Branding Iron Eugen Sandows ldquoModemrdquo

Marketing Strategies 1887-1925

D o m i n i c G M o r a i s +

Department o f Kinesiology and Health Education University o f Texas a t Austin

Eugen Sandow was a professional strongman who started his theatrical career in 1887 Upon his retirement in 1903 the Sandow name was known internashytionally as a synonym for strength health and bodily perfection Sandow used this popularity to market a number o f different products including books a magazine health clubs exercise equipment and miscellaneous health products Although literature on Sandow documents his cultural influences and continues to grow none specifically or comprehensively address the business and marketing aspects ofhis career This paper attempts to fi ll that void I t argues that Sandow utilized a three-pronged strategy in order to establish his personal brand Furshythermore it examines the way Sandow leveraged his brand in order to market his name and other products worldwide Finally the paper is a starting point for others to examine ways other popular physical culturists like Bob Hoffman the Weiders and Arnold Schwarzenegger marketed their brands

TThis paper is a revsed version o f that which won the N orth American Society for Sport History Graduate Student Essay Award for 2012 Correspondence to dom inie gmoraisgmailcom

A r n o l d S c h w a r z e n e g g e r D a v id B e c k h a m M artha Stewart Michael Jordan

Tiger Woods and numerous other celebrities and athletes share a particular trait Through

endorsements commercials businesses movies television appearances and reputation management via social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter these celebrities have

branded themselves We know them by a single namemdashArnold Beckham Martha Jorshydan and Tiger But well before marketing textbooks delineated strategies for building

brand equity globally through television and the internet a few pioneering sportsmen utilized marketing strategies similar to those employed by contemporary celebrities and

athletes and in essence became their own brandLate nineteenth-century pugilist John L Sullivan is often cited as the first athlete to

become a true celebrity His contemporary the strongman Eugen Sandow was actually far more successful in marketing himself to the public although this aspect o f his career

has never before been fully recognized Historians have documented Sandows cultural influence in a number o f im portant monographs David Chapman published the first

major biography which endures as the seminal work on Sandow in 1994 with Sandow the Magnificent Eugen Sandow and the Beginnings o f Modern Bodybuilding2 O ther scholars

have demonstrated in their works a number o f different ways in which Sandow left lasting effects on American culture the constructed body and physical culture globally3 Finally examinations o f Sandow and his influence also abound in numerous journal articles and dissertations from many disciplines4

Despite the profuse literature on Sandow discussion o f his business and marketing acumen is relatively scant Therefore in order to highlight Sandowrsquos historical significance as a businessmanmdash specifically a marketermdash this piece examines the methods Sandow employed to transform himself from music hall muscleman to internationally recognized expert and entrepreneur o f health and physical fitness Marketing in its modern meaning

was not yet a term that had entered the English lexicon when Sandow first stepped on the

stage in 1887 yet he intuitively grasped the principles of self promotion and used himself to market his system of exercises in ways never before seen in the field o f physical culture5 In doing so he became known to everyone simply as Sandow That single name came to symbolize not merely health and strength but also elegance and perfection Art historian

Ellery Foutch assertsSandow transform ed his image from a living breath ing m an w ho was

susceptible to aging disease and th e ravages o f tim e in to a sim ultaneously

m odern and classicalmdash or timelessmdash sculpture In the m idst o f fears abou t deshy

generation and the speed o f m odern life in w hich people abandoned health in

the rush o f a ldquorace for w ealth rdquo Sandow provided a striking coun te rpo in t o f

com posure and static perfection6

As will be demonstrated despite their efforts Sandow surpassed all other strongmen in terms o f fame and cultural impact not because he was truly the strongest man but because he was decades ahead of the sporting world in understanding the potential o f branding

Before continuing however it should be made clear that it is unknown if Sandowrsquos scheme was a premeditated strategy or solely intuition It seems likely it was a combinashytion o f the two For example because o f Sandows early travels as a wresder and strongman

throughout Europe it is likely he understood that more publicity meant more ticket sales7 He then transposed this concept to the international stage as his popularity grew in ways

explained in the remainder o f the paper However there is no evidence to back this claim

Along these same lines no evidence was found indicating how much o f Sandowrsquos strategy especially after they parted ways can be attributed to Florenz Ziegfeld Jr who managed Sandow for three years early in both o f their careers However it will be shown that Ziegfeld played a significant role in Sandows rise to fame Finally although other figures in the physical culture and health fields such as Bernarr Macfadden and John Harvey Kellogg

also utilized different methods of advertising and publicity because they did not leverage their physique persona or other personal characteristics in order to differentiate their products they did not personally brand themselves8 Thus it holds that Sandow was the first sportsman to use branding in a vastly successful way

Setting the Stage

Kevin Lane Keller author of Strategic Brand Management Building Measuring and M anaging Brand Equity (2003) explains that a brand is some name symbol or other attribute that identifies and distinguishes certain goods andor services Brands come in

many forms including ideas organizations products and as this paper argues people

The purpose of a brand is to instill and evoke in consumers a certain type o f emotional or psychological response that differentiates the product(s) associated with the brand from others in the marketplace But branding and marketing are not necessarily characterized by hard and fast rules W hen implementing these types o f strategies originality and creshy

ativity play a major role9 Furthermore according to business professor Ifan Shepherd in branding ldquothere is often a blurred dividing line between the selling o f a person and the selling of a product or organization [T]here is no clear dividing line between marketshying their business and marketing themselvesrdquo10 This is im portant because Sandowrsquos name

became associated with health exercise and the built body which he leveraged to sell various products In essence the more popularity Sandow gained meant that more people associated his name with these notions thereby increasing his brand equity Although this is only a cursory discussion o f branding especially compared to its profuse scholarship no more is necessary to understand the argument o f this piece

Eugen Sandow employed a primitive marketing scheme based on two major eleshyments The first was the creation and building o f a marketable personal ldquobrandrdquo through

the use o f advertising and publicity The second was the creation o f brand extensions and the building o f brand loyalty on a global scale It must be noted that these elements coashylesce In other words different parts o f his strategy overlapped at times

Sandow influenced as a child by Friedrich Ludwigjahn and the German turner moveshyment was a professional strongman who started his theatrical career in 1887 After garnering much attention due to his strength and muscularity Sandow ventured into the

business realm In 1894 he published his first book entided Sandow on Physical Training A Study in the Perfect Type o f the H uman Form1 Then he began a magazine titled Physical

Culture n 1898 Over the years the title o f the magazine changedmdash first to Sandows Magashyzine o f Physical Culture and then to simply Sandowrsquos M agazinel3 He used his magazine along with other forms o f advertising to market health and wellness products including mail-order exercise courses fitness equipment cocoa and even corsets14 Additionally he toured the globe giving exhibitions and lectures in order to spread his physical culture

message15 He died in 1925 and is now often called the father o f modern bodybuilding in

both scholarly and popular literature16Like many popular historical figures Sandow was not successful simply because o f his

own efforts The fin de siecle era in which he lived as many historians have observed was a

particularly rich and open culture It was a time o f progress and reform Both the United

States and England experienced a maelstrom o f societal change due to technological adshy

vances industrialization urbanization and mass culture17Because of the industrialization o f both countries society became more urban and

less agricultural resulting in a more sedentary lifestyle Eventually concerns emerged about

the ills o f this urban life In England much o f this apprehension was due to worries about racial degeneration or deterioration Included among these worries was anxiety about the

decline o f masculinity These concerns eventually resulted in a push for healthier modes of life through physical culture18 As historian Ina Zeiniger-Bargielowska argues ldquothe body

was an im portant locus for the construction o f masculinity A beautiful healthy and fit male body was identified with normative or lsquohegemonicrsquo masculinity and lsquosubordinatersquo

masculinities were physically mapped on the bodyrdquo19 W ith this in mind Sandow biograshypher David Waller asserts ldquoSandows symmetry was more than a neutral anatomical deshy

scriptor it was a culturally loaded concept that implied the antithesis o f degenerationrdquo20 Considering these circumstances it comes as no surprise that Sandow was able to leverage his physique in order to establish his physical culture empire

The apathy toward the muscular male body in the years before Sandowrsquos rise to feme also contributed to his success According to historian Lois Banner early in the nineteenth century the ideal male physique was relatively thin By the second half o f the century being large and even fat was ideal Having a sizable physique meant one was successful and earned enough money to buy large amounts o f food Prominent members o f the

medical profession even declared that plumpness was a sign o f health Furthermore before

Sandow most strongmen were not known for muscularity Although extremely strong their physiques were usually burly and lacked muscular detail21 This is buttressed by an examination o f images in Edmond Desbonnets Les Rots de Force published in 1911 that reveals that before Sandow the bodies o f men considered the strongest were unspectacushylar 22 As D utton explains ldquounlike the robust and stocky strongmen o f his day whose

barrel chests and massive girth made them appear rotund and even obese Muller [Sandow] was a man o f remarkably athletic appearance whose physical resemblance to the muscular statues o f the Greek Classical age was a source o f frequent and admiring commentrdquo23 Ethan Mordden a Florenz Ziegfeld Jr biographer describes Sandow as ldquohandsome with

curly blond hair and an upturned blond moustache with a tiny waist veeing up through

intensely articulated muscle separations to classically wide shoulders with incredibly white skin hairless but for a few wisps at the place o f sin So Sandow was heavy bu t exquisite a thing o f beautyrdquo24 The rarity o f a body such as Sandowrsquos and the new push toward exercise

and building the body caused the world to regard Sandowrsquos physique as an unmatched

marvel and people traveled far and wide to view the spectacleMuscular Christianity was also a component o f the push for healthier modes o f living

It was a movement characterized by building and exercising the body mostly through team games in order to achieve moral edification According to Zweiniger-Bargielowska

ldquoit joined godliness and manliness celebrated a robust and yet morally grounded physical-

ity self-discipline and character-building which were to be acquired in the pursuit of

sport and gamesrdquo25 It began in England during the first half o f the nineteenth century and eventually spread to the United States and much o f Europe by the second half o f the nineteenth century26

Sandow was an advocate o f the beliefs o f Muscular Christianity and actively proshy

moted them For example in his book The Construction and Reconstruction o f the Human

Body A M anual o f the Therapeutics o f Exercise (1907) he titled chapter five ldquoMoral Effect o f Exerciserdquo In it he declares ldquoAt first sight there does not appear to be much connection

between morals and exercise but a m om ents reflection will enable us to understand that

anything which develops the body invigorates the health and strengthens the will will also have a profound effect upon the characterrdquo27 In another book Strength and How to

Obtain I t (1905) allusions to moral edification via building the body are also evident In it Sandow describes his propagation o f physical culture as ldquopreach[ing] the lsquogospel o f health and strengthrsquordquo Later he states ldquoI maintain that he who neglects his bodymdash and not to

cultivate it is to neglect itmdash is guilty o f the worst sin for he sins against naturerdquo28 W hether these beliefs were motivated by fiscal desires is unknown But it is clear that Sandow was passionate about physical culture and dedicated to spreading ldquothe good wordrdquo

Another contributing factor to Sandows success was the new emphasis on physical education in the nineteenth century Although it gained modest ground earlier in the

century in the United States it did not become popular until Dudley Allen Sargent aided by his prestigious Harvard professorship legitimized physical education by clearly definshying it and providing reasons why it was necessary Sargent also helped popularize physical education by making it available to the entire student body rather than only upper-class

individuals who could afford exclusive club memberships Although concerns about physical education existed in England before the twentieth century as Zweiniger-Bargielowska explains major calls for it resounded in England after the military rejected 8000 out o f 11000 men between October o f 1899 and July o f 1900 because they were physically unfit As a result sports and physical culture experienced a surge of popularity at the turn o f the century29

Music halls and vaudeville were also part o f the milieu o f Sandows time as this is where he first performed his strongman acts Music halls spread quickly in England durshying the 1850s and many evolved into variety theaters by the 1890s with some holding as many as 3500 people According to Waller approximately five hundred music halls popushylated London and there were thousands more in provincial cities In the United States the music hall became known as vaudeville and shared a similar evolution By the turn of

the twentieth century most vaudeville houses had adopted the characteristics o f theaters by eliminating drinking and seating the audience in rows This evolution catered to Sandows style o f performance30

A wave o f globalization during the nineteenth century also benefitted Sandow31 Teleshygraphs telephones railroads and steamships supported faster transmission o f news capishytal ideas people and business Additionally by the mid nineteenth century the newly formed wire services created a network linking a myriad o f urban presses ushering in the transmission and dissemination o f foreign news32 This system of international communishy

cation played a major role in the formation o f global culture Railroads (which were flourshy

ishing in the United States India Africa and the Middle East) and steamboats also pershy

mitted increases in tourism immigration and tours like those o f AG Spalding in 1889

and Sandow33 Considering all these aspects o f the nineteenth century it seems the stage

was set for Sandows career

Building the Brand

Sandows willingness to enter into litigation in order to protect the Sandow name

from slander libel and infringement suggests he had a basic understanding o f branding34 The first step in this process is differentiating or branding oneself In order to do so

Sandow needed to find a way to distinguish his product (himself) from market competishy

tion (rival strongmen and acts) But branding oneself is to no avail if people are unaware the brand exists Sandow understood this concept o f brand awareness and used the staples

o f modern brandingmdash advertising and publicitymdash to position himself as a nonpareil among

strongmen35 Sandow differentiated himself from the large number o f other professional

strength entertainers in three ways he became known as 1) a perfectly developed man 2)

an English gentleman and 3) a celebrity whose exploits and physical feats became the stuff

o f mythsEarly in his career Sandow positioned himself as the Worldrsquos Most Perfectly Develshy

oped Man as evidenced by his book Sandow on Physical Training A Study in the Perfect Type o f the H uman Form published in 189436 And unlike most strongmen o f the era

Sandow realized the importance o f maintaining a high level o f muscularity throughout his life His build was densely packed with muscle and nearly devoid o f extra weight Sandow

was so muscular that he at times served as a living anatomy chart for spectators by demonshystrating his muscle control and allowing people to palpate his body37 According to one

author o f Sandows time he was the ldquophysical marvel o f the agerdquo38 Another author seemed

almost smitten with SandowCould physical beauty and perfect strength be more splendidly depicted As a study of proportionate development is it not ideal With all the wealth of his imagination and high sense and appreciation of the beautiful in Art the clevershyest sculptor in the world could never surpass this statue of human flesh and blood Nature alone can repeat herself in equalling it39

These assertions testify to the way Sandows viewers regarded his extraordinary physique and to its rarity

A major player in Sandows advertising strategy was the aforementioned Florenz

Ziegfeld Jr Most known for his theatrical revues called the Ziegfeld Follies Ziegfeld was an immensely successful manager o f music hall entertainers during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries40 Sandow was his first real act and he played a pivotal role in branding Sandow during their three years together41 Through publicity created by Ziegfeld beginning in 1893 Sandow became known as ldquothe perfect manrdquo ldquothe modern

Herculesrdquo and was even billed for a time as a ldquoveritable Colossus o f Rhodesrdquo despite his

