1920s Day

We take a trip through the 1920s today.  A vintage photo resale site had only a date, 1923, for this photo of a young man and a lamb.  Despite the lack of provenance, they were asking a hefty price.

 

Refined duo

Despite the fact that the two men appear to be about to fight,

I get a refined feeling from this 1927 picture.

 

What is this?

I can't tell if this 1926 photo is some sort of circus act or an intro to bondage.

And just to add to my confusion, he seems to be wearing army boots.

 

Gymnasts

My high school gymnastics class was not anywhere nearly as much fun as this 1920 photo.

 

Hans Wohlrab

Leibenstein, Bohemia was the settinng of this 1929 photo 

of artist Hans Wohlrab praying to a Teutonic sun god.

 

At the pump

All I know about this one is that it was made in 1929 and looks amateur to me.  The locale reminds me of a pasture outside Abilene, Texas where I once spent a weekend fruitlessly hunting rabbits.

 

Die Schönheit

Die Schönheit means simply "beauty" in German, and it was the name of an early 20th Century magazine which featured male and female nudity.  It was not, strictly speaking, an FKK organ, 

but there was some overlap in style, photographers, and models.  This is from 1925.

 

 

Laurence Woodford

I've posted a couple of photos of English model Laurence Woodford in the past, and  I recently found some more.  He published a 1928 book of pictures of himself posing along with a text teaching fitness and sensible bodybuilding methods.  He seems quite admirable in more than one way.

 

Wrestlers . . . sort of

My source described this as "1925 Wrestlers," and it may be my favorite photo of the day.

We get taut muscles, a nice natural backdrop, and a "best of both worlds" view of the models.

 

Sig Klein

I was tempted to clean up this 1924 picture of strong man and fitness guru Sig Klein, 

but I decided to post it spots and all.  It's all about the muscles, isn't it?

 

Bruno Day

It's time for another day dedicated to the always popular Bruno.

We start the show with a outdoor shot.

 

Derriere donation

When I whined about a lack of derriere shots in my Bruno collection a while back, 

viewer Uncle Vic graciously provided me with this one.  Thanks a million, Vic!

 

Swimmy backdrop

While the swimmy backdrop makes me slightly disoriented,

Bruno more than makes up for it with his good looks.

Perhaps surprisingly, this is by Jim French of Colt.

 

Looking right at us

Bruno is looking straight at us, but most of you are probably noticing something else.

 

Trio

Perhaps a view will enlighten us in the comments 

as to who Bruno's two friends may be.

 

G-Rated Jewel

Even in a G-rated image, Bruno and his "come hither" expression look pretty damn good.

 

Looking

Bruno seems to be looking for something here.

 

With Mike Spanner

Mike Spanner appeared with Bruno in a Target publication called Javelin.

The cover shoot was apparently done at Fire Island.

 

Rattan

Bruno looks like he knows exactly what we want 

in this photo made in a rattan chair.

 

Aged well

Closing out the series with a fairly recent beach 

snapshot that shows how well Bruno has aged.

 

Olympic Field Medalists

Today we will look at Olympic field event medalists through the decades roughly in chronological order. First up is Irish-born John Flanagan who was already the world record holder in the hammer throw when he emigrated to the USA in 1896.  By 1900 he was eligible for the US Olympic team, 

and he won the Gold medal in his chosen sport then and again in 1908 and 1912.  A New York 

City policeman, he returned to Ireland and took up farming and coaching after the 

1912 Olympics because he was assigned a job that kept him from training.

 

Armas Taipale

In 1912 Finland was still part of the Russian Empire, so Armas Taipale here won the Gold medal for discus throw as part of the Russian Team.  As an independent nation, Finland proceeded to go on to a decades long domination of field events such as the hammer throw and discus.

 

U.S. Shot Putters 1912

These guys are the remarkable 1912 USA Olympic shot putters.  They swept all three medals with Pat McDonald (left) taking Gold, Lawrence Whitney (center) taking Bronze, and Ralph Rose (right) getting the Silver.  Mr. Whitney stunned the world by putting farther than the European champions.

