Followers

Sunday, September 12, 2021

1958


There are three points of interest in this photo and its informative caption.  First, Ray won a noteworthy title.  (Mr. LA was a big deal at the time due to the lingering importance of Muscle Beach.)  Second, he used fake tanning to darken his skin.  And third, the photo was taken by Bruce of LA who was still doing some bodybuilding magazine work at the time.  Gotta love that grin!

 

4 comments:

  1. I didn't know they even had fake tanning stuff back then. And you're right about the grin.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, they allowed that, but took off points for tattoos.

      Delete
  2. From what I've read, Rutledge always had points taken off his overall score because of that tattoo, and others too. He supposedly was always coming in 2nd place because of it. I'm thinking that the mention of tan applications was in their infancy and usually came out splotchy, like you see in this photo. I'm also going to mention that steroids were starting to show up about this time, but hadn't become widely used or an issue. It is obvious that Ray wasn't on steroids in this photo. I haven't read any accounts of him ever using them.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, early steroid use appeared during his career. While researching this series, I found several references to Ray having gobbled "protein pills" by the handful, but he was never known to have used steroids.

      Delete