5rsquo9rdquo height42W ith Ziegfeld acting as press agent the two made particular use o f the press to estabshy

lish Sandow as unique and extraordinary After many o f his acts or appearances vivid and

often exaggerated descriptions o f his body and feats were relayed For example one newsshy

paper article found in a scrapbook housed at the H J Lutcher Stark Center at the Univershy

sity ofTexas stated Sandows chest was ldquoas convex as the sides o f a barrelrdquo43 Even after parting with Ziegfeld Sandow was still considered the embodiment o f perfection as an article in the Australian newspaper Camperdown Chronicle in 1902 declared him ldquolike a Greek G odrdquo and an ldquoidol o f sculptorsrdquo44 Another report from The Cedar Rapids Evening Gazette in 1889 relayed that Sandow in a competition with another strongman named Sampson ldquotook from the floor with one hand a bar bell weighing 150 pounds which he threw high in the air catching it on his arm as it fell rdquo Finally the same author claimed that after being named the victor ldquoSandow then became the center o f an excited crowd eager

to shake the hand o f lsquoThe Strongest M an on Earthrsquordquo45 As Foutch explains ldquoalthough some critics argued that Sandows form was too muscular rendering it grotesque or heavy most viewers praised the symmetry beauty and balance o f his bodyrdquo46

In Sandow on Physical Training A Study in the Perfect Type o f the H uman Form a story reprinted from the New York World on June 181893 stated

O n e look at [Sandow] is enough to m ake the average young m an thoroughly

disgusted w ith himself an d to m ake h im give up his nightly hab it o f standing

in fron t o f his glass in his pajamas an d swelling his chest w ith p r id e H e

swelled ou t his chest an d on either side o f it five big muscles rose up It looked

as though five ribs o n either side were com ing through th e skin As a m atter o f

fact the ribs were n o t visible W h a t was seen was the m uscle w hich lies over

each rib and w hich on the ord inary m an is entirely undeveloped Each o f these

muscles was twice as big ro u n d as a m anrsquos thum b and the five on each side

stood ou t as distinctly as though a great h an d had been placed on e ither side o f

th e athletersquos chest47

One unknown author from the Age newspaper in Melbourne Australia in 1902 provided the following account o f Sandow

U p o n a small red pedestal stood S andow himself H is p ink and glossy flesh

bared to the waist looked even m ore p in k against a background o f purp le velshy

vet Slowly th e red pedestal began to revolve and the living statue w ith

i t H is thick well-developed limbs looked as i f they were as soft and velvety

as th e rolls o f fat an d flesh upo n a healthy baby O n e tw itch o f the body effected

a transform ation T h e muscles across his abdom en an d chest swelled un til they

resem bled ropes tha t were piercing his flesh T h e chest muscles rose and fell in

bulbous masses th a t appeared a t one m o m en t to be soft an d flabby an d the

next as hard and firm as steel48

T h e v iv idness a n d d ra m a m an ife s t in th ese d esc rip tio n s in d ic a te th a t p h y siq u es lik e S andow s

w e re ra re th e re b y a id in g in S an d o w s s tra te g y to b ra n d h im s e lf as a p e r fe c tly d e v e lo p e d

m a n

It seems almost every step Sandow took was recounted and embellished by the press Reprinted articles from Sandow on Physical Training A Study on the Perfect Type o f Human Form report that Sandow performed back-somersaults with a fifty-six-pound dumbbell in each hand juggled with dumbbells (most likely barbells) weighing upwards o f300 pounds and supported the weight o f three horses while in a bridge position Additionally upon surveying Sandow authors reported that he had piles o f muscles on his back and a neck that seemed ldquoto melt away into his chestrdquo49 Because viewing such a marvel was uncomshymon it was im portant to meticulously describe every intricate detail o f Sandows body

Accounts such as these also resulted because of Sandows intentional use o f eroticism

To display his nearly nude body at the height o f the Victorian era was brilliant marketing

on Sandow s pan and it differentiated him from other strongmen who merely lifted weights when on stage For example at the end of one o f his inaugural performances in Chicago at

the Trocadero Theater in 1893 Ziegfeld declared that any woman who would donate

$300 to charity would be allowed backstage to feel Sandows muscles Mrs Potter Palmer and Mrs George Pullman two women o f high society at the time pounced at the opporshy

tunity Amy Leslie drama critic for the Chicago Times wrote that after arriving backstage and upon stroking Sandows chest Mrs Potter claimed she was ldquothrilled to the spinerdquo

Leslie herself was reportedly stunned after Sandow ldquothrew out a stack o f corded muscles under the white smooth skin of his chest in a sort o f mechanical wayrdquo50 These backstage antics were not limited to Chicago or females however O ne male journalist o f the New

York Heralds 1893 stated ldquo [Sandow] took my hand while I was in his dressing room and rubbed it across his abdominal muscles and the feeling was just about the same as it would

be rubbing the hand over an old fashioned washboardrdquo51 Another story in the National Police Gazette from January 271894 reported that after Sandow took one womanrsquos hand

and ran it across his muscles at an exhibition in New York she stumbled back and fainted only to be brought back to consciousness with smelling salts52 These private exhibitions became part o f Sandow s after-show routine and were an im portant aspect o f his marketshying strategy

Finally accounts such as the following from the Australian newspaper Adelaide Regisshyter in 1902 excited and enlivened the female population while also increasing Sandows brand awareness through publicity

Every pose an d posture was a picture to be carried away in the memory H e

applied the pressure and his muscles becam e firm as s te e l Sandow was a

living H e rcu le s T h e muscles were show n first in a state o f repose and then

in a state o f tension T h e abdom inal muscles were contracted and produced

the w onderfu l checkerboard arrangem ent o f the fib re s Sandow [made] his

m uscles literally dance T here is no th ing gross o r coarse abou t Sandow he docs

n o t possess an ounce o f superfluous flesh he has a beautiful skin an d is in fact

all quality53

This account adequately highlights the erotic element o f Sandows performances This type o f publicity also helped solidify his feme as large numbers o f women bought tickets to his performances in order to satisfy their piqued curiosities54

The second aspect o f Sandows marketing strategy relied on what historian Daniel Boorstin called the Graphic Revolution According to Boorstin the Graphic Revolution

was the increased ability to capture and widely disseminate images in a myriad o f ways in the late nineteenth century It was aided by the advent o f the rotary press which allowed for increased printing speed at a decreased cost55 This revolution resulted in drastic inshycreases in souvenir photographs (which became a major industry during the nineteenth century) postcards cabinet cards cigarette cards and images in magazines These photoshygraphs also served as a basis for newspaper and magazine illustrations56

Sandow used this revolution to his advantage Prominent photographers such as Henry Van der Weyde Benjamin J Falk George Steckel Napoleon Sarony and his fether-in-law

Warwick Brookes captured his image multiple times The Rotary Photographic Comshy

pany even photographed him The images from these sessions were then printed on heavy

cardstock embellished with the photographers name and sold as ldquocabinet cardsrdquo These

types o f images were generally albumen print photographs measuring 425 x 65 inches It was customary in Sandows time to collect cabinet cards o f celebrities or royalty and place them in family albums These types o f photographs were prevalent as a plethora was proshyduced worldwide57 Images o f Sandow ldquowere sold at theaters hotels and photographersrsquo

studios and by mail in various sizesrdquo58 Sandow recognized the value o f photographs in his attempt to brand himself59 Furthermore his images could be found in a variety o f placesmdash

from womens private sitting rooms in their homes in the United States to the battlefields o f the Boer War in South Africa60 The camera allowed men and women to look upon his

image in private in ways that may not have been acceptable ir public It also goaded some o f those viewers to dream of their own self-improvement through physical culture61

Both o f his major biographers suggest that Sandow also a-tempted to brand himself as a gendeman W hen cff the stage Sandow dressed in clothing appropriate for an uppershyclass Englishman and affected the manners and habits o f the English aristocracy62 Bodyshy

building historian Kenneth D utton argues that the developed body is not merely an object to be viewed Rather he contends that social and cultural messages are transmitted through it63 Therefore since the body o f a man such as Sandow was considered perfect it was not too great a leap for the public to transpose the characteristics o f perfection from a physical

sense to a more intangible sense resulting in a ldquobuilt personardquo o f the seemingly perfect

man with high moral and intellectual qualities64 For example in the aforementioned article from the Camperdown Chronicle Sandows appearance was compared to the Gershyman emperorrsquos yet the paper reported he spoke English fluently with a ldquomelodious acshy

centrdquo65 The article also explained that Sandow devoted himself to spreading the message o f health and strength while turning down no class of individual who sought his guidance thereby providing his own type o f patronage

O ne pronounced attempt at branding himself as an English gentleman was demonshystrated during Sandows Great Competition in 1901 Although addressed later this conshytest was essentially a bodybuilding competition Competitors were judged by Sandow and

two other individuals Sir Charles Lawes sculptor and amateur athlete and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle author of the Sherlock Holmes stories Both were revered and admired in England Rubbing elbows with these prominent figures aided in Sandows effort to be considered a gentleman66

As any English gentleman knew it was also right to support king and country and Sandow did just that Due to interest in his techniques by LrCol G Malcom Fox who was ultimately appointed Inspector o f Physical Training for all public elementary schools Sandow gave a number of exhibitions in order to raise awareness o f physical culture in the British military67 Moreover prior to and during the Boer War many o f Great Britains men were denied the opportunity to join the military due to a lack o f fitness Thus Sandow took it upon himself to train 11000 members o f the British Army in London and offered cash prizes totaling pound1000 for those showing the best physical improvement68 Because of his assistance with the British Army Sandow was rewarded by being appointed honorary Professor o f Scientific and Physical Culture to His Majesty in 191169 This provided anshyother means for Sandow to associate himself with the uppercrust o f society

This was not the only instance o f Sandow promoting himself through royal associashy

tions As Chapman explains Sandow offered an accountmdash most likely embellishedmdash of his performance before Crown Prince Frederick o f Prussia and Crown Princess Victoria

daughter o f the queen o f the United Kingdom o f Great Britain According to Sandow

although the Crown Prince was sick he claimed he could match Sandow at one o f his feats and tore asunder a pack o f playing cards But Sandow not willing to be bested by even

royalty replicated the feat with two packs o f playing cards According to the account Frederick was so impressed that he bequeathed a ring to Sandow who was fond o f displayshy

ing it and even published a picture o f it in The Strand magazine Despite this association with European royalty Sandow continuously attempted to be considered an Englishman

especially as tensions heightened before and during World War I70The last facet o f Sandowrsquos branding strategy was a process called myth-making This

was an attem pt to elevate his status from a normal human to that o f a hero or mythic being This strategy also elevated him above the ranks o f other strongmen Sandow acshycomplished his myth-making through stories he propagated reports o f his public strength exhibitions and the continued discussion in the press o f his body as a site o f physical

perfectionA classic example o f Sandows attempt to increase his brand awareness can be found in

the often repeated story of how he first garnered public attention as a strongman After vainly searching for venues needing a strongman in Amsterdam in 1887 Sandow decided he needed publicity At that time in Europe weightlifting machines existed that tested the strength o f individuals with a lever arm similar to a slot machine So in the dead o f the night Sandow traversed the city pushing every machine he happened upon past its limit and broke them all After accomplishing this task twice more the city was wildly curious

to know the identity o f this enormously strong vandal Finally Sandow turned himself

over to the authorities who at first did not believe that he was the culpritmdash he simply did not look large enough After lifting an officer in the air with just one arm to prove his strength however Sandow was arrested By the time he was bailed out o f jail his exploits had spread throughout Amsterdam Thereafter he received free room and board at his hotel and the theater that once refused to hire him at ten guilders a week booked him at

1200 guilders per week Sandow not only garnered the publicity he sought in Amsterdam but in the years ahead the story was repeated in newspaper accounts in city after city as a testament to his mythic strength71

Another example o f Sandowrsquos attempt at glorification can be found in a tale told by

G Mercer Adam During one o f Sandowrsquos trips to Italy two thieves managed to steal some

o f Sandowrsquos more valuable belongings while he was on a train Upon arriving at his final destination he received bricks rather than his valuables from the railroad porter who probably played a role in the chicanery So Sandow returned to Nice Italy where he last

saw his possessions After identifying the thieves and without the aid o f police Adam

relays that Sandowpounced u pon them suddenly and caught each m an firm ly by the back o f the

neck W hen they recovered from their surprise an d began to struggle to get free

the s trongm an brough t their two heads repeatedly in contact until unconshy

sciousness rendered one m an lim p and fright quieted the other72

Then he dragged them to the police station ldquointo which he flung themrdquo Finally in an ending fit for a hero Sandow found the pawn-tickets o f his valuables and was able to

recover his stolen property73 O f course he also had another story he could use bolster his mythic persona

One o f the most notorious ways Sandow attempted to utilize the myth-making conshycept was through a wrestling match with a lion After a proposed fight between a bear and

a lion was halted by the Society for the Prevention o f Cruelty to Animals Ziegfeld Sandowrsquos manager at the time prompdy substituted Sandow for the bear However he also substishytuted an older more docile and possibly drugged lion for the original savage beast slated

to fight the bear The public was unaware of this change and the anticipation o f the bout was palpable Unfortunately for Sandow and the lion for that matter the match was one

sided To protect Sandow a muzzle and large gloves were secured to the supposedly savage beast before the fight During the first part o f the match the lion seemed dejected and the crowd began to sympathize with it Sensing this Sandow tried to antagonize it by dragshyging it and flinging it by the tail pulling its whiskers and even carrying it around the ring

on his back His efforts were to no avail Although Sandow later attempted to embellish

the tale to make his actions seem more admirable the bout held in San Francisco on May 2 2 1894 garnered negative reviews from newspapers and proved humiliating for Sandow74 This example o f glorification indicates that not all o f Sandowrsquos attempts were successful

Although discussed previously the use o f photographs glorified Sandow as well

Through lighting powder and different poses his muscularity could be accentuated

making him seem superhuman75 Furthermore his habit o f assuming poses reminiscent o f classical statuary such as the Farnese Hercules and the Dying Gaul provided direct links to the fin de sikles fascination with neo-classicism76 Sandow understood that pictures

ldquoverified [his] superhuman status and formed a crucial visual element o f [his] promoshytional campaignrdquo77

From a historical standpoint the significance o f Sandow branding himself cannot be overstated First Sancow shifted the primary focus of his performances from the strength o f his body to the look o f his body This was innovation in itself78 Second and more

importantly Sandow not only pushed the boundaries o f social acceptability but in the midst o f a conservative Victorian era he shifted social standards so that the body became a positive image79 Finally Sandowrsquos efforts at increasing his brand awareness resulted in his association with health strength fitness and perfection among tens o f thousands of readers80 These three elements caused him by 1903 to be the ldquohighest salaried vaudeville artist in the worldrdquomdash a fret that suggests Sandowrsquos branding campaign proved successshyful81

Exploiting the Built Brand

Having built his brand through his exhibitions and publicity Sandow next turned his attention to new forms o f marketing through brand extension Brand extensions are prodshyucts that vaunt an established brand name but in a different market category82 A modern example o f this is Sir Richard Bransonrsquos extension o f his brand ldquoVirginrdquomdash originally a record store and music labelmdash into the mobile phone and airline industries83 The first products Sandow sole were advice books on training and self-improvement He published

his first book Sandow on Physical Training A Study in the Perfect Type o f the H uman Form

in 1894 and followed with five more They include Strength and How to Obtain It (1897) The Gospel o f Strength According to Sandow (1902) Body-building or M an in the Making

How to Become Healthy and Strong (1904) The Construction and Reconstruction o f The

H uman Body A M anual o f the Therapeutics o f Exercise (1907) and Life Is Movement Or the Physical Reconstruction and Regeneration o f the People (1919)84 These books contain inforshy

mation about Sandowrsquos travels his honors and accomplishments how to exercise and train with resistance anatomy hygiene and even physical culture for women

