Charles Atlas

This article is about Charles Atlas, the bodybuilder. For other uses see Charles Atlas (disambiguation).

Charles Atlas (October 30, 1892 – December 23, 1972), “self-made man”, trained himself to develop his body from that of a “scrawny weakling”, eventually becoming the most popular muscleman of his day. His company, Charles Atlas, Ltd., (founded 1929 and continuing today) markets a fitness program for the “97-pound weakling”, a registered trademark.

Born Angelino Siciliano in Acri, in Calabria, Italy, he moved to Brooklyn, New York, at a young age. Initially a small, weak child, Siciliano worked hard to develop his physique, he tried many forms of exercise but none gave him the results he wanted. Atlas was inspired by other fitness and health advocates who preceded him. World renowned strongman Eugene Sandow and creator of “Physical Culture” Bernarr Macfadden set the stage for Atlas. Contemplating the strength of a tiger in a zoo, he then conceived the idea of “pitting one muscle against another”. This system was later dubbed “Dynamic Tension” and turned him from a 97-pound weakling to an 180-pound man who was able to pull a 72 ton locomotive 112 feet along the tracks. He was given the nickname “Charles Atlas”, after the mythical Atlas, the Titan who held up the heavens. (He later filed for and received trademark status for the name.) He soon took the role of strongman in the Coney Island Circus Side Show.

Atlas began advertising his dynamic tension program in comic books. Atlas’ dynamic tension program consists of 12 lessons and one final perpetual lesson (Toon and Golden, 2002, Pg. 46.). His ad became iconic, presenting a scenario in which a boy is threatened on the beach by a sand-kicking bully while his date watches. Humiliated, he goes home and, after kicking a chair and gambling a four cent stamp, subscribes to Atlas' dynamic tension program. Later, the the boy, now muscular, goes to the beach again and beats up the bully, becoming the “hero of the beach”. Girls marvel at how big his muscles are, and the ad states: “The insult that Made a Man out of Mac”.

Charles Atlas, Ltd., is now owned by Jeffrey C. Hogue.

Health Advice

Charles Atlas' health advice was nothing extremely new, but he had a different appeal. He used muscle-building techniques and his own personal manhood to draw the attention of young males. Atlas' ideal diet consisted of protein, vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates (both complex and simple), fats, fiber and water. He also stressed the importance of pure substances in a daily diet, like pure water and milk, as well as a good night's sleep each and every night in order to allow the body to recuperate and recover.

Dynamic Tension

"The name "Dynamic-Tension" was created by Mr. Charles P. Roman of Charles Atlas, Ltd. The Charles Atlas course "Dynamic-Tension" launched a major advertising campaigned aimed at young men between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five. His advertisements proclaimed the effectiveness of his program of turning "you into a new man." His most noticeable advertisement being the "Mac" advertisement in which Mac is transformed from a "scrawny boy" into Atlas' "muscular man." The "Mac" advertisement has been characterized as one of the single greatest advertisements of all time and launched Atlas into notoriety throughout the United States.

"Dynamic-Tension" is a registered trademark owned by Charles Atlas, Ltd.

World's Most Perfectly Developed Man

In 1922, the publisher of the magazine Physical Culture dubbed him "The World's Most Perfectly Developed Man" in a contest held in Madison Square Garden. He was chosen by a cross-disciplined group of health and medical experts, educators, anthropologists, scientists and medical doctors who viewed Atlas as the "perfect male body" and placed his physical measurements on file for posterity. Atlas's physical measurements are buried in the Crypt of Civilization, a time capsule at Oglethorpe University.

Likenesses

Charles Atlas's popularity grew throughout the 20th century. Atlas used his personal story as a marketing tool and had a strong following around the United States. His promises and personal anecdotes convinced the American people to follow his program. His " System of Health, Strength, and Physique Building" includes twelve lessons and one final "perpetual lesson". Each lesson is supplemented with photos of Atlas demonstating the excersises. Beyond the physical aspect of his regiment his rhetoric and personal touch improved his likeness even more. He would add commentary that referred to the readers as his friends and gave them an open invitation to write him letters to update Atlas on their progress and stories. His products and lessons have sold millions and Atlas became the face of fitness.(Toon and Golden, 2002) Besides photographs, Siciliano posed for many statues throughout his life, including, it has been said, the statue of George Washington in New York's Washington Square Park. Atlas was also an inspiration and a model for more recent body builders and fitness gurus including the current Governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger. Atlas died of heart failure at age 80 after his daily jog on the beach. (It should be noted that his family had a history of heart attacks, so it was probably due to genetic inheritance.) At the time, people were still writing to him.

