Jockstraps - The Early Days

The jockstrap, likely the most popular article of men's apparel on this blog, has been around in its modern form since the 1870s.  (It can be argued that there were much earlier garments of the same purpose, but they were rather different.)  Today we look at some early modern version from the period of 1900 to about 1920.  We start with a very well built male.

 

White gladiators

So many bodybuilders and strong men wore gladiator sandals 

that some used white ones to stand out from the crowd.

 

Odd weights

The odd barbell arrangement and diagonal pose make this one rather unique.

 

 

Rear view

Although this guy's are OK, the best glutes and back muscles appear later in today's series.

 

Bulge

Nice bulge on this one.

 

Joe Knowles

Joe Knowles was a fraud who mostly faked a survival ordeal in the Maine woods in 1913.  Although he did hike some considerable distance and gather a bit of his own food, he spent most of the time in a cabin with provisions (and his favorite beer) provided by a friend.  The top and bottom photos in this group show him during a post-expedition exam at the Harvard U. gym.

The photo above shows Joe Knowles in what he purported to me the skin of a bear (or bears) that he killed and skinned.  Observers noted bullet holes and signs of commercial processing.  Whatever we may think of his ethics, Joe Knowles was a pretty good looking man.

 

Washed out

I had to include this picture in spite of it being washed out because of the shapely derriere.

 

Thatch

We get a bit of crotch thatch poking out in this one.

 

Grainy

This grainy image looks like it was scanned from a cheaply produced magazine.

Nothing, however, can take anything away from those glutes and back muscles.

 

Smug

Our last jockstrap model is yet another with gladiator sandals.

If he looks a bit smug, I guess he's entitled to it.

 

Troy Saxon Day

Troy Saxon, aka Stuart "Pinky" Rosenberg, posed semi-nude while on a spring break trip 

to California around 1960 and ended up becoming quite a formidable photographer himself.  

Today I am featuring 10 Troy Saxon photos, starting with this one of himself.

 

Doug Felton

Kansas City college athlete Doug Felton is one of my favorite Troy Saxon models.

 

Frank Ball

A Midwestern creek was the setting for this photo of Frank Ball.

 

Jim York

Jim York's facial expression here is just this side of a scowl.

 

Bob Foxx

This photo of Bob Foxx was used on a 1962 magazine cover.

 

Rusty Steele

No Troy Saxon series would be complete without a shot of Rusty Steele.

Here we see him partially wrapped in a fish net.

 

Donnie Kay

Donnie Kay(e) posed numberous times for Troy Saxon,

and I recently found this woodland photo of him.

 

Jim Lindsay

Jim Lindsay (or Lindsey) was sometimes referred to 

as "Sarge" in Troy Saxon's published work.

 

Joey Singer

Troy Saxon took this photo of Joey Singer for a DSI publication.

 

Paul Upton

We close with Paul Upton and a photo where the somewhat harsh lighting works well.

 

Roy Blakey

Roy Blakey is our photographer today, and we start with a model in a pose Mr. Blakey used a number of times.  He did, however, change it up to various degrees every time he shot it.  In this case, 

one arm is brought in close to the cheek, and the hips are slightly tilted to one side.

 

Unique pose

In contrast to the first photo of the set, the pose here seems rather unique.

 

The look

This is a good photo all around, but I especially like 

how the model is looking right into our eyes.

 

Demure

Although the pose is on the demure side, Mr. Blakey's 

photographic skills are on full display here.

 

Skating Inspired

If we didn't already know it, this pose might be clue that Roy Blakey 

spent decades in the ice skating extravaganza business.

 

Cropped

Although this one is heavily cropped, it is an another example 

of Mr. Blakey's sweeping dance and skating inspired poses.

 

Nice recliner

I think this is one of the better reclining shots I've posted recently.

 

Double

We get double over the shoulder looks from these two.

 

Spaniel memories

This guy's expression reminds me of a fine spaniel we had when I was a child.

 

Lighting

Closing the Roy Blakey series with an example of some fine lighting and fine buns.