As mentioned Sandow also started his own magazine in 1898 which was ultimately tided Sandows Magazinersquo This periodical aimed to satisfy the increasing interest in physical culture at the time and included articles such as ldquoHow to Keep in Condition in H ot

Weatherrdquo ldquoThe Strength and Symmetry o f M en Compared with Animalsrdquo ldquoSleeplessshy

nessrdquo and ldquoBacteria Germs N ot the Only Cause o f Diseaserdquo86 Although filled with physishycal culture information the magazine also covered topical events contained household

hints and had a ldquobreezy populist tonerdquo87 The magazine established Sandow as an ldquoexshypertrdquo on a variety o f matters A case could almost be made for including him as a pioneer

among lifestyle experts such as M artha Stewart who have successfully branded themshyselves88 Most importantly the books and magazines allowed him ldquofreerdquo advertising so that he could extend his brand to other products and entities bearing the Sandow name89

Included among these other extensions were Sandows Curative Institutes These inshy

stitutes were posited to be ldquoinvaluable to sufferers from Insomnia Neurotic Persons or those whose nervous system is run down all who desire a graceful carriage and symmetrishycal form those whose sedentary occupations have caused sluggish liver or constipation athletes in every branch o f Sportrdquo90 Catering to men and women Sandows schools proshyvided individual as well as group training sessions The equipment used consisted solely o f

dumbbells Sandow opened the first in this chain o f establishments at 32A St Jamesrsquos Street in London in 189791 As advertised by Sandow five more were establishedmdash one at each o f the following locations 115 A Ebury Street in London Brook House in Walbrook London EC 185 Tottenham Court Road London WC Oxford Street Manchester and 16 Colquitt Street Liverpool92 Finally he opened a more prestigious and luxurious College o f Physical Culture in Boston Massachusetts H e initially planned to establish

another in New York with Earle Liederman as a partner Those plans were not realized however due to Sandows death93 Despite the initial exponential growth o f membership in these Victorian equivalents o f health clubs none but his Institute on St James Street endured after World War I94 Nevertheless Sandowrsquos reputation and his club(s) were reshy

vered as their reputation o f achieving stellar results with exercise and dietary advice spread95

Sandow also extended his brand to exercise products Sandowrsquos Spring Grip D um bshybells was one o f these These were shaped like regular dumbbells but with a spring in the middle The user was to squeeze the dumbbell throughout the exercise routine in order to

facilitate concentration on the particular task Included were illustrated instructions for

the user to follow96 He even endorsed a polishing cloth for the dumbbells that was touted as ldquosuperior to chamois leatherrdquo97 O ther exercise products included the Sandowrsquos Develshyoper and Sandows Symmetrion The Symmetrion was essentially a Sandowrsquos Developer for women Like the Developer it consisted o f ldquoa combination o f rubber cords and dumbshy

bell attachmentsrdquo and was meant to be a versatile in-home exercise machine98 Eventually

Sandow advertised a mail-order health and exercise system that promised relief for suffershy

ers o f constipation liver troubles insomnia indigestion loss o f vigor and inadequate physical development99

Sandow even attempted to target children with one o f his brand extensions In 1913

he devised an exercise contraption that was actually a childrens doll that resembled acheerful sailor The arms and legs o f the doll could be manipulated by the user but not w ithout a certain degree o f resistance provided by pulleys inside the machine Once the

arms and legs were maneuvered enough a piece o f candy was rewarded and transferred via the mouth o f the doll However possibly because o f the complexity o f the doll or the

contradiction o f providing candy as a reward for exercising Sandow was unable to secure funding for the product100

O ther miscellaneous health products also boasted the Sandow name For example Sandows equivalent o f the modern athletic rub known as Bengay was his Sandows Conshycentrated Embrocation This was a liniment promoted to ensure strong supple muscles

Advertisements for this product asserted that ldquoregular use o f this Embrocation [brought] and [kept] the muscles in perfect condition [relieved] muscular stiffness and [healed]

sprains strains bruises or injured jointsrdquo101 Another Sandow product was his Sandows Patent Health and Perfect Figure Corset Makers o f the corset claimed it allowed freedom and movement yet retained a hygienic design Though other health conscious corsets had

flooded the market by that time his carried the Sandow name Sandow also extended his brand to include Sandows Health and Strength Cocoa The drink was advertised as being pure and o f high food value However it proved more problematic than profitable due to connections with Germany during World War I and competition from rival firms It also caused him great financial stress when the company became insolvent102

No matter how many products Sandow created he understood that success could not be achieved if consumers purchased only one It was necessary for him to nurture the bonds with consumers in order to retain their business This is known as relationship

marketing Via his magazine institutes and touring Sandow attempted to cultivate furshyther his relationship with customers thereby increasing and demonstrating a cursory unshyderstanding o f brand loyalty103

O ne o f the major media Sandow utilized to maintain and strengthen relationships with his consumers was his Sandow Magazine Readersrsquo Club This club was a portion of Sandows magazine devoted to the testimonials o f readers Here readers would extol Sandow and his system The club also provided an arena where followers including women could publicize their achievements and seek praise from Sandow104 An explanation o f the club from Sandows M agazine follows

For the exchange of ideas personal experiences and photos for the encourageshyment of Club Members Readers are expected to act up to the Club Motto [T]he President will award to the sender of every published idea experience or photo the Club Fellowship Medal as a token that the rightful owner has earned the Fellowship of the Club105

However in some magazines a Club Fellowship Medal was awarded only to readers who submitted something worthy o f publication and provided the names and addresses o f fifty people the reader introduced to the magazine106

Sandow also titled a section o f his magazine H ints from Sandow Here it was advershy

tised that Sandow responded to questions from his readers concerning issues such as equipshyment night sweats and knock-knees Although responses were ldquofor the purpose o f comshy

ing into closer touch with [his] friends and readersrdquo space was limited and it was encouraged

to inquire about prescribed mail-order exercise courses107 This was another way Sandow

strengthened relations with his consumers and encouraged them to invest in his productsThese components of Sandows brand loyalty and publicity strategies apparently worked

as readers from Canada England India New Zealand Ireland Australia South Africa

Malta Hong Kong Japan Norway and Singapore wrote to him 108 In his book Strength and How to Obtain It Sandow even boasted that ldquoevery week many letters [reached him]

from the Coloniesmdash from India Canada Australia South Africamdash even from distant

Klondikerdquo109 W hen one interviewer inquired about the number o f pupils under his inshy

struction in 1904 Sandow replied that he had ldquoabout a millionrdquo110 Many o f these pupils became disciples and ldquospread the good newsrdquo regarding his products and exercise system

which aided in Sandows success1

Like savvy marketers in the twenty-first century Sandow also sought ways to involve

his customers personally in his efforts O ne means for this was his holding o f physical

culture competitions in his magazine These monthly competitions for both children and

adults required applicants to send one photograph o f himherself to the magazine Then

applicants were judged on their development and measurements and each months winshy

ner received a gold medal112 But these were not the only physical culture competitionspromoted by Sandow As mentioned in 1901 Sandowrsquos Great Competition was held to determine the United Kingdoms ldquoBest Developed M anrdquo The competition was the culmishy

nation o f a series o f local contests held in provinces throughout the UK during the three years before the final competition The top three place winners in each local contest were

eligible to compete in ldquoSandowrsquos Great Competitionrdquo The final contest held on Septemshyber 14 was a spectacle as 15000 people attended113 These competitions not only created

publicity they strengthened Sandows relationship with his consumers because o f the inshycreased interaction facilitated by them

Sandow attempted to increase his brand loyalty by touring the globe as well By the time he began his first tour in 1901 his brand was already established114 Thus he not

only increased his international presence by touring but actively participated in relationshy

ship marketing He strengthened relationships with his fans and followers by giving exhishybitions and lectures that were accessible to them and allowed for interaction on a personal level

Sandow toured internationally twice O n the North American continent he performed in Chicago San Francisco Boston New York St Louis Omaha Detroit Richmond and even select cities in Canada His tours also landed him in Australia New Zealand South Africa India Italy China Egypt and Japan115 At his exhibitions he would first pose and then perform his strength act After his performance he would promote physical

culture and health by lecturing on the importance of each He also discussed the anatomy of the human body using himself as a model6

His influence on the countries he visited attests to his success in increasing his brand loyalty and publicity For example a scrapbook clipping by Clarence Weber ascribes Sandow

the ldquocredit o f arousing deep interest in and demonstrating the possibilities o f scientific

exerciserdquo117 In New Zealand as historian Caroline Daley has shown people established Sandow schools physical culture contests were held and Sandows system was utilized in many ways after his tour118 O ne example o f his influence can be found in the fact that three years after Sandow visited New Zealand the All Black Rugby team had integrated his Sandows Developer in their exercise routine on their 1905 tour and some members were training with his dumbbell system119

India readily accepted Sandow as well His exhibitions drew thousands o f attendees

and interest in physical culture heightened after his visit120 Results o f his impact are demshyonstrated through individuals like Ram Murti Naidu who was also known as the Indian Sandow Murti was best known for supporting the weight o f a three-ton elephant on his stomach and being a vegetarian121 Professor KV Iyer was also inspired by Sandows presshyence in India He would go on to combine Indian and Western physical culture to create his own exercise system122

Other countries were impacted by Sandow as well albeit less than in New Zealand

Australia or England Evidence o f his influence is found in Egypt where a man named

Abd al-Halim al-Misri designated ldquoEgyptian Sandowrdquo by Wilson Chacko Jacob traveled to exhibit his body and his feats o f strength123 And outside Austin Texas the inhabitants o f the small town o f Freezeout voted to change its name to Sandow Texas to honor the great strongman124

Amongst the milieu o f general social movements and technological advancements of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries Eugen Sandow became a global pheshynomenon synonymous with exercise and health Sandow s legacy and impact on the world is impossible to deny O ne enthusiastic author from his era bloviated that Sandow was ldquothe

strongest man greatest physical culture authority and finest physical example o f the elecshytrical period who practically revived physical education which had become obscure after the fall o f the Roman Empirerdquo125 Although a strong assertion it nonetheless indicates the significance o f Sandows influence at the time That influence can still be felt today Acshycording to historian Jan Todd Sandow provided a lasting marketing and branding exshy

ample that a number o f physical culturists emulated in later years including Bernarr Macfadden Bob Hoffman Joe Weider and even Arnold Schwarzenegger126

Eugen Sandow was an extraordinary man His physique changed the way Victorian society viewed the body His propagation o f physical culture left lasting effects in scores of

countries including the United States Great Britain New Zealand and Australia His products and exercises helped ignite the iron game flame worldwide But Sandows legacy is not limited to these fields He muscled his way into the lives o f people who desired health youth and vigor through marketing techniques and strategies never before utilized

in physical culture and his example is emulated to this day Sandow was a self-made man with humble beginnings who became a physical culture mogul He was known for his incredible physique and gentlemanly standing He was an educator who enriched the lives o f others Perhaps then he actually was the perfect man

K e y w o r d s E u g e n Sa n d o w ph y sic a l c u l t u r e m a r k e t in g w e ig h t t r a in in g

T he story o f John L Sullivan is chronicled by Michael T Isenberg It provides evidence that Sullivan was the first American sport hero and sport celebrity Furthermore it provides evidence that he began branding himself in 1880 See Michael T Isenberg John L Sullivan a n d H is America (Urbana University

o f Illinois Press 1994) O ther sources that provide evidence for this assertion include Rick Knott ldquoJohn L Sullivan and the M yth o f the Self-Made M anrdquo paper presented at the annual meeting o f the North

American Society for Sport History London O ntario 2001 copy in possession o f author and Adam J Pollack JohnL Sullivan The Career o f the First Gloved Heavyweight Champion (Jefferson NC McFarland amp Company 2006)

2David L Chapm an Sandow the M agnificent Eugen Sandow and the Beginnings o f Bodybuilding 2nd

ed (Urbana University o f Illinois Press 2002)

3Kenneth D utton The Perfectible Body The Western Ideal o f M ale Physical Development (New York

C ontinuum International Publishing Group 1995) John F Kasson H oudini Tarzan and the Perfect M an The W hite M ale Body and the Challenge o f M odernity in America (New York Hill and Wang 2001)

Caroline Daley Leisure amp Pleasure Reshaping amp Revealing the N ew Zealand Body 1900-1960 (Auckland

Auckland University Press 2003) Ina Zweiniger-Bargielowska M anaging the Body Beauty Health and

Fitness in B ritain 1880-1939 (Oxford Oxford University Press 2010) David Waller The Perfect M an The M uscular L ife and Times o f Eugen Sandow Victorian Strongman (Brighton UK Victorian Secrets Limited 2011)

4Josh Buck ldquoSandow N o Folly with Ziegfeldrsquos First Glorificationrdquo Iron Game History The Journal o f Physical Culture 5 (1998) 29 -33 Caroline Daley ldquoThe Strongman o f Eugenics Eugen Sandowrdquo Australian H istorical Studies 33 (2002) 233-248 Scott Patrick ldquoBody-building and Empire-building George Douglas Brown the South African War and lsquoSandows Magazine o f Physical Culturersquordquo Victorian Periodicals Review 41 (2008) 78-94 Vike M artina Plock ldquoA Feat o f Strength in lsquoIthacarsquo Eugen Sandow and Physical Culture in Joyces Ulyssesrdquo Journal o f M odem Literature 30 (2006) 129-139 Ina Zweiniger- Bargielowska ldquoBuilding a British Superman Physical Culture in Interwar Britainrdquo Journal o f Contemposhy

rary History 41 (2006) 595-610 Jim Elledge ldquoEugen Sandowrsquos Gift to Gay M enrdquo Gay amp Lesbian Review Worldwide 18 (2011) 14-17 Ellery E Foutch ldquoArresting Beauty T he Perfectionist Impulse of Pealersquos Butterflies Headersquos Hummingbirds Blaschkas Flowers and Sandowrsquos Bodyrdquo (PhD diss Unishy

versity o f Pennsylvania 2011) Nicholas Turse ldquoPrometheus Unbound T he Technology o f Bodybuildshying in the Nervous Agerdquo Past Imperfect 8 (2008) lthttpejoumalslibraryualbertacaindexphppiar- ticleview l405gt [5 February 2013] Marianne Schultz ldquolsquoSons o f the Empirersquo Dance and the New

Zealand Malerdquo Dance Research 29 (2011) 19-42 David P Willoughby ldquoW hen Sandow Visited Califorshy

niardquo Pacific H istorian 15 (1971) 72-77 Carrie J Preston ldquoPosing Modernism Delsartism in Modern Dance and Silent Filmrdquo Theatre Joum al 6 1 (2009) 215-233 Kimberly Ayn Beckwith ldquoBuilding Strength Alan Calvert the Milo Bar-Bell Company and the Modernization o f American Weight Trainingrdquo (PhD diss University ofTexas at Austin 2006)

5lthttpw w w m arketingpow ercom C om m unity A R C PagesA dditionalH istory L iterature

Terminologyaspxgt [23 M arch 2011] Ralph Starr Butler Herbert Francis De Bower and John George

Jones M arketing M ethods a nd Salesmanship (New York Alexander Hamilton Institute 1914) Charles W ilson Hoyt Scientific Sales M anagement A Practical Application o f the Principles o f Scientific Manageshym ent to Selling (New Haven Conn GB Woolson amp Co 1918) Paul Terry Cherington Advertising As

a Business Force A Compilation o f Experience Records (New York Doubleday Page amp Co 1913) Chapman Sandow the M agnificent 12-14