 

Jack Torrance

Jack Torrance was a star college athlete at Louisiana State University in 1933 when this photo was made and he set the world record for the shot put.  He only placed a disappointing fifth,

 however, in the 1936 Berlin Olympics.  That world record stook until 1948, though.

Mr. Torrance was a member of the Chicago Bears championship team of 1940.

 

Hal Connolly

American hammer throw champion Hal Connolly won Gold at Melbourne in 1956.  He went on to be a teacher in the Santa Monica Public Schools, and after retirement from there, he became an executive with the Special Olympics.  Below is a very handsome studio photo:

 

Bill Schmidt

This photo of Bill Schmidt is from the 1972 Olympic Qualifiers.  He went on 

to win Bronze at Munich later that year.  This photo is better than those from Munich 

because it shows the sheer power of the man.  And will you look at those thighs?

 

Geoff Capes

We get a tidy bulge view in this picture of Geoff Capes, who competed at the 1972, 1976, and 1980 Olympics, but never won a medal, despite being favored to win in '80.  He won gold medals in the Commonwealth Games, but his biggest successes came in the World's Strongest Man contest and the Scottish Highland Games where he was a perennial champion in several events.

 

Mac Wilkins

American discus thrower Mac Wilkins took the Gold Medal at the 1976 Montreal Olympics. 

I found the nice photo below on a sports website:

 

Wolfgang Hanisch

East Germany, aka Deutsche Demokratische Republik, had a checkered record in international sports competetion.  Questionable gender assignment and early, frequent use of performance enhancing drugs were a big issues, as were defections.  Despite all that, the Ossies did enjoy some success.  Wolfgang Hanisch, shown above in competition, won Bronze in Moscow in 1980.

 

Werner

And last, but very far from least, we have Werner Günthör, a Swiss shot putter who won 

Bronze in 1988.  I think you'll forgive me for using this instead of one of his stadium shots

and for wondering why the Playgirl scouts never got ahold of this guy.

 

Australian Naturist Day

It's time for another trip down under to the world of Australian naturists.

We start with a nice looking fellow with several horses.

 

Frisbee or paper plate?

I can't tell if this guy is up for a frisbee toss or on his way to the chow line with a paper plate.

 

Massage

This is how the art of massage should always be practiced.

 

Trophy

Let's see if anyone can guess what he won that trophy for.

 

Furry

This hairy guy is standing next to a rather refined refreshement table.  In other shots of it one 

can see fine glassware, a lace tablecloth, and some tasty looking hors d'oeuvres and cakes. 

 

Beach Cricket

Bearded beach cricket.  Must be an Aussie thing.

 

Pointer

Sometimes nice things come in small packages . . . or even with small packages.

 

Monochrome

The Australian magazines from which I drew today's photos were quite lavish with color,

and this is the only black and white image in the series.

 

Contrasting Prize Winners

We have two contrasting types who've apparently just won trophies.

 

Freedom

Our last Aussie naturist is trying to make a statement across his crotch.

 

Skinnydipping Day

It's skinnydipping day, and we start with some guys an a rocky riverbank.

Varying degrees of modesty here.

 

Germans

This photo of World War II German soldiers shows three middle aged men

using a variety of modesty measures.  Is that a flower stuck in his trunks?

 

Seven plus Two

An idyllic setting adds something to this photo of seven skinnydippers on a riverbank.

I wonder if their two clothed friends eventually joined the fun.

 

WWI Kriegsmarine

Here we have some happy sailors of the World War I German Navy enjoying swim time.

 

Lakehead Yearbook

When I researched this photo labeled "Lakehead Yearbook, 1960," I discovered two colleges of that name in Canada plus a high school in California.  I'm going with Canada as it's indoors.

 

No water in sight

Although there's no water in view, I found this 1930 photo of Eastern European soldiers

 in a group of skinnydipping pictures on a military history website.  If you look closely, 

you can see a couple of men who might have been officers or NCOs.

 

College shower train

My source said this was a "pre-swim shower train" from an unidentified college.  Apparently the students were marched through a series of running showers instead of rinsing off individually.

It's an elaborate and interesting facility.  Anyone recognize it?

 

New Zealand

These skinny skinnydippers were on an outing near Waipara, New Zealand in 1935.