Fort Sheridan was a large U.S. Army base on the northern edge of Chicago which processed over half a million World War II inductees.  Part of that process for some of the male soldiers was having their photo made nude from three different angles as part of an Army project to study different body types or somatotypes.  Today I am following up on a request from a former fellow tumblr blogger for a set of these photos.  We start with a guy who looks completely blase about it all.

This guy's expression says, "The didn't say they were going to make me do something like this when they drafted me, and here I am naked in front of a camera."

This one is for the beef lovers among us.  Oh, and I find him pleasant, too.

They probably told this guy to look straight ahead and think about puppies.

This one is overexposed . . . the photo, not the man.

Russ Warner Day, Part 2

Our Wednesday G-rated lagniappe posts feature Russ Warner photos of bodybuilders with pants one.  He was apparently very involved in staging his shots, even going so far as to show 

Dave Draper here how to push against a huge rock.

Here is a photo of Russ Warner himself in some skimpy shorts with archery props.

I love the classic car (which wasn't old at the time) on the hill in the background.

Armand Tanny (1919-2009) really shows off his muscles and a leopard print bathing suit in this Russ Warner photo.  Tanny was a denizen of Muscle Beach who won national bodybuilding championships in 1949 and 1950.  He went on to appear in Mae West's muscle man stage review, 

eventually becoming a well published fitness writer and trainer.

My Belgian friends Jean and Albert might appreciate our Wednesday lagniappe twofer featuring Sam Hunter and Keith Stephan on the cover of the Belgian edition of Muscles.  Most bodybuilding magazines distributed their French version in Belgium, but this was apparently a primarily Belgian project that was also distributed in France, Switzerland, and the Netherlands.

This Russ Warner photo of Bert Elliot has some commentary attached. 

Perhaps it was copy from a magazine piece.

Norman Tousley posed nude for a number of physique photographers, 

but I have more photos of him by Russ Warner than any other.  

An accomplished bodybuilder, Norm appeared in a Warner photo 

on the cover of Muscle Power magazine.

Russ Warner Day, Part 1

Russ Warner was a successful bodybuilder and model who moved behind the camera and became one of the most successful physique photographers of the 1950's and early 60's.  He both posed for and made nude photos as well as clothed shots for popular bodybuilding magazines.  So today is 

Russ Warner day, and both our R and G rated series feature him and his work.  

We start with this picture of Warner staging Clarence Ross, a championship level

 bodybuilde who will appear again later in the G section.

This is Russ Warner himself in a photo described by some observers as a self-portrait made with a timer and by others as done by an unnamed associate.  In any case, it does demonstrate that Warner wasn't afraid to get nude in front of the camera himself.

This is Jack Thomas, Mr. America of 1956, who posed for a number of excellent Russ Warner photos, including some clothed shots for "legitimate" bodybuilding magazines.  In one memorable series, he and the not yet famous Jack Lalanne posed nude as a duo.  I featured some of that series on the old tumblr and probably will repeat it here at some point.

Frank Stagg is unusual among Russ Warner's models for two reasons.  First, he is not "built" like most of Warner's bodybuilder models.  And second, he is hairy.

Dave Aaron (left) and Hank Evans posed for today's Russ Warner twofer.  

Note how they are just almost holding hands.

Jim Conrad cracked a smile for this Russ Warner photo.

This photo of Ray Routledge is simple, but effective.  

Maybe it's the lighting that makes it special to me.

Amateur Day

Every now and then, I like to publish amateur beefcake photos, and this one features a beefy guy outdoors.  It was difficult, but not impossible, to get such photos developed in those days.  I read an article which said that there were gay photo lab employees in several U.S. cities (New York, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, and Chicago were mentioned) in the 1950's who would do such work on the sly.  Also, some amateur photographers had their own dark rooms.

This fellow is reading a letter that I hope wasn't a draft notice. At first glance, thought this might be the same guy with a cigarette in another of today's posts, but the sofa is different.

I'd love to know the story on this interesting looking 1930's photo of two men with . . . uhhhh . . . contrasting attributes.  It makes me think of Earle Forbes, but it's not in any of the 

collections of his work I've found, so I'm calling it amateur.