6Foutch ldquoArresting Beautyrdquo 168

7Chapm an Sandow the M agnificent 1-32

Robert Ernst Weakness Is a Crime TheLifeofB em arrM acfadden (Syracuse NY Syracuse Univershysity Press 1991) Tom Peters ldquoThe Brand Called Yourdquo Fast Company 1997 lthttpwwwfestcompanycom

28905brand-called-yougt [3 March 2013] Ifan D H Shepherd ldquoFrom Cattle and Coke to Charlie

explained in the remainder o f the paper However there is no evidence to back this claim

Along these same lines no evidence was found indicating how much o f Sandowrsquos strategy especially after they parted ways can be attributed to Florenz Ziegfeld Jr who managed Sandow for three years early in both o f their careers However it will be shown that Ziegfeld played a significant role in Sandows rise to fame Finally although other figures in the physical culture and health fields such as Bernarr Macfadden and John Harvey Kellogg

also utilized different methods of advertising and publicity because they did not leverage their physique persona or other personal characteristics in order to differentiate their products they did not personally brand themselves8 Thus it holds that Sandow was the first sportsman to use branding in a vastly successful way

Setting the Stage

Kevin Lane Keller author of Strategic Brand Management Building Measuring and M anaging Brand Equity (2003) explains that a brand is some name symbol or other attribute that identifies and distinguishes certain goods andor services Brands come in

many forms including ideas organizations products and as this paper argues people

The purpose of a brand is to instill and evoke in consumers a certain type o f emotional or psychological response that differentiates the product(s) associated with the brand from others in the marketplace But branding and marketing are not necessarily characterized by hard and fast rules W hen implementing these types o f strategies originality and creshy

ativity play a major role9 Furthermore according to business professor Ifan Shepherd in branding ldquothere is often a blurred dividing line between the selling o f a person and the selling of a product or organization [T]here is no clear dividing line between marketshying their business and marketing themselvesrdquo10 This is im portant because Sandowrsquos name

became associated with health exercise and the built body which he leveraged to sell various products In essence the more popularity Sandow gained meant that more people associated his name with these notions thereby increasing his brand equity Although this is only a cursory discussion o f branding especially compared to its profuse scholarship no more is necessary to understand the argument o f this piece

Eugen Sandow employed a primitive marketing scheme based on two major eleshyments The first was the creation and building o f a marketable personal ldquobrandrdquo through

the use o f advertising and publicity The second was the creation o f brand extensions and the building o f brand loyalty on a global scale It must be noted that these elements coashylesce In other words different parts o f his strategy overlapped at times

Sandow influenced as a child by Friedrich Ludwigjahn and the German turner moveshyment was a professional strongman who started his theatrical career in 1887 After garnering much attention due to his strength and muscularity Sandow ventured into the

business realm In 1894 he published his first book entided Sandow on Physical Training A Study in the Perfect Type o f the H uman Form1 Then he began a magazine titled Physical

Culture n 1898 Over the years the title o f the magazine changedmdash first to Sandows Magashyzine o f Physical Culture and then to simply Sandowrsquos M agazinel3 He used his magazine along with other forms o f advertising to market health and wellness products including mail-order exercise courses fitness equipment cocoa and even corsets14 Additionally he toured the globe giving exhibitions and lectures in order to spread his physical culture

message15 He died in 1925 and is now often called the father o f modern bodybuilding in

both scholarly and popular literature16Like many popular historical figures Sandow was not successful simply because o f his

own efforts The fin de siecle era in which he lived as many historians have observed was a

particularly rich and open culture It was a time o f progress and reform Both the United

States and England experienced a maelstrom o f societal change due to technological adshy

vances industrialization urbanization and mass culture17Because of the industrialization o f both countries society became more urban and

less agricultural resulting in a more sedentary lifestyle Eventually concerns emerged about

the ills o f this urban life In England much o f this apprehension was due to worries about racial degeneration or deterioration Included among these worries was anxiety about the

decline o f masculinity These concerns eventually resulted in a push for healthier modes of life through physical culture18 As historian Ina Zeiniger-Bargielowska argues ldquothe body

was an im portant locus for the construction o f masculinity A beautiful healthy and fit male body was identified with normative or lsquohegemonicrsquo masculinity and lsquosubordinatersquo

masculinities were physically mapped on the bodyrdquo19 W ith this in mind Sandow biograshypher David Waller asserts ldquoSandows symmetry was more than a neutral anatomical deshy

scriptor it was a culturally loaded concept that implied the antithesis o f degenerationrdquo20 Considering these circumstances it comes as no surprise that Sandow was able to leverage his physique in order to establish his physical culture empire

The apathy toward the muscular male body in the years before Sandowrsquos rise to feme also contributed to his success According to historian Lois Banner early in the nineteenth century the ideal male physique was relatively thin By the second half o f the century being large and even fat was ideal Having a sizable physique meant one was successful and earned enough money to buy large amounts o f food Prominent members o f the

medical profession even declared that plumpness was a sign o f health Furthermore before

Sandow most strongmen were not known for muscularity Although extremely strong their physiques were usually burly and lacked muscular detail21 This is buttressed by an examination o f images in Edmond Desbonnets Les Rots de Force published in 1911 that reveals that before Sandow the bodies o f men considered the strongest were unspectacushylar 22 As D utton explains ldquounlike the robust and stocky strongmen o f his day whose

barrel chests and massive girth made them appear rotund and even obese Muller [Sandow] was a man o f remarkably athletic appearance whose physical resemblance to the muscular statues o f the Greek Classical age was a source o f frequent and admiring commentrdquo23 Ethan Mordden a Florenz Ziegfeld Jr biographer describes Sandow as ldquohandsome with

curly blond hair and an upturned blond moustache with a tiny waist veeing up through

intensely articulated muscle separations to classically wide shoulders with incredibly white skin hairless but for a few wisps at the place o f sin So Sandow was heavy bu t exquisite a thing o f beautyrdquo24 The rarity o f a body such as Sandowrsquos and the new push toward exercise

and building the body caused the world to regard Sandowrsquos physique as an unmatched

marvel and people traveled far and wide to view the spectacleMuscular Christianity was also a component o f the push for healthier modes o f living

It was a movement characterized by building and exercising the body mostly through team games in order to achieve moral edification According to Zweiniger-Bargielowska

ldquoit joined godliness and manliness celebrated a robust and yet morally grounded physical-

ity self-discipline and character-building which were to be acquired in the pursuit of

sport and gamesrdquo25 It began in England during the first half o f the nineteenth century and eventually spread to the United States and much o f Europe by the second half o f the nineteenth century26

Sandow was an advocate o f the beliefs o f Muscular Christianity and actively proshy

moted them For example in his book The Construction and Reconstruction o f the Human

Body A M anual o f the Therapeutics o f Exercise (1907) he titled chapter five ldquoMoral Effect o f Exerciserdquo In it he declares ldquoAt first sight there does not appear to be much connection

between morals and exercise but a m om ents reflection will enable us to understand that

anything which develops the body invigorates the health and strengthens the will will also have a profound effect upon the characterrdquo27 In another book Strength and How to

Obtain I t (1905) allusions to moral edification via building the body are also evident In it Sandow describes his propagation o f physical culture as ldquopreach[ing] the lsquogospel o f health and strengthrsquordquo Later he states ldquoI maintain that he who neglects his bodymdash and not to

cultivate it is to neglect itmdash is guilty o f the worst sin for he sins against naturerdquo28 W hether these beliefs were motivated by fiscal desires is unknown But it is clear that Sandow was passionate about physical culture and dedicated to spreading ldquothe good wordrdquo

Another contributing factor to Sandows success was the new emphasis on physical education in the nineteenth century Although it gained modest ground earlier in the

century in the United States it did not become popular until Dudley Allen Sargent aided by his prestigious Harvard professorship legitimized physical education by clearly definshying it and providing reasons why it was necessary Sargent also helped popularize physical education by making it available to the entire student body rather than only upper-class

individuals who could afford exclusive club memberships Although concerns about physical education existed in England before the twentieth century as Zweiniger-Bargielowska explains major calls for it resounded in England after the military rejected 8000 out o f 11000 men between October o f 1899 and July o f 1900 because they were physically unfit As a result sports and physical culture experienced a surge of popularity at the turn o f the century29

Music halls and vaudeville were also part o f the milieu o f Sandows time as this is where he first performed his strongman acts Music halls spread quickly in England durshying the 1850s and many evolved into variety theaters by the 1890s with some holding as many as 3500 people According to Waller approximately five hundred music halls popushylated London and there were thousands more in provincial cities In the United States the music hall became known as vaudeville and shared a similar evolution By the turn of

the twentieth century most vaudeville houses had adopted the characteristics o f theaters by eliminating drinking and seating the audience in rows This evolution catered to Sandows style o f performance30

A wave o f globalization during the nineteenth century also benefitted Sandow31 Teleshygraphs telephones railroads and steamships supported faster transmission o f news capishytal ideas people and business Additionally by the mid nineteenth century the newly formed wire services created a network linking a myriad o f urban presses ushering in the transmission and dissemination o f foreign news32 This system of international communishy

cation played a major role in the formation o f global culture Railroads (which were flourshy

ishing in the United States India Africa and the Middle East) and steamboats also pershy

mitted increases in tourism immigration and tours like those o f AG Spalding in 1889

and Sandow33 Considering all these aspects o f the nineteenth century it seems the stage

was set for Sandows career

Building the Brand

Sandows willingness to enter into litigation in order to protect the Sandow name

from slander libel and infringement suggests he had a basic understanding o f branding34 The first step in this process is differentiating or branding oneself In order to do so

Sandow needed to find a way to distinguish his product (himself) from market competishy

tion (rival strongmen and acts) But branding oneself is to no avail if people are unaware the brand exists Sandow understood this concept o f brand awareness and used the staples

o f modern brandingmdash advertising and publicitymdash to position himself as a nonpareil among

strongmen35 Sandow differentiated himself from the large number o f other professional

strength entertainers in three ways he became known as 1) a perfectly developed man 2)

an English gentleman and 3) a celebrity whose exploits and physical feats became the stuff

o f mythsEarly in his career Sandow positioned himself as the Worldrsquos Most Perfectly Develshy

oped Man as evidenced by his book Sandow on Physical Training A Study in the Perfect Type o f the H uman Form published in 189436 And unlike most strongmen o f the era

Sandow realized the importance o f maintaining a high level o f muscularity throughout his life His build was densely packed with muscle and nearly devoid o f extra weight Sandow

was so muscular that he at times served as a living anatomy chart for spectators by demonshystrating his muscle control and allowing people to palpate his body37 According to one

author o f Sandows time he was the ldquophysical marvel o f the agerdquo38 Another author seemed

almost smitten with SandowCould physical beauty and perfect strength be more splendidly depicted As a study of proportionate development is it not ideal With all the wealth of his imagination and high sense and appreciation of the beautiful in Art the clevershyest sculptor in the world could never surpass this statue of human flesh and blood Nature alone can repeat herself in equalling it39

These assertions testify to the way Sandows viewers regarded his extraordinary physique and to its rarity

A major player in Sandows advertising strategy was the aforementioned Florenz

Ziegfeld Jr Most known for his theatrical revues called the Ziegfeld Follies Ziegfeld was an immensely successful manager o f music hall entertainers during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries40 Sandow was his first real act and he played a pivotal role in branding Sandow during their three years together41 Through publicity created by Ziegfeld beginning in 1893 Sandow became known as ldquothe perfect manrdquo ldquothe modern

Herculesrdquo and was even billed for a time as a ldquoveritable Colossus o f Rhodesrdquo despite his

5rsquo9rdquo height42W ith Ziegfeld acting as press agent the two made particular use o f the press to estabshy

lish Sandow as unique and extraordinary After many o f his acts or appearances vivid and

often exaggerated descriptions o f his body and feats were relayed For example one newsshy

paper article found in a scrapbook housed at the H J Lutcher Stark Center at the Univershy

sity ofTexas stated Sandows chest was ldquoas convex as the sides o f a barrelrdquo43 Even after parting with Ziegfeld Sandow was still considered the embodiment o f perfection as an article in the Australian newspaper Camperdown Chronicle in 1902 declared him ldquolike a Greek G odrdquo and an ldquoidol o f sculptorsrdquo44 Another report from The Cedar Rapids Evening Gazette in 1889 relayed that Sandow in a competition with another strongman named Sampson ldquotook from the floor with one hand a bar bell weighing 150 pounds which he threw high in the air catching it on his arm as it fell rdquo Finally the same author claimed that after being named the victor ldquoSandow then became the center o f an excited crowd eager

to shake the hand o f lsquoThe Strongest M an on Earthrsquordquo45 As Foutch explains ldquoalthough some critics argued that Sandows form was too muscular rendering it grotesque or heavy most viewers praised the symmetry beauty and balance o f his bodyrdquo46

In Sandow on Physical Training A Study in the Perfect Type o f the H uman Form a story reprinted from the New York World on June 181893 stated

O n e look at [Sandow] is enough to m ake the average young m an thoroughly

disgusted w ith himself an d to m ake h im give up his nightly hab it o f standing

in fron t o f his glass in his pajamas an d swelling his chest w ith p r id e H e

swelled ou t his chest an d on either side o f it five big muscles rose up It looked

as though five ribs o n either side were com ing through th e skin As a m atter o f

fact the ribs were n o t visible W h a t was seen was the m uscle w hich lies over

each rib and w hich on the ord inary m an is entirely undeveloped Each o f these

muscles was twice as big ro u n d as a m anrsquos thum b and the five on each side

stood ou t as distinctly as though a great h an d had been placed on e ither side o f

th e athletersquos chest47

One unknown author from the Age newspaper in Melbourne Australia in 1902 provided the following account o f Sandow

U p o n a small red pedestal stood S andow himself H is p ink and glossy flesh

bared to the waist looked even m ore p in k against a background o f purp le velshy

vet Slowly th e red pedestal began to revolve and the living statue w ith

i t H is thick well-developed limbs looked as i f they were as soft and velvety

as th e rolls o f fat an d flesh upo n a healthy baby O n e tw itch o f the body effected

a transform ation T h e muscles across his abdom en an d chest swelled un til they

resem bled ropes tha t were piercing his flesh T h e chest muscles rose and fell in

bulbous masses th a t appeared a t one m o m en t to be soft an d flabby an d the

next as hard and firm as steel48

T h e v iv idness a n d d ra m a m an ife s t in th ese d esc rip tio n s in d ic a te th a t p h y siq u es lik e S andow s

w e re ra re th e re b y a id in g in S an d o w s s tra te g y to b ra n d h im s e lf as a p e r fe c tly d e v e lo p e d

m a n

It seems almost every step Sandow took was recounted and embellished by the press Reprinted articles from Sandow on Physical Training A Study on the Perfect Type o f Human Form report that Sandow performed back-somersaults with a fifty-six-pound dumbbell in each hand juggled with dumbbells (most likely barbells) weighing upwards o f300 pounds and supported the weight o f three horses while in a bridge position Additionally upon surveying Sandow authors reported that he had piles o f muscles on his back and a neck that seemed ldquoto melt away into his chestrdquo49 Because viewing such a marvel was uncomshymon it was im portant to meticulously describe every intricate detail o f Sandows body

Accounts such as these also resulted because of Sandows intentional use o f eroticism

