Man-o-man was Muscle Beach the best. The original ‘Beach’ was just south of the Santa Monica Pier but by 1959 it became such a big deal that it was moved south to less developed land in Venice.
Established in the 1930s as a place to grease up and lift weights it became such a phenomenon that by 1955 it drew crowds of 10,000 on a big day. It has been often said that the physical culture movement in America sprang from this tiny stretch of sand. Vic Tanny, Joe Gold and Jack LaLanne could be seen pumping and primping. The greatest of them all was Steve Reeves.
Most of the power lifters were the size of gymnasts but Steve was considered a giant at 6’-1”. Although compared to The Rock at just a tad over eleventy feet tall I guess it isn’t that impressive now. Most folks today haven’t even heard of Steve but he actually had one of the most successful movie careers around. He made dozens of movies and in 1959 was the most highly paid actor in Europe. But you see that’s it. Who cares about Europe? Europe, shmeroup! In any case Steve was a glistening sword-and-sandal guy specializing in playing colossal gladiators, and other rippling he-men wearing a simple loincloth and half a pound of baby oil. It was Steve who convinced Sylvester Stallone to go into the movies telling him that it wasn’t about the acting (and in Stallone’s case it certainly wasn’t about looks).
Hubba Hubba
Steve’s first movie was the 1955 Ed Wood classic, Jail Bait, in which he had a small part as a detective. But then bursting suddenly out of his shirt and onto the screen he hit his stride playing Hercules. His were Italian movies predating the spaghetti western. Italy was fertile ground for this bulging talent principally for the fact that Italian movies were filmed without sound. Really, no sound at all. They recorded it in postproduction. This is due to the fact that after the War (hey kids, this always means WW2) Italian Neorealist was a shoe-string affair and sound cost money. They turned it to a benefit and the movies were distributed all over the world in different languages. There was no attempt to sync the lips and the results are at once erratic and charming. Sort of like Muscle Beach.
Before it was discovered that the human body could be blown-up into comic book characters Charles Atlas advertised in actual comic books.
I honestly can’t think of a caption
The famous take was a skinny kids gets sand kicked in his face at the beach and with just “15 minutes a day” you could become the bully.
“15 minutes? I can give you 10.”
Long before Schwarzenegger and Hulk Hogan showed up in the 70s there was a real innocence at The Beach. Of course that could be because I was kid. But it’s more than that. They didn’t just lift weights but also performed elaborate gymnastics and erected spectacular human towers so the performances had a carnival air. Back then, no doubt, some of the body builders were using dare I say it? … DRUGS! to make their muscles bigger. I mean look at Steve. It’s like he was hot-cast in bronze. Back then no one cared about steroids. But, and this part was scandalous, a few (read most) of these fellows were psst, psst (whisper) homo-sexual! Now if that news got out it would really rock the house, or in this case, the sand. Today gay is passé and it’s the juice that’s scandalous. Next, I fully expect pork rinds and Ritz Crackers to make a comeback as health food.
It’s hard to believe now but back when Liberace was famous many of his fans didn’t realize he was gay. Hummm. somehow I don’t think they were looking very closely.
‘Not gay, just cheerful.”
There were lots of women body builders as well as men and there were even little kid body builders. The women were generally quite tiny with dramatic chests.
The young and the restless
Near the end of her million year career of Mae West recruited at Muscle Beach for talent for her traveling stage show. She reprises songs long thought buried and as far as I know she is still touring at the age of about 130. In this clip from 1977 she stars as a 20-something at the age of 87 with Timothy Dalton and Ringo Star.
Today Muscle Beach is pretty tame though you can still find a lot of Instagram candy featuring chisel-cut abs and greasy skin.
The sun has set on old Muscle Beach but the memory lingers on.
Now from the corn report
can’t WEIGHT for the next report
This was so uplifting
Dang this life has so much diversity
Awesome and as always
Thanx
Great story! That classic Charles Atlas ad was probably in every comic book and magazine I ever read growing up. I wonder what kind of revenue was generated by that one pager.
I urge you to look up Bernarr MacFadden, The progenitor and inspiration for Charles Atlas and all those other muscle-bound guys. Back around 1900, he started the physical culture craze, which directly inspired all those muscle-bound hunks… That was also when a lot of the cereal companies started, as healthy lifestyles became a thing (another interesting story).
McFadden started a publishing empire going to this day, Photoplay magazine, Liberty magazine, and True Detective all belonging to him. Now I think it’s mostly crossword puzzle magazines.
My family home (since 1959) is right around the corner from his old health enclave in Outcalt, Monroe township, New Jersey. You can still see the original shape of the tiny cabins, unheated at the time, in some of the houses that have since been added onto, though most are long gone. The remains of the dam that once held lake Marguerite, the centerpiece of his establishment, still exist, and when we were young it was easy to trace the whereabouts of the various buildings… The VFW building on Daniel road was initially housed in the old community center of his encampment.
He had many prescient ideas on health and nutrition, but some wacky ones too- he and his followers believed walking barefoot in the morning dew had invigorating and healthful effects (and now that I think about it they might be right).
They were considered shocking and scandalous by the straight-laced society of the time. When several of the women from his health resort attempted to walk into Spotswood, The bordering town, they were stopped by the police because their garments did not cover their calves or ankles. WowHe shut his spa down shortly afterwards, moved away from Outcalt and never returned.
Lake Marguerite, a shallow but fairly sizable pond that his acolytes would row and drift around in, was drained when the dam gave way around 1915 or so. You can still see the outlines of the old lake if you check out the area on Google maps. North Lakeshore drive in Helmetta and South Lakeshore Drive in Monroe (Outcalt) still follow the contours of the old lake. It’s former bed is now 10 or 15 ft below the street level and filled with fully grown trees.
Sorry to go on so long but Bernarr MacFadden is an interest of mine, hey forgotten man that single-handedly kick-started The countries obsession with healthy living and bodybuilding. I think a lot of people would be surprised and entertained if they looked into his life and career.
We should host Woodside’s first annual Muscle Beach pop up. We bring the sand and the weights..