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.

 

1939 Superman

Superman magazine issued an art supplement in June of 1939, 

and John Grimek appeared in an impressive photo.

 

"Nudity'

This is another of the photos from the conceptual group by an unknown photographer.

For those of you hoping for nudity in today's series, this is the best we will do.

Interestingly, I have seen autographed prints of this one where 

Mr. Grimek signed his name across the derriere.

 

 

Nudists - Conventional Good Looks

Today we look at some nudist men with what I call "conventional good looks."

 

Flower Power

I would say this is a Summer of Love flower power episode, 

but our subject doesn't really look the type.

 

Medallion

Although I'm sure it's not what y'all are looking at, this guy displays

 that very popular 1960s men's accessory, the medallion.

His is more understated than most.

 

Profile

Sometimes full profile views are nice, and this is a good example.

 

Derriere

This is our only derrierre shot of the day, but I think it's a nice one.

 

Surprise treat

And here is our surprise treat of the day.  Those of you who have followed this blog for quite some time probably remember the search for the identity of a model we initially called "Brawny."  Well, we finalally found out that he was John Chapman . . . or at least that was the name he used to model.  The shot above comes from a photo spread about a fun loving group riding motorcycles on a beach.  I think it was a Wyngate & Bevins production, which would account for the physique model.

 

Dramatic

It seems like whenever I see this often photographed nudist, he is in some sort of dramatic pose or situation.  Was that just what he did, or did the photographer direct things?  Probably the latter.

 

Aviator

This guy was part of an expansive photo essay about three nudists who flew to a remote bush area 

for a day's adventure.  I believe our friend here was supposed to have been the pilot.

 

Grin

I like the coy grin on this one.

 

Mystery object

I don't know what that attractive man is holding,

but he looks amused by having his photo made with it.

 

Not playing

This fellow posed on a shuffleboard court, but he 

was goofing around and not playing at the time.

 

In the grass

Our last nudist is nicely posed in some dead grass.

I hope they didn't have a wildfire.

 

Early 20th Century Men

It's early 20th Century day, and we start with a photo that I am

not quite certain as to vintage.  Either way, I like it.

 

Curtain

The model here is making the dropcloth background look like a curtain.

 

1909

This one is from Germany in 1909.

 

Academy of Physical Culture

This gentleman of a certain age had his photo made at the Academy of Physical Culture in Paris.

Looks like he was quite successful and probably near the top of his class.

 

Folded

It looks like some idiot folded this one.

 

Multiple

Although the fig leaves are unfortunate, there's a lot going on here.

 

Javelin

Something tells me this javelin thrower is a German.

 

Stripes

Many of you know that I go nutty for men in striped antique bathing suits,

so here's my latest find.  The pony's nice, too.

 

Theodore Hey

All the info that came with this one was "Theodore Hey."

 

Best

I saved what I think is the best of today's images for last.

This young man in backyard sunlight is sublime.