To display his nearly nude body at the height o f the Victorian era was brilliant marketing

on Sandow s pan and it differentiated him from other strongmen who merely lifted weights when on stage For example at the end of one o f his inaugural performances in Chicago at

the Trocadero Theater in 1893 Ziegfeld declared that any woman who would donate

$300 to charity would be allowed backstage to feel Sandows muscles Mrs Potter Palmer and Mrs George Pullman two women o f high society at the time pounced at the opporshy

tunity Amy Leslie drama critic for the Chicago Times wrote that after arriving backstage and upon stroking Sandows chest Mrs Potter claimed she was ldquothrilled to the spinerdquo

Leslie herself was reportedly stunned after Sandow ldquothrew out a stack o f corded muscles under the white smooth skin of his chest in a sort o f mechanical wayrdquo50 These backstage antics were not limited to Chicago or females however O ne male journalist o f the New

York Heralds 1893 stated ldquo [Sandow] took my hand while I was in his dressing room and rubbed it across his abdominal muscles and the feeling was just about the same as it would

be rubbing the hand over an old fashioned washboardrdquo51 Another story in the National Police Gazette from January 271894 reported that after Sandow took one womanrsquos hand

and ran it across his muscles at an exhibition in New York she stumbled back and fainted only to be brought back to consciousness with smelling salts52 These private exhibitions became part o f Sandow s after-show routine and were an im portant aspect o f his marketshying strategy

Finally accounts such as the following from the Australian newspaper Adelaide Regisshyter in 1902 excited and enlivened the female population while also increasing Sandows brand awareness through publicity

Every pose an d posture was a picture to be carried away in the memory H e

applied the pressure and his muscles becam e firm as s te e l Sandow was a

living H e rcu le s T h e muscles were show n first in a state o f repose and then

in a state o f tension T h e abdom inal muscles were contracted and produced

the w onderfu l checkerboard arrangem ent o f the fib re s Sandow [made] his

m uscles literally dance T here is no th ing gross o r coarse abou t Sandow he docs

n o t possess an ounce o f superfluous flesh he has a beautiful skin an d is in fact

all quality53

This account adequately highlights the erotic element o f Sandows performances This type o f publicity also helped solidify his feme as large numbers o f women bought tickets to his performances in order to satisfy their piqued curiosities54

The second aspect o f Sandows marketing strategy relied on what historian Daniel Boorstin called the Graphic Revolution According to Boorstin the Graphic Revolution

was the increased ability to capture and widely disseminate images in a myriad o f ways in the late nineteenth century It was aided by the advent o f the rotary press which allowed for increased printing speed at a decreased cost55 This revolution resulted in drastic inshycreases in souvenir photographs (which became a major industry during the nineteenth century) postcards cabinet cards cigarette cards and images in magazines These photoshygraphs also served as a basis for newspaper and magazine illustrations56

Sandow used this revolution to his advantage Prominent photographers such as Henry Van der Weyde Benjamin J Falk George Steckel Napoleon Sarony and his fether-in-law

Warwick Brookes captured his image multiple times The Rotary Photographic Comshy

pany even photographed him The images from these sessions were then printed on heavy

cardstock embellished with the photographers name and sold as ldquocabinet cardsrdquo These

types o f images were generally albumen print photographs measuring 425 x 65 inches It was customary in Sandows time to collect cabinet cards o f celebrities or royalty and place them in family albums These types o f photographs were prevalent as a plethora was proshyduced worldwide57 Images o f Sandow ldquowere sold at theaters hotels and photographersrsquo

studios and by mail in various sizesrdquo58 Sandow recognized the value o f photographs in his attempt to brand himself59 Furthermore his images could be found in a variety o f placesmdash

from womens private sitting rooms in their homes in the United States to the battlefields o f the Boer War in South Africa60 The camera allowed men and women to look upon his

image in private in ways that may not have been acceptable ir public It also goaded some o f those viewers to dream of their own self-improvement through physical culture61

Both o f his major biographers suggest that Sandow also a-tempted to brand himself as a gendeman W hen cff the stage Sandow dressed in clothing appropriate for an uppershyclass Englishman and affected the manners and habits o f the English aristocracy62 Bodyshy

building historian Kenneth D utton argues that the developed body is not merely an object to be viewed Rather he contends that social and cultural messages are transmitted through it63 Therefore since the body o f a man such as Sandow was considered perfect it was not too great a leap for the public to transpose the characteristics o f perfection from a physical

sense to a more intangible sense resulting in a ldquobuilt personardquo o f the seemingly perfect

man with high moral and intellectual qualities64 For example in the aforementioned article from the Camperdown Chronicle Sandows appearance was compared to the Gershyman emperorrsquos yet the paper reported he spoke English fluently with a ldquomelodious acshy

centrdquo65 The article also explained that Sandow devoted himself to spreading the message o f health and strength while turning down no class of individual who sought his guidance thereby providing his own type o f patronage

O ne pronounced attempt at branding himself as an English gentleman was demonshystrated during Sandows Great Competition in 1901 Although addressed later this conshytest was essentially a bodybuilding competition Competitors were judged by Sandow and

two other individuals Sir Charles Lawes sculptor and amateur athlete and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle author of the Sherlock Holmes stories Both were revered and admired in England Rubbing elbows with these prominent figures aided in Sandows effort to be considered a gentleman66

As any English gentleman knew it was also right to support king and country and Sandow did just that Due to interest in his techniques by LrCol G Malcom Fox who was ultimately appointed Inspector o f Physical Training for all public elementary schools Sandow gave a number of exhibitions in order to raise awareness o f physical culture in the British military67 Moreover prior to and during the Boer War many o f Great Britains men were denied the opportunity to join the military due to a lack o f fitness Thus Sandow took it upon himself to train 11000 members o f the British Army in London and offered cash prizes totaling pound1000 for those showing the best physical improvement68 Because of his assistance with the British Army Sandow was rewarded by being appointed honorary Professor o f Scientific and Physical Culture to His Majesty in 191169 This provided anshyother means for Sandow to associate himself with the uppercrust o f society

This was not the only instance o f Sandow promoting himself through royal associashy

tions As Chapman explains Sandow offered an accountmdash most likely embellishedmdash of his performance before Crown Prince Frederick o f Prussia and Crown Princess Victoria

daughter o f the queen o f the United Kingdom o f Great Britain According to Sandow

although the Crown Prince was sick he claimed he could match Sandow at one o f his feats and tore asunder a pack o f playing cards But Sandow not willing to be bested by even

royalty replicated the feat with two packs o f playing cards According to the account Frederick was so impressed that he bequeathed a ring to Sandow who was fond o f displayshy

ing it and even published a picture o f it in The Strand magazine Despite this association with European royalty Sandow continuously attempted to be considered an Englishman

especially as tensions heightened before and during World War I70The last facet o f Sandowrsquos branding strategy was a process called myth-making This

was an attem pt to elevate his status from a normal human to that o f a hero or mythic being This strategy also elevated him above the ranks o f other strongmen Sandow acshycomplished his myth-making through stories he propagated reports o f his public strength exhibitions and the continued discussion in the press o f his body as a site o f physical

perfectionA classic example o f Sandows attempt to increase his brand awareness can be found in

the often repeated story of how he first garnered public attention as a strongman After vainly searching for venues needing a strongman in Amsterdam in 1887 Sandow decided he needed publicity At that time in Europe weightlifting machines existed that tested the strength o f individuals with a lever arm similar to a slot machine So in the dead o f the night Sandow traversed the city pushing every machine he happened upon past its limit and broke them all After accomplishing this task twice more the city was wildly curious

to know the identity o f this enormously strong vandal Finally Sandow turned himself

over to the authorities who at first did not believe that he was the culpritmdash he simply did not look large enough After lifting an officer in the air with just one arm to prove his strength however Sandow was arrested By the time he was bailed out o f jail his exploits had spread throughout Amsterdam Thereafter he received free room and board at his hotel and the theater that once refused to hire him at ten guilders a week booked him at

1200 guilders per week Sandow not only garnered the publicity he sought in Amsterdam but in the years ahead the story was repeated in newspaper accounts in city after city as a testament to his mythic strength71

Another example o f Sandowrsquos attempt at glorification can be found in a tale told by

G Mercer Adam During one o f Sandowrsquos trips to Italy two thieves managed to steal some

o f Sandowrsquos more valuable belongings while he was on a train Upon arriving at his final destination he received bricks rather than his valuables from the railroad porter who probably played a role in the chicanery So Sandow returned to Nice Italy where he last

saw his possessions After identifying the thieves and without the aid o f police Adam

relays that Sandowpounced u pon them suddenly and caught each m an firm ly by the back o f the

neck W hen they recovered from their surprise an d began to struggle to get free

the s trongm an brough t their two heads repeatedly in contact until unconshy

sciousness rendered one m an lim p and fright quieted the other72

Then he dragged them to the police station ldquointo which he flung themrdquo Finally in an ending fit for a hero Sandow found the pawn-tickets o f his valuables and was able to

recover his stolen property73 O f course he also had another story he could use bolster his mythic persona

One o f the most notorious ways Sandow attempted to utilize the myth-making conshycept was through a wrestling match with a lion After a proposed fight between a bear and

a lion was halted by the Society for the Prevention o f Cruelty to Animals Ziegfeld Sandowrsquos manager at the time prompdy substituted Sandow for the bear However he also substishytuted an older more docile and possibly drugged lion for the original savage beast slated

to fight the bear The public was unaware of this change and the anticipation o f the bout was palpable Unfortunately for Sandow and the lion for that matter the match was one

sided To protect Sandow a muzzle and large gloves were secured to the supposedly savage beast before the fight During the first part o f the match the lion seemed dejected and the crowd began to sympathize with it Sensing this Sandow tried to antagonize it by dragshyging it and flinging it by the tail pulling its whiskers and even carrying it around the ring

on his back His efforts were to no avail Although Sandow later attempted to embellish

the tale to make his actions seem more admirable the bout held in San Francisco on May 2 2 1894 garnered negative reviews from newspapers and proved humiliating for Sandow74 This example o f glorification indicates that not all o f Sandowrsquos attempts were successful

Although discussed previously the use o f photographs glorified Sandow as well

Through lighting powder and different poses his muscularity could be accentuated

making him seem superhuman75 Furthermore his habit o f assuming poses reminiscent o f classical statuary such as the Farnese Hercules and the Dying Gaul provided direct links to the fin de sikles fascination with neo-classicism76 Sandow understood that pictures

ldquoverified [his] superhuman status and formed a crucial visual element o f [his] promoshytional campaignrdquo77

From a historical standpoint the significance o f Sandow branding himself cannot be overstated First Sancow shifted the primary focus of his performances from the strength o f his body to the look o f his body This was innovation in itself78 Second and more

importantly Sandow not only pushed the boundaries o f social acceptability but in the midst o f a conservative Victorian era he shifted social standards so that the body became a positive image79 Finally Sandowrsquos efforts at increasing his brand awareness resulted in his association with health strength fitness and perfection among tens o f thousands of readers80 These three elements caused him by 1903 to be the ldquohighest salaried vaudeville artist in the worldrdquomdash a fret that suggests Sandowrsquos branding campaign proved successshyful81

Exploiting the Built Brand

Having built his brand through his exhibitions and publicity Sandow next turned his attention to new forms o f marketing through brand extension Brand extensions are prodshyucts that vaunt an established brand name but in a different market category82 A modern example o f this is Sir Richard Bransonrsquos extension o f his brand ldquoVirginrdquomdash originally a record store and music labelmdash into the mobile phone and airline industries83 The first products Sandow sole were advice books on training and self-improvement He published

his first book Sandow on Physical Training A Study in the Perfect Type o f the H uman Form

in 1894 and followed with five more They include Strength and How to Obtain It (1897) The Gospel o f Strength According to Sandow (1902) Body-building or M an in the Making

How to Become Healthy and Strong (1904) The Construction and Reconstruction o f The

H uman Body A M anual o f the Therapeutics o f Exercise (1907) and Life Is Movement Or the Physical Reconstruction and Regeneration o f the People (1919)84 These books contain inforshy

mation about Sandowrsquos travels his honors and accomplishments how to exercise and train with resistance anatomy hygiene and even physical culture for women

As mentioned Sandow also started his own magazine in 1898 which was ultimately tided Sandows Magazinersquo This periodical aimed to satisfy the increasing interest in physical culture at the time and included articles such as ldquoHow to Keep in Condition in H ot

Weatherrdquo ldquoThe Strength and Symmetry o f M en Compared with Animalsrdquo ldquoSleeplessshy

nessrdquo and ldquoBacteria Germs N ot the Only Cause o f Diseaserdquo86 Although filled with physishycal culture information the magazine also covered topical events contained household

hints and had a ldquobreezy populist tonerdquo87 The magazine established Sandow as an ldquoexshypertrdquo on a variety o f matters A case could almost be made for including him as a pioneer

among lifestyle experts such as M artha Stewart who have successfully branded themshyselves88 Most importantly the books and magazines allowed him ldquofreerdquo advertising so that he could extend his brand to other products and entities bearing the Sandow name89

Included among these other extensions were Sandows Curative Institutes These inshy

stitutes were posited to be ldquoinvaluable to sufferers from Insomnia Neurotic Persons or those whose nervous system is run down all who desire a graceful carriage and symmetrishycal form those whose sedentary occupations have caused sluggish liver or constipation athletes in every branch o f Sportrdquo90 Catering to men and women Sandows schools proshyvided individual as well as group training sessions The equipment used consisted solely o f

dumbbells Sandow opened the first in this chain o f establishments at 32A St Jamesrsquos Street in London in 189791 As advertised by Sandow five more were establishedmdash one at each o f the following locations 115 A Ebury Street in London Brook House in Walbrook London EC 185 Tottenham Court Road London WC Oxford Street Manchester and 16 Colquitt Street Liverpool92 Finally he opened a more prestigious and luxurious College o f Physical Culture in Boston Massachusetts H e initially planned to establish

another in New York with Earle Liederman as a partner Those plans were not realized however due to Sandows death93 Despite the initial exponential growth o f membership in these Victorian equivalents o f health clubs none but his Institute on St James Street endured after World War I94 Nevertheless Sandowrsquos reputation and his club(s) were reshy

vered as their reputation o f achieving stellar results with exercise and dietary advice spread95

Sandow also extended his brand to exercise products Sandowrsquos Spring Grip D um bshybells was one o f these These were shaped like regular dumbbells but with a spring in the middle The user was to squeeze the dumbbell throughout the exercise routine in order to

facilitate concentration on the particular task Included were illustrated instructions for

the user to follow96 He even endorsed a polishing cloth for the dumbbells that was touted as ldquosuperior to chamois leatherrdquo97 O ther exercise products included the Sandowrsquos Develshyoper and Sandows Symmetrion The Symmetrion was essentially a Sandowrsquos Developer for women Like the Developer it consisted o f ldquoa combination o f rubber cords and dumbshy

bell attachmentsrdquo and was meant to be a versatile in-home exercise machine98 Eventually

Sandow advertised a mail-order health and exercise system that promised relief for suffershy

ers o f constipation liver troubles insomnia indigestion loss o f vigor and inadequate physical development99

Sandow even attempted to target children with one o f his brand extensions In 1913

he devised an exercise contraption that was actually a childrens doll that resembled acheerful sailor The arms and legs o f the doll could be manipulated by the user but not w ithout a certain degree o f resistance provided by pulleys inside the machine Once the

arms and legs were maneuvered enough a piece o f candy was rewarded and transferred via the mouth o f the doll However possibly because o f the complexity o f the doll or the

contradiction o f providing candy as a reward for exercising Sandow was unable to secure funding for the product100

O ther miscellaneous health products also boasted the Sandow name For example Sandows equivalent o f the modern athletic rub known as Bengay was his Sandows Conshycentrated Embrocation This was a liniment promoted to ensure strong supple muscles

