monte
Saldo could make their muscles flex and ripple during these
dramatic anatomical displays.,,,
Many
of the photographs on this site were taken from Victorian Carte de
Visite or Cabinet Cards. Here is an explaination of what those were
and how they were made.
Caroline
Daley's New Book
LEISURE AND PLEASURE
RESHAPING AND REVEALING
THE NEW ZEALAND BODY 1900-1960
In part, about Sandow's ideas on
the body, exercise and leisure and it's
impact on that country after his visit.
The SANDOW GYM T-Shirt
and other "Sandow Gym" items
in the Sandow Store!
This
websie looks best at a
screen resolution of 1024 x 768
The Sandow website began in April 1998, since then, there have
been the following number of visitors...
Updated
October 6, 2005
BODYBUILDING
HISTORY
FOR 7 YEARS
ON THE WORLD WIDE WEB!
Physique
photography's principal goal is to pose and record the subject
so as to show his or her musculature as clearly and artistically
as possible.
It
was born in the nineteenth century when the techniques for developing
the human body had been perfected to the point where athletes
could get fairly consistent results from their efforts.
As
the methods for bodybuilding improved over the years, the physiques
changed as did the photographic styles used to chronicle them.
When photographers were first faced with the possibility of
recording the physiques of muscular men, they drew on traditions
that had been used for centuries...
David
Chapman's New Book!
RETRO STUD!
A wonderful collection of Muscle Movie
Posters and Images from mid-century Europe.
SANDOW:
THE BEGINNING by GIL WALDRON
April
2nd 1867 saw the birth of one Friederich
Wilhelm Mueller,
to you and I, Eugen Sandow. Many
pages in many books, newspapers and magazines have been written
about this man, and most physical culturists, weight lifters
and bodybuilders have heard of the Great Sandow, though 'Sandow
the Magnificent' as David L. Chapman called him in his biography
of Sandow, is probably a better description.Ê It is well documented
how Mueller became Sandow, the name change, the marketing, the
vaudeville performances, the friend and trainer to Lords, Ladies
and Gentlemen. But how did Clark Kent turn into Superman? How
did the man in question train? What system turned young Friedrich
into Eugen, The Father of Modern Bodybuilding?
This
is an on-line exhibition of restored Victorian muscle champions
and the photographs that they have left us. Many of these men,
were world famous in their day, and until now, long forgotten.
This is a tribute to their hard work and dedication. These
men were building their physiques long before muscle-building
drugs and you see them as
they actually appeared. Although I have restored many of the
images to remove ink, scratches, and blemishes, I have not "enhanced
the muscularity of these men. The
photographs on this site were taken from the years 1880 through
1930, and to my knowledge, there are no images newer than that
date here. Many other photographs were sent to me from collectors
from all over the world, and some from the descendants of these
champions. Seen
in those times, these men appeared incredibly muscular compared
with the average Victorian man, who tended to be rather thin,
quite unlike the average man of today. These men were the "superheroes"
of their times and would inspire many of their contemporaries
towards paths of better nutrition, health and vitality...
Above:
The statue of Heracles and Cacus by Baccio Bandinelli, 1527-34
The
"Grecian
Ideal" and how the Victorian muscle
champions found an actual "formula" for the "perfectly
proportioned physique" in classic Greco-Roman sculpture.
The
men seen in these galleries built their physiques with very
hard work, dedication, and a goal firmly set in their mind.
They had no muscle-building supplements, drugs, or even modern
musclebuilding techniques. They often had to invent the exercises
and devices until they found something that they found worked
for them. Their photographs are old fashioned, but their courage
was not. There are countless men today who are building their
physiques in basements, bedrooms, and home town gyms around
the world. Many will never compete, but they are bodybuilders
just the same. They come from every age group, economic background
and profession. If you are one of these men, be proud and understand
when you look at the numerous images on the Sandow website that
you carry on a great and noble tradition in the sport of bodybuilding!
THE
MECHANICS MONUMENT
San Francisco, California
This
San Francisco sculpture was dedicated on May 15, 1901,
and depicts 5 muscular men to honor the common laborer
of the Victorian age....
Use
this search feature to find exactly
who or what subject you are looking for
within the Sandow site!
(Note: It will not work on text
within a graphic image)
