Vintage Muscle Men

Saturday, July 19, 2025

Honcho Premiere Issue, Part 1

I recently came across a partial archive of Honcho magazine. I have to say that my memories

of it seem better than most of the material in the archive, but perhaps my tastes have changed

over time. Having said that, there is a treasure trove of nice photos there, so you will be

seeing quite a few series in coming months. I'm starting with Volume I, Issue 1,

the very first Honcho from April of 1978. It will be a two parter,

with some mixed stuff first, and then a full spread by

Roy Dean featuring the cover man shown above.

Abundance

The first full photo spread in Honcho was Abundance. Get it?

Several different photographers' work was used in it,

and the cowboy above was by Colt.

Cowboy

This cowboy completes part one of today's series. He appeared in an

otherwise uninspiring photo spread near the back of the magazine.

Honcho Premiere Issue, Part 2 - Bill Nuckells by Roy Dean

Outstanding photographer Roy Dean was given a nine page spread in the premiere issue of Honcho. He chose to showcase Mr. California, Bill Nuckells, in (where else?) Hawaii, specifically Kauai.

I'm presenting the entire spread for part two of today's set.

Lighting

Roy Dean never disappoints, and the lighting here is one reason why.

Eden

Kauai is nice, but I don't know if I'd call it Eden.

Centerfold

I think this was the centerfold. I'm not sure because my source used

a separate page scanning method that never shows staples.

I had to splice two downloads together to make this.

The blurb along with this photo goes out of the way to mention that Mr. Nuckells brought his wife Debbie along for the Hawaii photo shoot. Oh, well. It also says that this shot was made at Barking Sands, a location now well known as an anti-missile defense installation.

Na Pali?

I haven't spent a lot of time on Kauai,

but I think this was shot on the Na Pali Coast.

Double Page II

Although not officially the centerfold, this two page literal layout

appeared at the end of Roy Dean's piece on Bill Nuckells.

Promo

Although obviously not part of the Honcho premier main photo spread,

this ad for Roy Dean's work appeared among the adsin the back pages.

Mr. Dean went on to do several excellent later series for Honcho.

Friday, July 18, 2025

Columns Day

It's columns day, and I will be posting fourteen models with that classic prop.

We start with an unknown by Dave Martin.

Ralph Kelly

Don W. Cogan struck a modified pinup pose for Ralph Kelly.

Bruce of LA

Bruce of LA's trademark grass floor mat shows up in this photo of an unknown.

Kovert of Hollywood

The model is unknow for this Kovert of Hollywood photo from the 1940s.

John Grimek

I have not been able to find the name of the photographer who took this stunning cover photo

of John Grimek for Strength and Health's February 1947 edition.

Douglas of Detroit

That's Joe Marcy (right) with an unknown in this photo Doug Juleff,

aka Douglas of Detroit, made using a black marble column.

Jon Arnt

This promotional piece by Jon Arnt is one of the very few of his works in my collection that I have not posted. I keep looking for more of his fine work without success. The model is Don Erdahl.