Advertisements for this product asserted that ldquoregular use o f this Embrocation [brought] and [kept] the muscles in perfect condition [relieved] muscular stiffness and [healed]

sprains strains bruises or injured jointsrdquo101 Another Sandow product was his Sandows Patent Health and Perfect Figure Corset Makers o f the corset claimed it allowed freedom and movement yet retained a hygienic design Though other health conscious corsets had

flooded the market by that time his carried the Sandow name Sandow also extended his brand to include Sandows Health and Strength Cocoa The drink was advertised as being pure and o f high food value However it proved more problematic than profitable due to connections with Germany during World War I and competition from rival firms It also caused him great financial stress when the company became insolvent102

No matter how many products Sandow created he understood that success could not be achieved if consumers purchased only one It was necessary for him to nurture the bonds with consumers in order to retain their business This is known as relationship

marketing Via his magazine institutes and touring Sandow attempted to cultivate furshyther his relationship with customers thereby increasing and demonstrating a cursory unshyderstanding o f brand loyalty103

O ne o f the major media Sandow utilized to maintain and strengthen relationships with his consumers was his Sandow Magazine Readersrsquo Club This club was a portion of Sandows magazine devoted to the testimonials o f readers Here readers would extol Sandow and his system The club also provided an arena where followers including women could publicize their achievements and seek praise from Sandow104 An explanation o f the club from Sandows M agazine follows

For the exchange of ideas personal experiences and photos for the encourageshyment of Club Members Readers are expected to act up to the Club Motto [T]he President will award to the sender of every published idea experience or photo the Club Fellowship Medal as a token that the rightful owner has earned the Fellowship of the Club105

However in some magazines a Club Fellowship Medal was awarded only to readers who submitted something worthy o f publication and provided the names and addresses o f fifty people the reader introduced to the magazine106

Sandow also titled a section o f his magazine H ints from Sandow Here it was advershy

tised that Sandow responded to questions from his readers concerning issues such as equipshyment night sweats and knock-knees Although responses were ldquofor the purpose o f comshy

ing into closer touch with [his] friends and readersrdquo space was limited and it was encouraged

to inquire about prescribed mail-order exercise courses107 This was another way Sandow

strengthened relations with his consumers and encouraged them to invest in his productsThese components of Sandows brand loyalty and publicity strategies apparently worked

as readers from Canada England India New Zealand Ireland Australia South Africa

Malta Hong Kong Japan Norway and Singapore wrote to him 108 In his book Strength and How to Obtain It Sandow even boasted that ldquoevery week many letters [reached him]

from the Coloniesmdash from India Canada Australia South Africamdash even from distant

Klondikerdquo109 W hen one interviewer inquired about the number o f pupils under his inshy

struction in 1904 Sandow replied that he had ldquoabout a millionrdquo110 Many o f these pupils became disciples and ldquospread the good newsrdquo regarding his products and exercise system

which aided in Sandows success1

Like savvy marketers in the twenty-first century Sandow also sought ways to involve

his customers personally in his efforts O ne means for this was his holding o f physical

culture competitions in his magazine These monthly competitions for both children and

adults required applicants to send one photograph o f himherself to the magazine Then

applicants were judged on their development and measurements and each months winshy

ner received a gold medal112 But these were not the only physical culture competitionspromoted by Sandow As mentioned in 1901 Sandowrsquos Great Competition was held to determine the United Kingdoms ldquoBest Developed M anrdquo The competition was the culmishy

nation o f a series o f local contests held in provinces throughout the UK during the three years before the final competition The top three place winners in each local contest were

eligible to compete in ldquoSandowrsquos Great Competitionrdquo The final contest held on Septemshyber 14 was a spectacle as 15000 people attended113 These competitions not only created

publicity they strengthened Sandows relationship with his consumers because o f the inshycreased interaction facilitated by them

Sandow attempted to increase his brand loyalty by touring the globe as well By the time he began his first tour in 1901 his brand was already established114 Thus he not

only increased his international presence by touring but actively participated in relationshy

ship marketing He strengthened relationships with his fans and followers by giving exhishybitions and lectures that were accessible to them and allowed for interaction on a personal level

Sandow toured internationally twice O n the North American continent he performed in Chicago San Francisco Boston New York St Louis Omaha Detroit Richmond and even select cities in Canada His tours also landed him in Australia New Zealand South Africa India Italy China Egypt and Japan115 At his exhibitions he would first pose and then perform his strength act After his performance he would promote physical

culture and health by lecturing on the importance of each He also discussed the anatomy of the human body using himself as a model6

His influence on the countries he visited attests to his success in increasing his brand loyalty and publicity For example a scrapbook clipping by Clarence Weber ascribes Sandow

the ldquocredit o f arousing deep interest in and demonstrating the possibilities o f scientific

exerciserdquo117 In New Zealand as historian Caroline Daley has shown people established Sandow schools physical culture contests were held and Sandows system was utilized in many ways after his tour118 O ne example o f his influence can be found in the fact that three years after Sandow visited New Zealand the All Black Rugby team had integrated his Sandows Developer in their exercise routine on their 1905 tour and some members were training with his dumbbell system119

India readily accepted Sandow as well His exhibitions drew thousands o f attendees

and interest in physical culture heightened after his visit120 Results o f his impact are demshyonstrated through individuals like Ram Murti Naidu who was also known as the Indian Sandow Murti was best known for supporting the weight o f a three-ton elephant on his stomach and being a vegetarian121 Professor KV Iyer was also inspired by Sandows presshyence in India He would go on to combine Indian and Western physical culture to create his own exercise system122

Other countries were impacted by Sandow as well albeit less than in New Zealand

Australia or England Evidence o f his influence is found in Egypt where a man named

Abd al-Halim al-Misri designated ldquoEgyptian Sandowrdquo by Wilson Chacko Jacob traveled to exhibit his body and his feats o f strength123 And outside Austin Texas the inhabitants o f the small town o f Freezeout voted to change its name to Sandow Texas to honor the great strongman124

Amongst the milieu o f general social movements and technological advancements of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries Eugen Sandow became a global pheshynomenon synonymous with exercise and health Sandow s legacy and impact on the world is impossible to deny O ne enthusiastic author from his era bloviated that Sandow was ldquothe

strongest man greatest physical culture authority and finest physical example o f the elecshytrical period who practically revived physical education which had become obscure after the fall o f the Roman Empirerdquo125 Although a strong assertion it nonetheless indicates the significance o f Sandows influence at the time That influence can still be felt today Acshycording to historian Jan Todd Sandow provided a lasting marketing and branding exshy

ample that a number o f physical culturists emulated in later years including Bernarr Macfadden Bob Hoffman Joe Weider and even Arnold Schwarzenegger126

Eugen Sandow was an extraordinary man His physique changed the way Victorian society viewed the body His propagation o f physical culture left lasting effects in scores of

countries including the United States Great Britain New Zealand and Australia His products and exercises helped ignite the iron game flame worldwide But Sandows legacy is not limited to these fields He muscled his way into the lives o f people who desired health youth and vigor through marketing techniques and strategies never before utilized

in physical culture and his example is emulated to this day Sandow was a self-made man with humble beginnings who became a physical culture mogul He was known for his incredible physique and gentlemanly standing He was an educator who enriched the lives o f others Perhaps then he actually was the perfect man

K e y w o r d s E u g e n Sa n d o w ph y sic a l c u l t u r e m a r k e t in g w e ig h t t r a in in g

T he story o f John L Sullivan is chronicled by Michael T Isenberg It provides evidence that Sullivan was the first American sport hero and sport celebrity Furthermore it provides evidence that he began branding himself in 1880 See Michael T Isenberg John L Sullivan a n d H is America (Urbana University

o f Illinois Press 1994) O ther sources that provide evidence for this assertion include Rick Knott ldquoJohn L Sullivan and the M yth o f the Self-Made M anrdquo paper presented at the annual meeting o f the North

American Society for Sport History London O ntario 2001 copy in possession o f author and Adam J Pollack JohnL Sullivan The Career o f the First Gloved Heavyweight Champion (Jefferson NC McFarland amp Company 2006)

2David L Chapm an Sandow the M agnificent Eugen Sandow and the Beginnings o f Bodybuilding 2nd

ed (Urbana University o f Illinois Press 2002)

3Kenneth D utton The Perfectible Body The Western Ideal o f M ale Physical Development (New York

C ontinuum International Publishing Group 1995) John F Kasson H oudini Tarzan and the Perfect M an The W hite M ale Body and the Challenge o f M odernity in America (New York Hill and Wang 2001)

Caroline Daley Leisure amp Pleasure Reshaping amp Revealing the N ew Zealand Body 1900-1960 (Auckland

Auckland University Press 2003) Ina Zweiniger-Bargielowska M anaging the Body Beauty Health and

Fitness in B ritain 1880-1939 (Oxford Oxford University Press 2010) David Waller The Perfect M an The M uscular L ife and Times o f Eugen Sandow Victorian Strongman (Brighton UK Victorian Secrets Limited 2011)

4Josh Buck ldquoSandow N o Folly with Ziegfeldrsquos First Glorificationrdquo Iron Game History The Journal o f Physical Culture 5 (1998) 29 -33 Caroline Daley ldquoThe Strongman o f Eugenics Eugen Sandowrdquo Australian H istorical Studies 33 (2002) 233-248 Scott Patrick ldquoBody-building and Empire-building George Douglas Brown the South African War and lsquoSandows Magazine o f Physical Culturersquordquo Victorian Periodicals Review 41 (2008) 78-94 Vike M artina Plock ldquoA Feat o f Strength in lsquoIthacarsquo Eugen Sandow and Physical Culture in Joyces Ulyssesrdquo Journal o f M odem Literature 30 (2006) 129-139 Ina Zweiniger- Bargielowska ldquoBuilding a British Superman Physical Culture in Interwar Britainrdquo Journal o f Contemposhy

rary History 41 (2006) 595-610 Jim Elledge ldquoEugen Sandowrsquos Gift to Gay M enrdquo Gay amp Lesbian Review Worldwide 18 (2011) 14-17 Ellery E Foutch ldquoArresting Beauty T he Perfectionist Impulse of Pealersquos Butterflies Headersquos Hummingbirds Blaschkas Flowers and Sandowrsquos Bodyrdquo (PhD diss Unishy

versity o f Pennsylvania 2011) Nicholas Turse ldquoPrometheus Unbound T he Technology o f Bodybuildshying in the Nervous Agerdquo Past Imperfect 8 (2008) lthttpejoumalslibraryualbertacaindexphppiar- ticleview l405gt [5 February 2013] Marianne Schultz ldquolsquoSons o f the Empirersquo Dance and the New

Zealand Malerdquo Dance Research 29 (2011) 19-42 David P Willoughby ldquoW hen Sandow Visited Califorshy

niardquo Pacific H istorian 15 (1971) 72-77 Carrie J Preston ldquoPosing Modernism Delsartism in Modern Dance and Silent Filmrdquo Theatre Joum al 6 1 (2009) 215-233 Kimberly Ayn Beckwith ldquoBuilding Strength Alan Calvert the Milo Bar-Bell Company and the Modernization o f American Weight Trainingrdquo (PhD diss University ofTexas at Austin 2006)

5lthttpw w w m arketingpow ercom C om m unity A R C PagesA dditionalH istory L iterature

Terminologyaspxgt [23 M arch 2011] Ralph Starr Butler Herbert Francis De Bower and John George

Jones M arketing M ethods a nd Salesmanship (New York Alexander Hamilton Institute 1914) Charles W ilson Hoyt Scientific Sales M anagement A Practical Application o f the Principles o f Scientific Manageshym ent to Selling (New Haven Conn GB Woolson amp Co 1918) Paul Terry Cherington Advertising As

a Business Force A Compilation o f Experience Records (New York Doubleday Page amp Co 1913) Chapman Sandow the M agnificent 12-14

6Foutch ldquoArresting Beautyrdquo 168

7Chapm an Sandow the M agnificent 1-32

Robert Ernst Weakness Is a Crime TheLifeofB em arrM acfadden (Syracuse NY Syracuse Univershysity Press 1991) Tom Peters ldquoThe Brand Called Yourdquo Fast Company 1997 lthttpwwwfestcompanycom

28905brand-called-yougt [3 March 2013] Ifan D H Shepherd ldquoFrom Cattle and Coke to Charlie

message15 He died in 1925 and is now often called the father o f modern bodybuilding in

both scholarly and popular literature16Like many popular historical figures Sandow was not successful simply because o f his

own efforts The fin de siecle era in which he lived as many historians have observed was a

particularly rich and open culture It was a time o f progress and reform Both the United

States and England experienced a maelstrom o f societal change due to technological adshy

vances industrialization urbanization and mass culture17Because of the industrialization o f both countries society became more urban and

less agricultural resulting in a more sedentary lifestyle Eventually concerns emerged about

the ills o f this urban life In England much o f this apprehension was due to worries about racial degeneration or deterioration Included among these worries was anxiety about the

decline o f masculinity These concerns eventually resulted in a push for healthier modes of life through physical culture18 As historian Ina Zeiniger-Bargielowska argues ldquothe body

was an im portant locus for the construction o f masculinity A beautiful healthy and fit male body was identified with normative or lsquohegemonicrsquo masculinity and lsquosubordinatersquo

masculinities were physically mapped on the bodyrdquo19 W ith this in mind Sandow biograshypher David Waller asserts ldquoSandows symmetry was more than a neutral anatomical deshy

scriptor it was a culturally loaded concept that implied the antithesis o f degenerationrdquo20 Considering these circumstances it comes as no surprise that Sandow was able to leverage his physique in order to establish his physical culture empire

The apathy toward the muscular male body in the years before Sandowrsquos rise to feme also contributed to his success According to historian Lois Banner early in the nineteenth century the ideal male physique was relatively thin By the second half o f the century being large and even fat was ideal Having a sizable physique meant one was successful and earned enough money to buy large amounts o f food Prominent members o f the

medical profession even declared that plumpness was a sign o f health Furthermore before

Sandow most strongmen were not known for muscularity Although extremely strong their physiques were usually burly and lacked muscular detail21 This is buttressed by an examination o f images in Edmond Desbonnets Les Rots de Force published in 1911 that reveals that before Sandow the bodies o f men considered the strongest were unspectacushylar 22 As D utton explains ldquounlike the robust and stocky strongmen o f his day whose

barrel chests and massive girth made them appear rotund and even obese Muller [Sandow] was a man o f remarkably athletic appearance whose physical resemblance to the muscular statues o f the Greek Classical age was a source o f frequent and admiring commentrdquo23 Ethan Mordden a Florenz Ziegfeld Jr biographer describes Sandow as ldquohandsome with

curly blond hair and an upturned blond moustache with a tiny waist veeing up through

intensely articulated muscle separations to classically wide shoulders with incredibly white skin hairless but for a few wisps at the place o f sin So Sandow was heavy bu t exquisite a thing o f beautyrdquo24 The rarity o f a body such as Sandowrsquos and the new push toward exercise

and building the body caused the world to regard Sandowrsquos physique as an unmatched

marvel and people traveled far and wide to view the spectacleMuscular Christianity was also a component o f the push for healthier modes o f living

It was a movement characterized by building and exercising the body mostly through team games in order to achieve moral edification According to Zweiniger-Bargielowska

ldquoit joined godliness and manliness celebrated a robust and yet morally grounded physical-

ity self-discipline and character-building which were to be acquired in the pursuit of

sport and gamesrdquo25 It began in England during the first half o f the nineteenth century and eventually spread to the United States and much o f Europe by the second half o f the nineteenth century26

