Nudist Resort Refreshments

Classic nudist camps, colonies, and resorts often had quite evolved facilities, including canteens that dispensed refreshments.  Today we look at some scenes of that sort, starting with this young bearded man with a Coca Cola at the appropriately named Swallows Sun Island Club.

 

I remember those clunky, sometimes undependable drink machines.

The best thing I can say about them is that the bottles were reused.

 

All kinds of goodies on display here.

 

Here we have a fellow with a fine furry derriere 

waiting for his order at the camp canteen.

 

John here is enjoying that ultimate summer refreshment, ice cream.

 

Lon's Italian Models

Lon of New York, aka Alonzo Hanagan, was fond of Italian models, so today I am 

featuring them in a 10-piece series.  We start with Frank Giardina, a model who had 

a close personal relationship with Lon and learned the skills of physique photography 

from him.  And lest we forget, I need to mention that Lon Hanagan was beaten, arrested, 

jailed, fined, and forced into psychiatric treatment for distributing photos like these.

 

Joe Bongi posed for a relatively rare color photo by Lon Hanagan.  Most of Lon's color work was intended for bodybuilder magazine use, and this might be another example of that.

 

Frank Affrunti strikes an academic pose with a staff in this Lon of New York photo.

 

Vince Perri shows off his classic 50s hair while perched on a column.

 

Although he did more than Douglas of Detroit, Lon didn't do as many derriere shots as some of his peers.  George DeMaria adds an element of quality here to offset the lack of quantity.

 

We get a double shot of Italians in this Lon of New York

 photo of Jerry Rocco (left) and Ernan Cassamassa.

 

Although I love the big smile on Vincent Taffaro's face,

this picture could have been cropped better.

 

Bruno Marino posed for Lon of New York in his jockstrap.

 

This is David Tiano, and his surname originates from a Tuscan term for "frying pan."

 

Fred Massaro had a Boston Blackie mustache when Lon photographed him.

 

Sandow gets plastered . . . plus a few strays

This is the only known frontal nude photo of Eugen Sandow (1867-1925), the German strongman and showman. He became a guru of fitness and male beauty when he moved to London in 1889, and he traveled the world attracting huge crowds of male and female fans.  While in the USA for an extended time in the early 1890s, he lived with his musical accompanist who was rumored to be his gay lover.  These rumors were reinforced when Sandow's wife burned all his personal letters and papers upon his death and buried him in an unmarked grave.  (A fan later provided a handsome marker.)  Sometime around 1900, he agreed to be cast in plaster for a statue in London, and that session is the subject of most of our photos today.  This seems to be the start of the process.

 

The plastering is well under way here, with a combination of frames 

and human hands helping keep Sandow steady and in place.  

No less than four men seem to have their hands on him, lucky guys.

 

Sandow looks nonchalant here as a workman applies plaster while he stands in a washtub. 

 

Sandow seems to be eyeing the camera man after having emerged from the plaster with 

some bits still clinging to his hip and calf . . . and who knows where else.

 

This is said to be the statue made of Eugen Sandow from the plaster casts made in today's series of photos.  It is supposedly kept out of sight in the basement of the Victoria and Albert Museum

 

Eugen Sandow was quite frequently willing to have his derriere photographed, but the preceding photo from the plaster molding session is the only known frontal nude of him.  We do, however, have a large number of fig leaf photos, some of which are quite appealing.

 

Some of the best photos we have of Sandow are from an 1894 session with a photographer named Steckel.  I don't know if this was hand colored by Steckel himself or by someone later.

 

This dramatic image of a gladiator is another example from the Steckel session.