Honcho - May 1979

Today we look at Honcho's May, 1979 issue.  I'm not starting with the cover page because 

it is one of their worst ever, showing a guy licking his own thumb.  Instead we will start 

with a photo set by Zeus of a model they only identified as Chuck.

 

Two page layout

This two page composite is the best shot of Chuck, imho.

 

Two views

Best of both worlds in this dual view.

 

Our cowboy model Chuck was said to have opened his own gym called The Phoenix.

 

Colt Ad

Nick Chase got top billing in this Colt ad on page 18.

Just below, Mandate made a pitch for subscribers.

 

Fire Pole

This little item is about some guys sliding down a fireman's pole in jockstraps.

 

No name

I don't seem to have a name for this fellow from page 39.  Anyone?

 

Fine Fur I

This nice hairy model was only listed as "Tom."

 

Fine Fur II

I don't know why Tom is drying his hair when it isn't wet.

 

Zeus

This ad for Zeus Studio appeared near the back of the May, 1979 Honcho.

 

Estonian Body Type Photos - The long and the short of it

Although I know this type of image is not the favorite of many of you, it does have a following,

and I recently got a request from Rob T. of Palmdale, California for a series.  This time I am going with contrasting pairs in terms of height, but some of you will no doubt notice other differences.  For those of you really into this genre, visit Larry over at The Unashamed Male .  Not only did Larry generously send these to me, but he posts them regularly with a different approach.

We start with Nos. 316 and 317.

 

441-442

                                  

 

453-454

For some reason, the side view accentuates the difference between these two,

something that was already pretty profound.

 

538-539

These two seem to support the old adage about body size

and the size of something else being inverses.

And I'm not talking about their hands.

 

675-676

These two have a key difference that isn't their height.

 

693-694

In the bottom phots, the guy at right seems to be 

straining to see the top of the guy at left.

 

719-720

Mr. 719 is almost a full head taller than Mr. 720.

 

253-254

For whatever reason, there are over a dozen of the Estonian body typing sets that have 

only two views of the men.  (Most of the missing views are frontal, fwiw.)  

Our last three in todays set are from this group.

 

314-315

In the side view these two seem to be staring straight ahead.

 

355-356 - Only two views but lots of beef

I call 355 and 356 beefy bottoms.

Mr. 356 appeals to me greatly.

Thanks again to Larry at the Unashamed Male and "a friend from San Francisco"

for sharing this historic and very engaging group of photos.

 

John Grimek Day, Part 1 - The Lon of New York Photos

I have sporadically posted photos of bodybuilding great John Grimek over the years, but today 

I am doing a full three part series on him.  A role model for no less a figure than Steve Reeves, 

he even edged out the younger man in several competitions.  He was active from about 1934 

until the late 1950s.  Part one of our set features the work of Lon of New York, 

shown above with a photo of Mr. Grimek and a statue of Hercules.

 

Front view

The bright lighting in this front view of John Grimek

makes me thing the shot was made outdoors,

but it most likely wasn't.

 

Column

Of course we can't go through all of Lon's photos 

of John Grimek without encountering a column.

 

Dramatic

I like the dramatic element in this pose.

 

Back and glutes

Our last Lon photo of Mr. Grimek shows off his back and glute muscles.

 

John Grimek Day, Part 2 - Strength and Health Covers

As you might expect, John Grimek made regular appearances on the covers of just about all the fitness and bodybuilding magazines of his era.  Today's part two features five of his Strength and Health covers, and that's not even all of them.  Future series will focus on other publications.  This issue from May of 1935 is the earliest John Grimek cover I could find.

 

June 1939

June 1939 saw an artistic reflection shot on the cover and an interesting question.

"Is sexual abstinence necessary for unmarried men?"  I don't know what 

Mr. Grimek would have said, but I don't recommend it.

 

December 1941

This cover came out in December of 1941, but was undoubtedly photographed 

and laid out earlier.  If they only know what was about to break loose.

 

October 1948

A very bronzed looking John Grimek appeared on the 

October, 1948 cover of Strength and Health.

 

At age 46

John Grimek was 46 when he appeared on Strength and Health in February, 1946.

I love the iconic scene and his finely maintained physique.

 

John Grimek Day, Part 3 - Assorted Photos

Part three of our John Grimek series features a variety of unattributed photos.

This one shows of his mighty muscles quite well.

 

"Defiance"

John Grimek did a series of published photos in which he portrayed

 heroic and Classical concepts.  This one was called Defiance.

 

Promotional

This is a promotional piece that Mr. Grimek did with Dich Buchtell.  I'm not sure 

if they were selling the devices, one of Mr. Grimek's courses or both.