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Arthur Saxon, aka Arthur Hennig, was a German strongman whose most successful work
was done in the UK. He also published several weightlifting instructional books in English.
Saxon returned to Germany when World War I broke out, and although exempt from military
service due to his age, he died in 1921 at age 43 as a consequence of wartime malnutrition.
What a sad ending to a healthy life.
ReplyDeleteYes, very sad.
DeleteNow, I'd lay money on the fact that the two photographs below are from before the Great War. The "belt" is basically a dance belt, very narrow at the back with a wide waist to support the abdominal muscles. This was the standard costume for strongmen from the 1890s onward, until Western society went into one of its cyclical fits of puritanism over the human body. Bodybuilders are now only exposing their glutes again. (Burleigh Street leads off the North of the Strand, into Long Acre, just South of Covent Garden - which is those days was still a working market.)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the garment info. Always interesting! Also, I love the street reference, Burleigh - burly.
DeleteCould it be that the black belt is painted on the negative? The one on the right photo is asymmetrical at the waist (left side higher than right side) and the edge over the white pouch looks strange too.
ReplyDeleteI don't get that impression. It may be that it is simply an abdominal strap - like a kidney warmer - worn over what today we would call a "bikini brief" which were regularly worn for indoor sports. The displacement can be put down to movement. Although the resolution is commensurate with age, there is a luminosity to it which was very common as such belts - attached or worn over - had a high density of what was then called "India rubber" which reflected the light.
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