This guy is nonchalantly having a smoke while someone takes his picture nude on the sofa.

I stole this off a really great tumblr blog called Bob's Naked Guys.  

I deeply miss the community we had there . . . sigh.

Wrestling, physique model style . . . fake, of course

Monday's theme is fake physique model wrestling.  We start with two guys who look like they might have worked for Old Reliable in his early days.  Edited to add:  Viewer jsstrand identifies the guy in front as "Mark," a regular Old Reliable model.

This is absolutely pushing the limit of my "no action porn" rule, but they are wrestling . . . and on a fake zebra skin blanket, no less.

Here's one for the Bum Brigade.

This could get intense.

I've had this series of fake wrestling photos for many years, but I've never known who the models or the photographer are.  The guy on the right in the bottom photo looks like a model who worked for Jim French early in or just before he founded COLT.  Anyone know more?

It's in his kiss, Part 2

This picture is sort of iconic in G-rated vintage circles, and I think the couple may have been well known, so I'm starting Part 2 of our kissing theme with them.  Anyone know the story?

Farmers?

That's one way to stand out in a crowd of young men in their night shirts.

This one reminds me that we may be overdue for an Undies Sundays feature, 

but this will have to do for now.

I wonder what the U.S. Army's regulations said about kissing in 1944?

It's in his kiss, Part 1 . . . or the Shoop Shoop Song, by Betty Everette

It's all about the important art of smooching on the blog today.  Here's a favorite song on the subject to get you started.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4KN6TFhy2I

Does he love me, I want to know
How can I tell if he loves me so
Is it in his eyes, oh no you'll be deceived
Is it in his eyes, oh no you'll make believe
If you want to know, if he loves you so
It's in his kiss
That's where it is, oh yeah

Or is it in his face, oh no it's just his charm
In his warm embrace, oh no that's just his arm
If you want to know, if he loves you so
It's in his kiss
That's where it is, oh it's in his kiss
That's where it is, oh-oh

Kiss him and squeeze him tight
And find out what you want to know
If it's love, if it really is
It's there in his kiss

How 'bout the way he acts, oh no that's not the way
And you're not listening to all I say
If you want to know, if he loves you so
It's in his kiss, that's where it is
Oh yeah…

Here we have two tattooed dudes snogging on a brocade sofa.
Edited to add:  I've received word from Dougal in the comments and another viewer via private message that the guy at left is Rock Granger, and the photo is by Champion.  Thanks!  P.S.  The other guy is Scott Brewer, as noted in the comments by Unknown.

The sofa and wall hanging are tres moderne, but that kiss is eternal.

 

This is from an obscure 1971 publication called Hard and Able.  That "Boston Blackie" moustache on the fellow at left seems out of date, but it might inspire a theme for next week.

Ending the R-rated portion of our smooch fest with an all-time favorite reenactment of that famous scene in From Here to Eternity.

Our Saturday theme is boating, and I'm using a mix of professional and amateur photos.  We start with a man in the bushes next to a beached canoe.

Denny Denfield took this photo of an unknown model.
Edited to add:  Viewer pierowall says this is Bill Grant, and I think he is right.

Three men about to take a dive off a boat.  Sweden, 1924.

I believe this is from a 1975 Playgirl magazine, but I don't know the model's name.

I've been told that this is from a photo shoot by AMG on an old ship in Los Angeles Harbor,

 but I am not completely positive about that.  Anybody know

Edited to add:  Viewer pierowall says that the model at left is Lee Hayes.

Academic Drawings, No Singles Allowed

Our Friday night art lesson takes us back to the Academies for some drawings that feature more than one male model.  Some of these are rather provocative, making me think they might have been more than simple academic exercises.  We start with this one by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld from about 1820.  It really amazes me because von Carolsfeld was best known for painting religious pictures and Bible illustrations.  Wrap your head around that.  Meanwhile our model seems to be wrapping his head around something else.

This one is by Fyodor Bruni, a Russian of Italian background.

Jean Marc Nattier did this drawing at the Ecole des Beaux Artes in Paris, date unknown.