Professor Desbonnet Day

Professor Edmond Desbonnet (1867-1953) was a French academic and photographer who popularized physical culture in late 19th and early 20th C. France.  He helped found one of the worlds first fitness magazines, La Culture Physique, and pioneered the concept of gym workouts for health.  His methods were so popular that he founded the first known chain of membership gyms.  Today we will look at some of his photos, as well as some that others did on his behalf.  

As you can see above, the Professor practiced what he preached.

 

Built

This Desbonnet student's abs are remarkable.

 

Edmond Desbonnet did not do all the photography for his published exercise guides, and this one was done by Walery.  As  you'll see later in today's set, there are other possible and probable examples.

 

Book Revival

David Chapman is someone all of us who admire vintage physical culture photos should be thankful for.  He has not only curated and preserved some major physique photographers' work, but he has also written, co-written, and translate books on the subject.  Above we see the the cover of his translated reissue of Prof. Desbonnet's The Kings of Strength.

 

Sandow Ad

Eugen Sandow appeared in a remarkable ad for Prof. Desbonnet's gym.

 

Rear

The well formed glutes are the main attraction here.

 

Celebrity Wrestlers

This photo is from Desbonnet's book The Kings of Wrestling.  While I'm not certain that he had his own stable of wrestlers, we can assume that he helped with the training of this group.

 

Contrast

Professor Desbonnet gives us two very contrasting models here.

 

Outlier

This photo appeared in the important magazine La Culture Physique as an example 

of Prof. Desbonnet's results.  I'm not sure if G. Rasso was the model or the photographer.  

FWIW, the style doesn't match my Desbonnet collection very well.

 

Back view

Although the model's derriere is quite nice,

his back muscles first drew my attention.

 

Everyman

Although he's built well enough, I get an "everyman" vibe from this one.

 

Overhang

Something tells me that someone was holding the model's legs for this photo.

Having said that, I still find it impressive.

 

WWII Australian Troops Getting a Bath

Our theme for the day is World War II Australian troops getting their bath.

We start with some fellow happy to help out their friend.

 

New Guinea I

The location for the mass bath was Nadzab Air Strip in New Guinea, 1943.

If you look closely there's a money shot in the left background.

 

Helping hand

Here we have two Australians using half an oil drum as a bathtub.

 

At sea

I didn't know they had bathtubs on WWII ships, but the Australian War Museum

says that this photo was made at sea in 1945.

 

New Guinea II

These men are having a washup in Madang, New Guinea in 1944.

 

Stop action

Not a lot of skin on display here, but the stop action photography is excellent.

 

1944

I don't have a location for this one, but the year was 1944.

 

Malaya 1941

These Australian troops are heading down a river bank to have a bath in Malaya in 1941.

Within a few months, most of them would be prisoners of the Japanese following a 

disastrously ill conceived and executed British defense of the peninsula.

 

Puppy Love

This Australian soldier and his dog are gettting their bath together.

 

New Guinea III

In our third photo from New Guinea, two men are getting a bath in a shallow pond.

 

1951

Today we visit the year 1951, starting with Ray Cox by Ralph Kelly.

 

Harold Haydon

Harold Haydon did this drawing in 1951.

 

Oscar Norberg took this photo of an icy pond outside a sauna in 1951.

 

Boot Camp

Mark Kaufmann took this photo at a U.S. Marine boot camp in 1951.

 

UK

The only info that came with this one was UK, 1951.

 

Fred Hare and John Kemble

Although my source did not give a photographer's name for this 1951 shot 

of Fred Hare and John Kemble, I get a strong AMG feeling from it.

 

Duncan Grant

Paul Roche posed for Duncan Grant in 1951.

 

Billy Joe Davidson

Ralph Crane took this shot of baseball player Billy Joe Davidson in 1951.

 

Lynes

The model for this 1951 George Platt Lynes photo is unknown.

 

Korea

Somewhere in Korea in May of 1951, Michael Rougier photographed these two GIs.  They seem to have thought they covered their packages, but the man at left didn't quite get there.