Big Ones

I'm finally giving in and posting some much requested "big ones" photos.

We start off with a guy in a corner.
Edited to add:  Identified as Don Hawksley by the cham cham in the comments.

I know you couldn't care less, but is that a big steamer trunk he's leaning on?
Edited to add:  Identified as Kim Dennis by the cham cham in the comments.

Big, blonde, and beautiful.
Edited to add:  See the comments for more info.

Ah, the great outdoors.  Perfect for growing things.

If you look carefully at upper right, you will see a bit of another model's hand.

Makes me think this was cropped, and we missed something.
Edited to add:  Indentified as Mike Sterns in the comments by cham cham.

Strong Men, Part 2 - Almost Nudes

Part 2 of Strong Man Day features semi-nudes, starting with Billy Wood.

Jesse Gehman was a "lighter type" whom the author of this book admired.

I know nothing about this photo except that I like it very much.

This is Karl Pospeschil.

Here we have a guy built like a strong man, but posed like a model for an artist's study.

 I suppose.there's no reason he couldn't be both.

Strong Men, Part 1 - Some Nudes

For your Sunday enjoyment, I have some late 19th and early 20th Century strong men.  

We start with a guy using an early pulley weight system, or at least something that looks like one.

If my very rusty Cyrillic is right, this fellow was named Stelanov.

There's quite an assortment of heavy duty gear in this photo that I believe is  French.
Edited to add:  See some informative info from 2ndWave in the comments.

My friend Keala calls this unknown model "scuptural." 

Georg Lurich was an Estonian wrestler and strong man who had a brilliant career 

only to die of typhoid during the Russian Civil War.  Although I finally found two reputable websites which say this full on nude is authentic and not photoshopped, I still have my doubts.

Archery in the Photo Studio

Our Saturday theme is indoor archery with all studio shots, 

starting with this unknown young man by an unknown photographer.

I know a certain life model in London who will no doubt find this photo of interest.

It came to me as a tumblr submission in March, 2016 with no information.

Andy Buck posed for Douglas of Detroit in this studio photo.

John Graham of London took this photo of Tom Knott.

I have no information on this well lighted photo of an excellent model.

Literary Day, Part 2 - Homoerotic Bookplates

Our Friday night art series features homoerotic bookplates, starting with this one commissioned by Dr. Adolph H. Helbig.  The artist is not know, but the OK mark might be a clue.

In the first of two bookplates posted today which were commissioned by Jorgen Tews, we see two men bare knuckles boxing.  The stylized "B" next to the 1973 date and the signature make me think that the art might be by Hans Bungter, a man known to do other bookplates for Tews.

As with many of the plates in my small collection,

 this one commissioned by Dr. J. Kurth is by an unknown artist.

In our second Jorgen E. Tews bookplate of the day, we see an archer.

Fred Schmutzer did the art work for Julius Tandler in this 1919 book plate.

Literary Day, Part 1 - Nude and Semi-nude Authors

Our R-rated series for Friday features some nude and semi-nude literary figures.

We start with Allen Ginsberg from 1985 which is way beyond my usual 1975 cutoff for vintage.

I'm using it anyway for two reasons.  First, authors seem to be shy about frontal nude photos, and Ginsberg wasn't.  Second, I did an honors English term paper on the man and am a huge fan.

I enjoyed reading Hermann Hesse auf Deutsch in college,

so I was delighted to find this derriere photo of him on a steep slope.

Sorry to go macabre on you, but Ernest Hemingway killed himself with 

a shotgun, and I can't help but wonder if it was this one.

Here we have George Bernard Shaw in what appears to be a 1906 mirror selfie.

This is supposed to be J.D. Salinger, who was known to like to write nude.

I have, however, seen the photo ID disputed.  Anyone know for sure?

Who knew that Mark Twain had a furry chest?

Well, those of you who followed my old tumblr knew because I posted it there.

This 1943 photo of Tennessee Williams is credited to the PaJaMa group of Paul Cadmus, Jared French, and Margaret Hoenning, but Cadmus inscibed it on the back as the solo work of French.

More Men in Jockstraps by Request . . . Again

Today's theme is men in jockstraps in a variety of settings.
I found this photo on a vintage sports photo resale site labeled as Sigmund Podolak.

The only man of that name Google produced was a champion shot putter from the early 1930's.

This guy looks more like a bodybuilder, but I suppose it must be him.

I've got a whole series of pictures of this guy doing various things on a handball court,

both in his jockstrap and nude.  I wish I knew the story, but there might not even be one.

Don't you just hate it when your jock wilts?

Perhaps this jockstrap derriere will please the Bum Brigade.

I've always been puzzled by this photo.  We have a wholesome looking young man with flannel shirts and pictures of bird dogs on the wall with a trusty rifle at hand posing in a jockstrap.
And could those be horn rimmed glasses?

This looks like the day at Mr. Feeny's all male dance school

when he convinced the students to do the two-step in jockstraps.

A grand time was had by all.

Douglas of Detroit Day, Part 2 - Known Semi-nudes

Part 2 of Douglas of Detroit Day features some semi-nude models whose names we know.  I'm starting with Norman Schemansky, who is only semi-semi-nude.

This is Glenn Bishop posed on the shore for Doug Juleff, probably on Lake Michigan.

Bob Delmonteque was a popular model who went on to be a physique photographer himself.

Joe Marcy posed for Douglas of Detroit on an odd pedestal for this semi-nude.

This is Vic Seipke and his famous pompadour hairdo.  He was photographed multiple times by Doug Juleff nude, semi-nude, in posing straps, and in trunks.  Quite versatile!

Douglas of Detroit Day, Part 1 - Unknown Nudes

The atmosphere of repression was so severe in 1958 Detroit that when the police raided the home based studio of Doug Juleff, aka Douglas of Detroit, they even harassed his models.  Only those photos already sold and a group kept at a friend's home remain today, and a relatively high proportion of those have no model's name attached.  It could be that Doug removed the names from the pictures his friend kept to protect the models.  In any case, I am featuring five of them today.

We must never forget those who suffered for our freedom.

The lighting, the posing, and the slightly subdued nudity 

all combined to make this Douglas Juleff photo of an unknown special.

The Bum Brigade was my first thought when I saw this picture,

but I actually find the back musculature more impressive than the derriere.

The sword pressed into the thigh gives a bit of an edge to this photo.

I have three other photos of this unknown in my Douglas of Detroit collection,

and they are all quite good technically and artistically.

Masses of Nude Military Types

Today I'm featuring some relative large groups of naked soldiers.

I can't figure out why one guy left his boots in front of this group.

Someone requested a "sausage fest" a while back, so here you go.