Tag: Advertising

Resources by Conor HeffernanDec 2, 20194:19 pm

Alan Calvert, ‘General Training Program’, Health, Strength and Development (Philadelphia, c. 1920s).

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Hundreds of prospective pupils write me to ask how long they will have to train; how much time they will have to spend each week, etc., etc. This seems a good place to answer those questions.

The average pupil practices the first course in developing exercises for two or three months. He practices every other day (that is, once in 48 hours), and the practice period covers about 30 minutes.

By the end of the second or third month the pupil has attained a certain degree of strength and development, and then his training program is altered. On two days a week he will practice the more strenuolls of the developing exercises from the first course, and two other days a week he will practice the Eight Standard Lifts; that is, the second course. He keeps up this training for two or three months and during that period the time consumed is about three hours a week.

The Standard Lifts Course, as well as the First Course in Developing Exercise, is given free to every pupil who buys a bell-whether it be a low-priced plate bell or the most expensive MILO TRIPLEX bell on the list.

Resources by Conor HeffernanMar 18, 20195:34 pm

Frank Zane’s 1980s Pabst Blue Ribbon Commercial

One of the odder Bodybuilding placements, the following 1980s advertisement features the legendary Frank Zane itching for a Pabst Blue Ribbon following a tough day in the gym. If the costumes don’t make you smile, […]

Resources by Conor HeffernanJan 31, 201812:18 pm

Frank Zane’s 1980s Pabst Blue Ribbon Commercial

Resources by Conor HeffernanNov 2, 20178:47 am

The Three Types of Manly Form

Published in the San Francisco Examiner in 1894, the above illustration depicts the Apollo Belvedere alongside the famed US boxer Peter Jackson and, of course, Eugen Sandow. Disputing the various forms of manly beauty, the response to […]

Biographies by Conor HeffernanSep 6, 20174:41 pm

Charles Atlas and the Golden Age of American Constipation

Constipation: a condition in which there is difficulty in emptying the bowels, usually associated with hardened faeces.

Constipation may seem an odd topic of study, but the history of the condition and efforts aimed at relieving it open up interesting social, political and economic histories . From 1900 to 1940, the United States suffered a pandemic of constipation. The condition was widely acknowledged in public discourse and a thorn in the side of the medical profession. Today’s article focuses on Physical Culturist Charles Atlas’s role in promoting anti-constipation remedies. In examining Atlas’s story we will look briefly at what the medical profession had to say about the condition and what marketers were selling to consumers before examining what the ‘World’s Most Perfectly Developed Man’ had to say. It’s a story as bizarre as it is interesting.

Resources by Conor HeffernanJan 3, 20174:31 pm

The Three Types of Manly Form

Uncategorized by Conor HeffernanSep 22, 201512:57 pm

Attention Women: Left out because you’re too skinny? Try Wate-On!

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Societal pressure on women is often a talking point.

Indeed previously on this website we’ve looked at slimming crazes dating back to the early 1900s when women worldwide were encouraged to lose weight and ‘become happy’.

Well it seems that the pressure on women to conform to a certain body type works both ways as the following set of ads from the 1980s demonstrates.

Once upon a time wate-On, an artificial weight gain product, was marketed to American women concerned with being too skinny. Shown below are a series of ads detailing the Wate-On message to gain weight, be merry and most importantly, be popular.

Needless to say I’m sure the conflicting messages about being too skinny and being too large caused many a headache for the 1980s woman.