Cover Archives - www.oldtimestrongman.com

Nat Pendleton on The Cover of Physical Culture

Posted on Monday, March 1st, 2021 by John Wood

Nat Pendleton was a fantastic college wrestler at Columbia University (team captain and 2x EIWA Champion, 1914-15) who went on to take the Silver medal in Heavyweight class the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium. (He was defeated by Robert Roth of Switzerland in a match that many say Pendleton really won.)

After that, Pendleton went to Hollywood and landed many bit parts and minor roles, typically thugs, gangsters, and policemen due to his imposing muscular stature. Pendleton stuck with it in Hollywood and rather amazingly, parlayed this into some fairly substantial roles. Of particular note to those with Iron Game interest, Pendleton portrayed Eugen Sandow in the movie The Great Ziegfeld (1935) and another very Sandow-like strongman character (known as Goliath) in the 1939 Marx Brothers movie “At the Circus.”

Above, Pendleton was featured on the cover and interview in the May, 1940 issue of Bernarr MacFadden’s “Physical Culture” magazine. As you can see, Pendleton didn’t miss many workouts and his condition would certainly still be impressive today.

Card-Tearing as a Feat of Strength

Posted on Friday, February 5th, 2021 by John Wood

Card Tearing as a Feat of Strength made the cover of the December, 1906 issue of Bernarr MacFadden’s Physical Magazine. We’ll probably reproduce the accompanying article at some point. In the meantime, if you would like to learn the finer points on the traditional feat of strength of ripping a deck of cards in half, our good friend and Grandmaster Strongman Dennis Rogers has a step by step course which comes as a bonus with issue #6 of the John Wood Report.

1949 AAU Mr. America Results

Posted on Tuesday, December 4th, 2018 by John Wood

A look at Jack Dellinger, newly minted AAU Mr. America on the cover of the June/July 1949 issue of Strength & Health Magazine. The overall placings of the 1949 Mr. America contest were as follows:

1.Jack Delinger
2. Melvin Wells
3. Bill Melby
4. Harry Smith
5. Valerio Pasqua
6. Jim Krznarich
6. Stan Stanczyk
6. Kimon Voyages
9. Everett Sinderoff
10. Joe Shaw

Jack Delinger won the overall title although Melvin Wells won the “Most Muscular” Sub-division.

Antonino “Argentina” Rocca

Posted on Tuesday, March 6th, 2018 by John Wood

Antonino “Argentina” Rocca was one of the greatest pure athletes to ever enter the squared circle. His incredible jumping feats and aerial maneuvers left an indelible mark on the world of pro-wrestling. His signature move was the “Argentine Backbreaker” although it was flying dropkick after flying dropkick which often put his foes down for good. Rocca was trained by Stanislaus Zbyszko. It should also be noted that this magazine was published by none other than Joe Weider.

The Reg Park Journal

Posted on Monday, March 5th, 2018 by John Wood

Champion bodybuilder… Movie Star… Gym Owner… You can also add magazine editor and publisher to the long list of Reg Park’s accomplishments. From 1954 through 1958, Reg published “The Reg Park Journal” on a monthly basis and, as you might expect, its pages were filled with great training information.

Here’s the cover of the September 1954 issue featuring Reg and the very glamorous Shirley Eaton. If you don’t immediately recognize the name, she was the gal famously painted gold from head to toe in the James Bond movie Goldfinger.

Bert Goodrich – The First Mr. America (1938)

Posted on Saturday, February 17th, 2018 by John Wood

The first ever AAU Mr. America was Bert Goodrich, shown here on an early cover of Iron Man Magazine. Bert got his start by training with Earle E. Liederman’s courses and was a tremendous athlete in high school, excelling in hand balancing, swimming, and track and field events. He went on to became a stuntman in several Hollywood Movies and later opened up his own gym.

Body Moderne – January, 1947

Posted on Sunday, December 10th, 2017 by John Wood

At look at the cover of the January, 1947 issue of Body Moderne Magazine featuring Jack LaLanne while Bernice Buchanan looks on. Body Moderne was a pretty unique magazine put out by excellent bodybuilder and muscle control star Walt Baptiste and his wife Magana. Body Moderne only ran for eight issues but was ahead of its time and quite different than the usual muscle mag fare of the day.

Strength and Health Magazine, March, 1934

Posted on Wednesday, November 22nd, 2017 by John Wood

The great weightlifter Art Levan on the cover of the March, 1934 issue of Strength and Health Magazine. This is one heck of an issue: Check out the lineup of strength authors: George Jowett, Earle E. Liederman, Harry Good, Bob Hoffman and Professor Paulinetti (among others.)

Ironman Magazine Volume 1, No. #1

Posted on Wednesday, November 15th, 2017 by John Wood

Ironman Magazine is a well-known publication these days but it all started way back in August, 1936 with this issue. As you can see it was originally called “Super-Physique” and featured John Grimek on the cover. (It wasn’t titled “Iron Man” until issue #2.)

As the story goes, Peary Rader found an old mimeograph machine in the garbage at the school where he worked as a janitor. He took it home, fixed it up, and started putting out a magazine on physical training. There were only 50 copies of “#1” ever produced, mostly just for Rader’s friends. They liked what they saw, Peary Rader edited and produced every issue of Ironman for the next 50 years!

Mr. America Magazine: Volume 7, Number 8 Featuring Larry Scott

Posted on Thursday, March 24th, 2016 by John Wood

A look at the cover of Mr America Magazine: Volume 7, Number 8, featuring Larry Scott which came out in August of 1965. Larry won the Mr. America in 1962 and about a month after this issue hit the news stand, became the very first Mr. Olympia. He certainly looks in fine form here. Articles by Dave Draper and Steve Reeves make this issue a must have.