How vicious were the early Physical Culture businessmen

[JoeJustice]

Gordon, I was thinking how tough business is today and it got me to thinking how much more vicious thing were in the early part of the century. I know Hoffman sued Atlas for false advertising. And I believe many others were attacked by various government organizations after being prompted by their competitors. I was wondering what your thoughts were in the early Physical Culture business climate. How cut throat were they? And are there any particular rivalries that stand out?

Anyone else please answer too. I find the history of Physical Culture an interesting topic.

-Joe

[Andy62]

Joe I have been racking my brain and for the life of me I have not been able to come up with any vicious behavior by the early turn of the century strongmen. I think this is because of the structure of the industry at the time, In the US the early gyms were located in the northeastern US and most of the early participiants knew eachother and worked out together. Infact, as one of them came up with a new idea for a mail order course it was not unusual for them to endorse each others courses. The main problem of the industry was unbelievable exaggeration and BS. Every circus strongman claimed to be the strongest man in the world and every mail order instructor claimed to have developed himself by some secret method that he had discovered. Photographs in ads were altered to make the instructior appear more muscular, weighlifting amounts were exaggerated and most of the strong man acts were faked. Actual ruthlessness between the companies did not appear until later. Gordon

[JoeJustice]

How did the Hoffman vs. Atlas thing come down exactly? Wasn't Weider involved in that too, or am I getting people mixed up?

With the "secret methods" were they the kind of "ancient Chinese secret" we've seen in recent decades or did the old timers have different ancient sources? That's one thing that's always interested me, the kind of fascination with the East. I know at the turn of the century there was a lot of racism directed toward the Chinese, particularly in the American West. You wouldn't think those people would be interested in ancient Chinese secret due to their prejudices. It would seem Greek and Roman "secrets" would be popular because they were considered the pinnacles of civilization, particularly in Europe and therefore the American Northeast.

-Joe