Honcho, January of 1981 - Part 1

Since I expanded my limit for vintage to 1985, I have been posting more material from magazines such as Mandate, Honcho, and Playguy.  While organizing my files recently, the Honcho isue from January of 1981 stood out for an unusual number of high quality models and photos.  Today I will be posting ten photos from that issue, to be followed in a few weeks by ten more.  For some reason, the cover and a few of the interior shots were Christmas themed.  Better late than never?

 

Tom Hartung

Tom Hartung made an appearance on page 15.

 

Tom Again

Here's a second view of Tom Hartung that I like better than the first.

 

Nova Ad

Sometimes the ads were almost as good as the featured material,

and this one by Nova isn't even one of the best.

 

Teaser

The rest of this piece wasn't as good as the opener.

 

Man of Steel I

The last five images in today's series are all from a single photo spread called Man of Steel.

The photographer is named as Michael Hoare, but the handsome model was not identified.

 

Man of Steel II

This is the first of two dual image pieces in the spread.

 

Man of Steel III - Centerfold

I think this was a centefold, but you can't see the staples

 because of the way my source displayed it.

 

Man of Steel IV

And here we have the second dual image.

 

Man of Steel V

 Our last shot shows the model looking across rooftops.  In a few weeks,

we'll take a look at ten more photos from this issue of Honcho.

Jockstrap Day

Mike S. or Arlington, Texas requested a jockstrap series, and I am happy to oblige.

We start the show with one of those wide banded early 20th Century types.

 

Jump!

There has to be a trampoline cropped out of this one.

 

Red on red

This could easily be a beauty pageant winner.

 

Joe Vitole

Joe Vitole of Brooklyn, New York could lift 475 pounds with his teeth.

I don't think I've ever seen another strap quite like that.

 

Rail duo

These two on a stair rail look like a lot of fun.

 

Seek, and ye shall find

Those of you who've followed this blog know how often I've wished for a better copy of a particular photo or photos.  In the case of the photo above, I was able to find better versions of both, probably because no male frontal nudity was involved.  Anyway, the ones below are clearer.

Our model was Anton Matysek and he made the cover of  a Milo Bar-Bell Co. publication.

The photo below is clearer yet and is probably from the original negative.

 

St. Mary's

I had to include this one from the World War II St. Mary's College Pre-flight School.

 

Amateur

I have no way of knowing for sure, but this might be amateur.

 

Lifting

Another weightlifter.

 

Old Favorite

Finishing the jockstrap set with an old favorite I posted seven years ago.

 

The Artistry of Bruce of LA

For our quarterly Bruce of LA feature, we will be looking at some 

of Bruce Bellas' more artistic efforts, starting with Dick Dene and a rope.

 

Contrast

I really like the contrasting segment blocks in this shot of an unknown, to me anyway.

 

Frank Nisi

The shading in this photo of Frank Nisi is amazing.

 

Bobby Kennedy

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Unknown

A collector from Paris placed an original print of this 

unknown Bruce model in an online auction.

 

Bruce Schorb

This is Bruce Schorb, and the photo was used to promote a set of color slides.  I suppose that given the fact that nearly all of the physique magazines had very limited color, Bruce Bellas chose a good black and white photo for the ad.  And what a good one it was!

 

Mike Anderson

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Jerry Sullivan

I find this photo of Jerry Sullivan to be simple and sublime.

 

Larry Madden

Larry Madden, aka Larry Eix, looks rather pleased with himself, and why shouldn't he?

 

Martin Adams

Closing as we started, with a model pulling on a rope.

This time our man is Martin Adams.