#vintage body building

Not many of the old photographs I post here come with a contemporary caption built in; this one leaves me with little to add besides that is a very fine quiff, sir!

I promised more of the Deriaz brothers when last I shared a photograph from this family of remarkable strongmen. Here is another picture of Adrien, published in the magazine La Culture Physique, 1905, when he placed second in a competition for ‘physical beauty’, the precursor to body building contests later in the century. The winner was a fellow called Paul Gasquet, but I haven’t been able to find a photograph to prove his superiority!

Artistically photographed by George Steckel in 1894, with great clarity and perfect lighting : one of the most flattering shots of the famed Eugen Sandow. 

Published around 1920 by Alfred Noyer of Paris, it is a great pity this set of postcards do not carry the name of this impressively-built gentleman who poses so dramatically - he must surely have been famous in his time, if any of you good readers recognise him, do let me know!

Early body-builder Otto Olympier proudly displays the astonishing muscle in his flexed arm, in this postcard from the 1910s. We’ve seen him pose (almost) nude to show off his phyisque before, here.

The impressively muscular Otto Olympier, his picture taken by an uncredited photographer and published as a postcard. Not intended to be sent home from a holiday as we mostly use them today, but for those who collected the cards as a hobby; images of strongmen and bodybuilders seem to have been a popular subject, judging by the amount which have survived to this day.