Vintage Muscle Men

Wednesday, October 14, 2026

Mike Morris Day

I'm indulging myself today with a full series on one of my alltime favorite models, Mike Morris.

I got to spend some time going through my entire collection selecting these ten photos.

We start with Mike leaning against what I think is a barn ladder.

Ankle deep

Here we see Mr. Morris ankle deep in a fountain pond.

Shower

I think he's on the way to a shower in this one.

Belgian Special

A certain Belgian we know might be very fond of this picture.

Shorts

You gym shorts fanciers might like this image from an execise guide

in which Mike Morris demonstrated a variety of techniques.

Stable Hand

I'm not sure if Mike is supposed to be a cowboy or a stable hand,

but he looks mighty fine in either case.

Cover Men

Although he didn't get top billing, Mike Morris appeared on the cover

of this magazine with three other top Colt models.

Sailor

This is one of the last pictures I haven't posted from a sailor themed photo shoot.

Cowboy

Closing the set with one of those classic Colt cowboy shots.

Tuesday, October 13, 2026

Al Urban Quarterly

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Johnny Davis

I'd love to know if this promotional photo of Johnny Davis appeared in a fitness or

bodybuilding magazine when it was made in the 1940s. It was rare, but not unheard of,

for African-American athletes to appear in interior picture features in those days,

but it much later before they were seen as cover men.

Unknown II

I'd really like to find more photos of our second Al Urban unknown model of the day.

Henry Karczewski

Henry Karczewski looks like he's saying,

"Don't shoot! I give up."

Jules Bacon

All Urban took this cover photo of Mr. America 1943, Jules Bacon,

for the Chicago based Body Builder magazine.

Unknown I Again

Here's the second photo of the unknown model who opened the series.

John Platero

I had never heard of Zing magazine until I came across this Al Urban cover of John Platero.

I'm pretty sure the trunks were painted on, so I'm looking for the nude original.

Steve Wengryn was one of those models who worked for a number of different photographers over the years. Of course, this one is by Al Urban, but I also have pictures of him in my collection by Vulcan, Western Photography Guild, Lon of New York, and Barrington.

George Kuchler?

Our last model was in my files as an unknown, but both he and the covered box

look a whole lot like a photo I have of George Kuchler. Can anyone confirm?

Disclosure: This one was so faded that I applied a contrast filter.

Monday, October 12, 2026

Chubby Day

It's chubby day, and we start with a camper.

Bird

I thought for a moment that this was Pablo Picasso with the owl,

but Google disagreed, and I think for once they were right.

Australian Role Players

Here we see some Australian naturists playing one of those murder mystery role playing games. Apparently they thought they needed three crime scene photographers.

Ledo Road

LIFE photographer Bernard Hoffman must have really liked this fellow he shot washing his truck on the Ledo Road in World War II Burma. I have at least eight photos from this session.