Sandow was an advocate o f the beliefs o f Muscular Christianity and actively proshy

moted them For example in his book The Construction and Reconstruction o f the Human

Body A M anual o f the Therapeutics o f Exercise (1907) he titled chapter five ldquoMoral Effect o f Exerciserdquo In it he declares ldquoAt first sight there does not appear to be much connection

between morals and exercise but a m om ents reflection will enable us to understand that

anything which develops the body invigorates the health and strengthens the will will also have a profound effect upon the characterrdquo27 In another book Strength and How to

Obtain I t (1905) allusions to moral edification via building the body are also evident In it Sandow describes his propagation o f physical culture as ldquopreach[ing] the lsquogospel o f health and strengthrsquordquo Later he states ldquoI maintain that he who neglects his bodymdash and not to

cultivate it is to neglect itmdash is guilty o f the worst sin for he sins against naturerdquo28 W hether these beliefs were motivated by fiscal desires is unknown But it is clear that Sandow was passionate about physical culture and dedicated to spreading ldquothe good wordrdquo

Another contributing factor to Sandows success was the new emphasis on physical education in the nineteenth century Although it gained modest ground earlier in the

century in the United States it did not become popular until Dudley Allen Sargent aided by his prestigious Harvard professorship legitimized physical education by clearly definshying it and providing reasons why it was necessary Sargent also helped popularize physical education by making it available to the entire student body rather than only upper-class

individuals who could afford exclusive club memberships Although concerns about physical education existed in England before the twentieth century as Zweiniger-Bargielowska explains major calls for it resounded in England after the military rejected 8000 out o f 11000 men between October o f 1899 and July o f 1900 because they were physically unfit As a result sports and physical culture experienced a surge of popularity at the turn o f the century29

Music halls and vaudeville were also part o f the milieu o f Sandows time as this is where he first performed his strongman acts Music halls spread quickly in England durshying the 1850s and many evolved into variety theaters by the 1890s with some holding as many as 3500 people According to Waller approximately five hundred music halls popushylated London and there were thousands more in provincial cities In the United States the music hall became known as vaudeville and shared a similar evolution By the turn of

the twentieth century most vaudeville houses had adopted the characteristics o f theaters by eliminating drinking and seating the audience in rows This evolution catered to Sandows style o f performance30

A wave o f globalization during the nineteenth century also benefitted Sandow31 Teleshygraphs telephones railroads and steamships supported faster transmission o f news capishytal ideas people and business Additionally by the mid nineteenth century the newly formed wire services created a network linking a myriad o f urban presses ushering in the transmission and dissemination o f foreign news32 This system of international communishy

cation played a major role in the formation o f global culture Railroads (which were flourshy

ishing in the United States India Africa and the Middle East) and steamboats also pershy

mitted increases in tourism immigration and tours like those o f AG Spalding in 1889

and Sandow33 Considering all these aspects o f the nineteenth century it seems the stage

was set for Sandows career

Building the Brand

Sandows willingness to enter into litigation in order to protect the Sandow name

from slander libel and infringement suggests he had a basic understanding o f branding34 The first step in this process is differentiating or branding oneself In order to do so

Sandow needed to find a way to distinguish his product (himself) from market competishy

tion (rival strongmen and acts) But branding oneself is to no avail if people are unaware the brand exists Sandow understood this concept o f brand awareness and used the staples

o f modern brandingmdash advertising and publicitymdash to position himself as a nonpareil among

strongmen35 Sandow differentiated himself from the large number o f other professional

strength entertainers in three ways he became known as 1) a perfectly developed man 2)

an English gentleman and 3) a celebrity whose exploits and physical feats became the stuff

o f mythsEarly in his career Sandow positioned himself as the Worldrsquos Most Perfectly Develshy

oped Man as evidenced by his book Sandow on Physical Training A Study in the Perfect Type o f the H uman Form published in 189436 And unlike most strongmen o f the era

Sandow realized the importance o f maintaining a high level o f muscularity throughout his life His build was densely packed with muscle and nearly devoid o f extra weight Sandow

was so muscular that he at times served as a living anatomy chart for spectators by demonshystrating his muscle control and allowing people to palpate his body37 According to one

author o f Sandows time he was the ldquophysical marvel o f the agerdquo38 Another author seemed

almost smitten with SandowCould physical beauty and perfect strength be more splendidly depicted As a study of proportionate development is it not ideal With all the wealth of his imagination and high sense and appreciation of the beautiful in Art the clevershyest sculptor in the world could never surpass this statue of human flesh and blood Nature alone can repeat herself in equalling it39

These assertions testify to the way Sandows viewers regarded his extraordinary physique and to its rarity

A major player in Sandows advertising strategy was the aforementioned Florenz

Ziegfeld Jr Most known for his theatrical revues called the Ziegfeld Follies Ziegfeld was an immensely successful manager o f music hall entertainers during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries40 Sandow was his first real act and he played a pivotal role in branding Sandow during their three years together41 Through publicity created by Ziegfeld beginning in 1893 Sandow became known as ldquothe perfect manrdquo ldquothe modern

Herculesrdquo and was even billed for a time as a ldquoveritable Colossus o f Rhodesrdquo despite his

5rsquo9rdquo height42W ith Ziegfeld acting as press agent the two made particular use o f the press to estabshy

lish Sandow as unique and extraordinary After many o f his acts or appearances vivid and

often exaggerated descriptions o f his body and feats were relayed For example one newsshy

paper article found in a scrapbook housed at the H J Lutcher Stark Center at the Univershy

sity ofTexas stated Sandows chest was ldquoas convex as the sides o f a barrelrdquo43 Even after parting with Ziegfeld Sandow was still considered the embodiment o f perfection as an article in the Australian newspaper Camperdown Chronicle in 1902 declared him ldquolike a Greek G odrdquo and an ldquoidol o f sculptorsrdquo44 Another report from The Cedar Rapids Evening Gazette in 1889 relayed that Sandow in a competition with another strongman named Sampson ldquotook from the floor with one hand a bar bell weighing 150 pounds which he threw high in the air catching it on his arm as it fell rdquo Finally the same author claimed that after being named the victor ldquoSandow then became the center o f an excited crowd eager

to shake the hand o f lsquoThe Strongest M an on Earthrsquordquo45 As Foutch explains ldquoalthough some critics argued that Sandows form was too muscular rendering it grotesque or heavy most viewers praised the symmetry beauty and balance o f his bodyrdquo46

In Sandow on Physical Training A Study in the Perfect Type o f the H uman Form a story reprinted from the New York World on June 181893 stated

O n e look at [Sandow] is enough to m ake the average young m an thoroughly

disgusted w ith himself an d to m ake h im give up his nightly hab it o f standing

in fron t o f his glass in his pajamas an d swelling his chest w ith p r id e H e

swelled ou t his chest an d on either side o f it five big muscles rose up It looked

as though five ribs o n either side were com ing through th e skin As a m atter o f

fact the ribs were n o t visible W h a t was seen was the m uscle w hich lies over

each rib and w hich on the ord inary m an is entirely undeveloped Each o f these

muscles was twice as big ro u n d as a m anrsquos thum b and the five on each side

stood ou t as distinctly as though a great h an d had been placed on e ither side o f

th e athletersquos chest47

One unknown author from the Age newspaper in Melbourne Australia in 1902 provided the following account o f Sandow

U p o n a small red pedestal stood S andow himself H is p ink and glossy flesh

bared to the waist looked even m ore p in k against a background o f purp le velshy

vet Slowly th e red pedestal began to revolve and the living statue w ith

i t H is thick well-developed limbs looked as i f they were as soft and velvety

as th e rolls o f fat an d flesh upo n a healthy baby O n e tw itch o f the body effected

a transform ation T h e muscles across his abdom en an d chest swelled un til they

resem bled ropes tha t were piercing his flesh T h e chest muscles rose and fell in

bulbous masses th a t appeared a t one m o m en t to be soft an d flabby an d the

next as hard and firm as steel48

T h e v iv idness a n d d ra m a m an ife s t in th ese d esc rip tio n s in d ic a te th a t p h y siq u es lik e S andow s

w e re ra re th e re b y a id in g in S an d o w s s tra te g y to b ra n d h im s e lf as a p e r fe c tly d e v e lo p e d

m a n

It seems almost every step Sandow took was recounted and embellished by the press Reprinted articles from Sandow on Physical Training A Study on the Perfect Type o f Human Form report that Sandow performed back-somersaults with a fifty-six-pound dumbbell in each hand juggled with dumbbells (most likely barbells) weighing upwards o f300 pounds and supported the weight o f three horses while in a bridge position Additionally upon surveying Sandow authors reported that he had piles o f muscles on his back and a neck that seemed ldquoto melt away into his chestrdquo49 Because viewing such a marvel was uncomshymon it was im portant to meticulously describe every intricate detail o f Sandows body

Accounts such as these also resulted because of Sandows intentional use o f eroticism

To display his nearly nude body at the height o f the Victorian era was brilliant marketing

on Sandow s pan and it differentiated him from other strongmen who merely lifted weights when on stage For example at the end of one o f his inaugural performances in Chicago at

the Trocadero Theater in 1893 Ziegfeld declared that any woman who would donate

$300 to charity would be allowed backstage to feel Sandows muscles Mrs Potter Palmer and Mrs George Pullman two women o f high society at the time pounced at the opporshy

tunity Amy Leslie drama critic for the Chicago Times wrote that after arriving backstage and upon stroking Sandows chest Mrs Potter claimed she was ldquothrilled to the spinerdquo

Leslie herself was reportedly stunned after Sandow ldquothrew out a stack o f corded muscles under the white smooth skin of his chest in a sort o f mechanical wayrdquo50 These backstage antics were not limited to Chicago or females however O ne male journalist o f the New

York Heralds 1893 stated ldquo [Sandow] took my hand while I was in his dressing room and rubbed it across his abdominal muscles and the feeling was just about the same as it would

be rubbing the hand over an old fashioned washboardrdquo51 Another story in the National Police Gazette from January 271894 reported that after Sandow took one womanrsquos hand

and ran it across his muscles at an exhibition in New York she stumbled back and fainted only to be brought back to consciousness with smelling salts52 These private exhibitions became part o f Sandow s after-show routine and were an im portant aspect o f his marketshying strategy

Finally accounts such as the following from the Australian newspaper Adelaide Regisshyter in 1902 excited and enlivened the female population while also increasing Sandows brand awareness through publicity

Every pose an d posture was a picture to be carried away in the memory H e

applied the pressure and his muscles becam e firm as s te e l Sandow was a

living H e rcu le s T h e muscles were show n first in a state o f repose and then

in a state o f tension T h e abdom inal muscles were contracted and produced

the w onderfu l checkerboard arrangem ent o f the fib re s Sandow [made] his

m uscles literally dance T here is no th ing gross o r coarse abou t Sandow he docs

n o t possess an ounce o f superfluous flesh he has a beautiful skin an d is in fact

all quality53

This account adequately highlights the erotic element o f Sandows performances This type o f publicity also helped solidify his feme as large numbers o f women bought tickets to his performances in order to satisfy their piqued curiosities54

The second aspect o f Sandows marketing strategy relied on what historian Daniel Boorstin called the Graphic Revolution According to Boorstin the Graphic Revolution

was the increased ability to capture and widely disseminate images in a myriad o f ways in the late nineteenth century It was aided by the advent o f the rotary press which allowed for increased printing speed at a decreased cost55 This revolution resulted in drastic inshycreases in souvenir photographs (which became a major industry during the nineteenth century) postcards cabinet cards cigarette cards and images in magazines These photoshygraphs also served as a basis for newspaper and magazine illustrations56

Sandow used this revolution to his advantage Prominent photographers such as Henry Van der Weyde Benjamin J Falk George Steckel Napoleon Sarony and his fether-in-law

Warwick Brookes captured his image multiple times The Rotary Photographic Comshy

pany even photographed him The images from these sessions were then printed on heavy

cardstock embellished with the photographers name and sold as ldquocabinet cardsrdquo These

types o f images were generally albumen print photographs measuring 425 x 65 inches It was customary in Sandows time to collect cabinet cards o f celebrities or royalty and place them in family albums These types o f photographs were prevalent as a plethora was proshyduced worldwide57 Images o f Sandow ldquowere sold at theaters hotels and photographersrsquo

studios and by mail in various sizesrdquo58 Sandow recognized the value o f photographs in his attempt to brand himself59 Furthermore his images could be found in a variety o f placesmdash

from womens private sitting rooms in their homes in the United States to the battlefields o f the Boer War in South Africa60 The camera allowed men and women to look upon his

image in private in ways that may not have been acceptable ir public It also goaded some o f those viewers to dream of their own self-improvement through physical culture61

Both o f his major biographers suggest that Sandow also a-tempted to brand himself as a gendeman W hen cff the stage Sandow dressed in clothing appropriate for an uppershyclass Englishman and affected the manners and habits o f the English aristocracy62 Bodyshy

building historian Kenneth D utton argues that the developed body is not merely an object to be viewed Rather he contends that social and cultural messages are transmitted through it63 Therefore since the body o f a man such as Sandow was considered perfect it was not too great a leap for the public to transpose the characteristics o f perfection from a physical

sense to a more intangible sense resulting in a ldquobuilt personardquo o f the seemingly perfect

man with high moral and intellectual qualities64 For example in the aforementioned article from the Camperdown Chronicle Sandows appearance was compared to the Gershyman emperorrsquos yet the paper reported he spoke English fluently with a ldquomelodious acshy

centrdquo65 The article also explained that Sandow devoted himself to spreading the message o f health and strength while turning down no class of individual who sought his guidance thereby providing his own type o f patronage

O ne pronounced attempt at branding himself as an English gentleman was demonshystrated during Sandows Great Competition in 1901 Although addressed later this conshytest was essentially a bodybuilding competition Competitors were judged by Sandow and

two other individuals Sir Charles Lawes sculptor and amateur athlete and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle author of the Sherlock Holmes stories Both were revered and admired in England Rubbing elbows with these prominent figures aided in Sandows effort to be considered a gentleman66

As any English gentleman knew it was also right to support king and country and Sandow did just that Due to interest in his techniques by LrCol G Malcom Fox who was ultimately appointed Inspector o f Physical Training for all public elementary schools Sandow gave a number of exhibitions in order to raise awareness o f physical culture in the British military67 Moreover prior to and during the Boer War many o f Great Britains men were denied the opportunity to join the military due to a lack o f fitness Thus Sandow took it upon himself to train 11000 members o f the British Army in London and offered cash prizes totaling pound1000 for those showing the best physical improvement68 Because of his assistance with the British Army Sandow was rewarded by being appointed honorary Professor o f Scientific and Physical Culture to His Majesty in 191169 This provided anshyother means for Sandow to associate himself with the uppercrust o f society