Trademarks

Charles Atlas, Ltd owns the following trademarks: "Atlas"; "Charles Atlas"; "Dynamic-Tension"; "Atlas Nutrition"; "Mr. Atlas"; "The World's Most Perfectly Developed Man"; "97-pound weakling"; "Insult that Made a Man Out of Mac"; "Hero of the Beach" and "Hey Skinny!".

Pop culture references

The song "Charles Atlas Song/I Can Make You a Man" from the rock and roll musical The Rocky Horror Show mentions Charles Atlas and his Dynamic Tension course by name. The song also refers to a 98-pound weakling, a device that did not infringe Atlas' trademark on the phrase "97-pound weakling". The character of Frank N. Furter furthermore claims that Rocky Horror, another character who Frank created to be his new lover, "carries the Charles Atlas Seal of Approval".
The song "I Can See For Miles" by The Who (on the album The Who Sell Out) is followed by a "commercial" for the Charles Atlas Course ("The Charles Atlas course with dynamic tension can turn you into a beast of a man.")
The song "She's Your Lover Now (Just a Little Glass of Water)" by Bob Dylan, released on The Bootleg Series Volumes 1-3, refers to Charles Atlas in the line "Why must I fall into the sadness / Do I look like Charles Atlas?"
The song "Mr Apollo" by the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band on the album Tadpoles parodies Charles Atlas' advertising, with lead-singer/writer Vivian Stanshall affecting a gruff butch voice. The song involves members of the band singing the praises of fictional body-builder Mr Apollo, while Stanshall alternately sings and offers no-nonsense motivational advice, such as "no tiresome exercises / no tricks / no unpleasant bending / wrestle poodles and win!"
The song "Mr Superman" (Swingles II; lyrics by Tony Vincent Isaacs to the melody of Scott Joplin's 'Elite syncopations') whilst not referring to Charles Atlas directly, implies the connection. In the song, the 'hero', having done the course and having achieved nothing, thinks it's a fraud and becomes an expert in other fields and Mr Superman only in his daydreams. There are some poetic refences to "sand in the face".
The Onion's compendium Our Dumb Century has a parody of the Charles Atlas "Hero of the Beach" cartoon advertisement woven into an article about US politician Adlai Stevenson confronting General William Westmoreland. Stevenson is described as having a 97-pound runt frame.
In the Kurt Vonnegut novel Cat's Cradle, the religious leader Bokonon is a graduate of Charles Atlas' course.
In the Futurama Season 2 episode "When Aliens Attack", Fry gets sand kicked in his face by a "professional beach bully" who asks for payment for his services after Fry has won the girl. Leela hits on him but he turns out to be gay.
The song "Sand In My Face" by 10cc, on their debut album, is a detailed description of Atlas' legendary ads.
The band A.F.I. have a song called "Charles Atlas" on their album "Very Proud Of Ya".
The Marvel Comics title What The--?! parodied the famous Charles Atlas "98 pound weakling" advertisement, in a number of issues. Atlas was often referred to "Charles Gutless" and in one particular issue, was portrayed as a woman and named "Charlene" Atlas.
The 1990 film Book of Love has Tom Platz playing a Charles Atlas-like character.
Australian band The Fauves had a minor local hit with their song "The Charles Atlas Way".
The song "Sunset Strip" by Pink Floyd's Roger Waters contains the line "I like riding in my Uncle's car, Down to the beach where the pretty girls all parade, And movie stars and paparazzi play the Charles Atlas kicking sand in the face game."
In the Ren and Stimpy episode "Ren's Pecs", Ren seeks counsel from the bodybuilder "Charles Globe", who inspires him to get plastic surgery. Charles Globe, and the entire episode, are obvious spoofs of the story of Charles Atlas.
In the 1966 postmodern Canadian novel Beautiful Losers by Leonard Cohen, Charles Atlas is parodied as "Charles Axis"
In the DC Comics title Mystery in Space the main character, Comet, referring to an army of superpowered clones says "Physically those clones may make me looking like a 98-pound-weakling, but psychically I'm the Charles Atlas of this beach."

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