This was not the only instance o f Sandow promoting himself through royal associashy

tions As Chapman explains Sandow offered an accountmdash most likely embellishedmdash of his performance before Crown Prince Frederick o f Prussia and Crown Princess Victoria

daughter o f the queen o f the United Kingdom o f Great Britain According to Sandow

although the Crown Prince was sick he claimed he could match Sandow at one o f his feats and tore asunder a pack o f playing cards But Sandow not willing to be bested by even

royalty replicated the feat with two packs o f playing cards According to the account Frederick was so impressed that he bequeathed a ring to Sandow who was fond o f displayshy

ing it and even published a picture o f it in The Strand magazine Despite this association with European royalty Sandow continuously attempted to be considered an Englishman

especially as tensions heightened before and during World War I70The last facet o f Sandowrsquos branding strategy was a process called myth-making This

was an attem pt to elevate his status from a normal human to that o f a hero or mythic being This strategy also elevated him above the ranks o f other strongmen Sandow acshycomplished his myth-making through stories he propagated reports o f his public strength exhibitions and the continued discussion in the press o f his body as a site o f physical

perfectionA classic example o f Sandows attempt to increase his brand awareness can be found in

the often repeated story of how he first garnered public attention as a strongman After vainly searching for venues needing a strongman in Amsterdam in 1887 Sandow decided he needed publicity At that time in Europe weightlifting machines existed that tested the strength o f individuals with a lever arm similar to a slot machine So in the dead o f the night Sandow traversed the city pushing every machine he happened upon past its limit and broke them all After accomplishing this task twice more the city was wildly curious

to know the identity o f this enormously strong vandal Finally Sandow turned himself

over to the authorities who at first did not believe that he was the culpritmdash he simply did not look large enough After lifting an officer in the air with just one arm to prove his strength however Sandow was arrested By the time he was bailed out o f jail his exploits had spread throughout Amsterdam Thereafter he received free room and board at his hotel and the theater that once refused to hire him at ten guilders a week booked him at

1200 guilders per week Sandow not only garnered the publicity he sought in Amsterdam but in the years ahead the story was repeated in newspaper accounts in city after city as a testament to his mythic strength71

Another example o f Sandowrsquos attempt at glorification can be found in a tale told by

G Mercer Adam During one o f Sandowrsquos trips to Italy two thieves managed to steal some

o f Sandowrsquos more valuable belongings while he was on a train Upon arriving at his final destination he received bricks rather than his valuables from the railroad porter who probably played a role in the chicanery So Sandow returned to Nice Italy where he last

saw his possessions After identifying the thieves and without the aid o f police Adam

relays that Sandowpounced u pon them suddenly and caught each m an firm ly by the back o f the

neck W hen they recovered from their surprise an d began to struggle to get free

the s trongm an brough t their two heads repeatedly in contact until unconshy

sciousness rendered one m an lim p and fright quieted the other72

Then he dragged them to the police station ldquointo which he flung themrdquo Finally in an ending fit for a hero Sandow found the pawn-tickets o f his valuables and was able to

recover his stolen property73 O f course he also had another story he could use bolster his mythic persona

One o f the most notorious ways Sandow attempted to utilize the myth-making conshycept was through a wrestling match with a lion After a proposed fight between a bear and

a lion was halted by the Society for the Prevention o f Cruelty to Animals Ziegfeld Sandowrsquos manager at the time prompdy substituted Sandow for the bear However he also substishytuted an older more docile and possibly drugged lion for the original savage beast slated

to fight the bear The public was unaware of this change and the anticipation o f the bout was palpable Unfortunately for Sandow and the lion for that matter the match was one

sided To protect Sandow a muzzle and large gloves were secured to the supposedly savage beast before the fight During the first part o f the match the lion seemed dejected and the crowd began to sympathize with it Sensing this Sandow tried to antagonize it by dragshyging it and flinging it by the tail pulling its whiskers and even carrying it around the ring

on his back His efforts were to no avail Although Sandow later attempted to embellish

the tale to make his actions seem more admirable the bout held in San Francisco on May 2 2 1894 garnered negative reviews from newspapers and proved humiliating for Sandow74 This example o f glorification indicates that not all o f Sandowrsquos attempts were successful

Although discussed previously the use o f photographs glorified Sandow as well

Through lighting powder and different poses his muscularity could be accentuated

making him seem superhuman75 Furthermore his habit o f assuming poses reminiscent o f classical statuary such as the Farnese Hercules and the Dying Gaul provided direct links to the fin de sikles fascination with neo-classicism76 Sandow understood that pictures

ldquoverified [his] superhuman status and formed a crucial visual element o f [his] promoshytional campaignrdquo77

From a historical standpoint the significance o f Sandow branding himself cannot be overstated First Sancow shifted the primary focus of his performances from the strength o f his body to the look o f his body This was innovation in itself78 Second and more

importantly Sandow not only pushed the boundaries o f social acceptability but in the midst o f a conservative Victorian era he shifted social standards so that the body became a positive image79 Finally Sandowrsquos efforts at increasing his brand awareness resulted in his association with health strength fitness and perfection among tens o f thousands of readers80 These three elements caused him by 1903 to be the ldquohighest salaried vaudeville artist in the worldrdquomdash a fret that suggests Sandowrsquos branding campaign proved successshyful81

Exploiting the Built Brand

Having built his brand through his exhibitions and publicity Sandow next turned his attention to new forms o f marketing through brand extension Brand extensions are prodshyucts that vaunt an established brand name but in a different market category82 A modern example o f this is Sir Richard Bransonrsquos extension o f his brand ldquoVirginrdquomdash originally a record store and music labelmdash into the mobile phone and airline industries83 The first products Sandow sole were advice books on training and self-improvement He published

his first book Sandow on Physical Training A Study in the Perfect Type o f the H uman Form

in 1894 and followed with five more They include Strength and How to Obtain It (1897) The Gospel o f Strength According to Sandow (1902) Body-building or M an in the Making

How to Become Healthy and Strong (1904) The Construction and Reconstruction o f The

H uman Body A M anual o f the Therapeutics o f Exercise (1907) and Life Is Movement Or the Physical Reconstruction and Regeneration o f the People (1919)84 These books contain inforshy

mation about Sandowrsquos travels his honors and accomplishments how to exercise and train with resistance anatomy hygiene and even physical culture for women

As mentioned Sandow also started his own magazine in 1898 which was ultimately tided Sandows Magazinersquo This periodical aimed to satisfy the increasing interest in physical culture at the time and included articles such as ldquoHow to Keep in Condition in H ot

Weatherrdquo ldquoThe Strength and Symmetry o f M en Compared with Animalsrdquo ldquoSleeplessshy

nessrdquo and ldquoBacteria Germs N ot the Only Cause o f Diseaserdquo86 Although filled with physishycal culture information the magazine also covered topical events contained household

hints and had a ldquobreezy populist tonerdquo87 The magazine established Sandow as an ldquoexshypertrdquo on a variety o f matters A case could almost be made for including him as a pioneer

among lifestyle experts such as M artha Stewart who have successfully branded themshyselves88 Most importantly the books and magazines allowed him ldquofreerdquo advertising so that he could extend his brand to other products and entities bearing the Sandow name89

Included among these other extensions were Sandows Curative Institutes These inshy

stitutes were posited to be ldquoinvaluable to sufferers from Insomnia Neurotic Persons or those whose nervous system is run down all who desire a graceful carriage and symmetrishycal form those whose sedentary occupations have caused sluggish liver or constipation athletes in every branch o f Sportrdquo90 Catering to men and women Sandows schools proshyvided individual as well as group training sessions The equipment used consisted solely o f

dumbbells Sandow opened the first in this chain o f establishments at 32A St Jamesrsquos Street in London in 189791 As advertised by Sandow five more were establishedmdash one at each o f the following locations 115 A Ebury Street in London Brook House in Walbrook London EC 185 Tottenham Court Road London WC Oxford Street Manchester and 16 Colquitt Street Liverpool92 Finally he opened a more prestigious and luxurious College o f Physical Culture in Boston Massachusetts H e initially planned to establish

another in New York with Earle Liederman as a partner Those plans were not realized however due to Sandows death93 Despite the initial exponential growth o f membership in these Victorian equivalents o f health clubs none but his Institute on St James Street endured after World War I94 Nevertheless Sandowrsquos reputation and his club(s) were reshy

vered as their reputation o f achieving stellar results with exercise and dietary advice spread95

Sandow also extended his brand to exercise products Sandowrsquos Spring Grip D um bshybells was one o f these These were shaped like regular dumbbells but with a spring in the middle The user was to squeeze the dumbbell throughout the exercise routine in order to

facilitate concentration on the particular task Included were illustrated instructions for

the user to follow96 He even endorsed a polishing cloth for the dumbbells that was touted as ldquosuperior to chamois leatherrdquo97 O ther exercise products included the Sandowrsquos Develshyoper and Sandows Symmetrion The Symmetrion was essentially a Sandowrsquos Developer for women Like the Developer it consisted o f ldquoa combination o f rubber cords and dumbshy

bell attachmentsrdquo and was meant to be a versatile in-home exercise machine98 Eventually

Sandow advertised a mail-order health and exercise system that promised relief for suffershy

ers o f constipation liver troubles insomnia indigestion loss o f vigor and inadequate physical development99

Sandow even attempted to target children with one o f his brand extensions In 1913

he devised an exercise contraption that was actually a childrens doll that resembled acheerful sailor The arms and legs o f the doll could be manipulated by the user but not w ithout a certain degree o f resistance provided by pulleys inside the machine Once the

arms and legs were maneuvered enough a piece o f candy was rewarded and transferred via the mouth o f the doll However possibly because o f the complexity o f the doll or the

contradiction o f providing candy as a reward for exercising Sandow was unable to secure funding for the product100

O ther miscellaneous health products also boasted the Sandow name For example Sandows equivalent o f the modern athletic rub known as Bengay was his Sandows Conshycentrated Embrocation This was a liniment promoted to ensure strong supple muscles

Advertisements for this product asserted that ldquoregular use o f this Embrocation [brought] and [kept] the muscles in perfect condition [relieved] muscular stiffness and [healed]

sprains strains bruises or injured jointsrdquo101 Another Sandow product was his Sandows Patent Health and Perfect Figure Corset Makers o f the corset claimed it allowed freedom and movement yet retained a hygienic design Though other health conscious corsets had

flooded the market by that time his carried the Sandow name Sandow also extended his brand to include Sandows Health and Strength Cocoa The drink was advertised as being pure and o f high food value However it proved more problematic than profitable due to connections with Germany during World War I and competition from rival firms It also caused him great financial stress when the company became insolvent102

No matter how many products Sandow created he understood that success could not be achieved if consumers purchased only one It was necessary for him to nurture the bonds with consumers in order to retain their business This is known as relationship

marketing Via his magazine institutes and touring Sandow attempted to cultivate furshyther his relationship with customers thereby increasing and demonstrating a cursory unshyderstanding o f brand loyalty103

O ne o f the major media Sandow utilized to maintain and strengthen relationships with his consumers was his Sandow Magazine Readersrsquo Club This club was a portion of Sandows magazine devoted to the testimonials o f readers Here readers would extol Sandow and his system The club also provided an arena where followers including women could publicize their achievements and seek praise from Sandow104 An explanation o f the club from Sandows M agazine follows

For the exchange of ideas personal experiences and photos for the encourageshyment of Club Members Readers are expected to act up to the Club Motto [T]he President will award to the sender of every published idea experience or photo the Club Fellowship Medal as a token that the rightful owner has earned the Fellowship of the Club105

However in some magazines a Club Fellowship Medal was awarded only to readers who submitted something worthy o f publication and provided the names and addresses o f fifty people the reader introduced to the magazine106

Sandow also titled a section o f his magazine H ints from Sandow Here it was advershy

tised that Sandow responded to questions from his readers concerning issues such as equipshyment night sweats and knock-knees Although responses were ldquofor the purpose o f comshy

ing into closer touch with [his] friends and readersrdquo space was limited and it was encouraged

to inquire about prescribed mail-order exercise courses107 This was another way Sandow

strengthened relations with his consumers and encouraged them to invest in his productsThese components of Sandows brand loyalty and publicity strategies apparently worked

as readers from Canada England India New Zealand Ireland Australia South Africa

Malta Hong Kong Japan Norway and Singapore wrote to him 108 In his book Strength and How to Obtain It Sandow even boasted that ldquoevery week many letters [reached him]

from the Coloniesmdash from India Canada Australia South Africamdash even from distant

Klondikerdquo109 W hen one interviewer inquired about the number o f pupils under his inshy

struction in 1904 Sandow replied that he had ldquoabout a millionrdquo110 Many o f these pupils became disciples and ldquospread the good newsrdquo regarding his products and exercise system

which aided in Sandows success1

Like savvy marketers in the twenty-first century Sandow also sought ways to involve

his customers personally in his efforts O ne means for this was his holding o f physical

culture competitions in his magazine These monthly competitions for both children and

adults required applicants to send one photograph o f himherself to the magazine Then

applicants were judged on their development and measurements and each months winshy

ner received a gold medal112 But these were not the only physical culture competitionspromoted by Sandow As mentioned in 1901 Sandowrsquos Great Competition was held to determine the United Kingdoms ldquoBest Developed M anrdquo The competition was the culmishy

nation o f a series o f local contests held in provinces throughout the UK during the three years before the final competition The top three place winners in each local contest were

eligible to compete in ldquoSandowrsquos Great Competitionrdquo The final contest held on Septemshyber 14 was a spectacle as 15000 people attended113 These competitions not only created

publicity they strengthened Sandows relationship with his consumers because o f the inshycreased interaction facilitated by them

Sandow attempted to increase his brand loyalty by touring the globe as well By the time he began his first tour in 1901 his brand was already established114 Thus he not

only increased his international presence by touring but actively participated in relationshy

ship marketing He strengthened relationships with his fans and followers by giving exhishybitions and lectures that were accessible to them and allowed for interaction on a personal level

Sandow toured internationally twice O n the North American continent he performed in Chicago San Francisco Boston New York St Louis Omaha Detroit Richmond and even select cities in Canada His tours also landed him in Australia New Zealand South Africa India Italy China Egypt and Japan115 At his exhibitions he would first pose and then perform his strength act After his performance he would promote physical

culture and health by lecturing on the importance of each He also discussed the anatomy of the human body using himself as a model6

His influence on the countries he visited attests to his success in increasing his brand loyalty and publicity For example a scrapbook clipping by Clarence Weber ascribes Sandow

the ldquocredit o f arousing deep interest in and demonstrating the possibilities o f scientific

exerciserdquo117 In New Zealand as historian Caroline Daley has shown people established Sandow schools physical culture contests were held and Sandows system was utilized in many ways after his tour118 O ne example o f his influence can be found in the fact that three years after Sandow visited New Zealand the All Black Rugby team had integrated his Sandows Developer in their exercise routine on their 1905 tour and some members were training with his dumbbell system119

India readily accepted Sandow as well His exhibitions drew thousands o f attendees

and interest in physical culture heightened after his visit120 Results o f his impact are demshyonstrated through individuals like Ram Murti Naidu who was also known as the Indian Sandow Murti was best known for supporting the weight o f a three-ton elephant on his stomach and being a vegetarian121 Professor KV Iyer was also inspired by Sandows presshyence in India He would go on to combine Indian and Western physical culture to create his own exercise system122

Other countries were impacted by Sandow as well albeit less than in New Zealand

Australia or England Evidence o f his influence is found in Egypt where a man named

Abd al-Halim al-Misri designated ldquoEgyptian Sandowrdquo by Wilson Chacko Jacob traveled to exhibit his body and his feats o f strength123 And outside Austin Texas the inhabitants o f the small town o f Freezeout voted to change its name to Sandow Texas to honor the great strongman124

Amongst the milieu o f general social movements and technological advancements of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries Eugen Sandow became a global pheshynomenon synonymous with exercise and health Sandow s legacy and impact on the world is impossible to deny O ne enthusiastic author from his era bloviated that Sandow was ldquothe

strongest man greatest physical culture authority and finest physical example o f the elecshytrical period who practically revived physical education which had become obscure after the fall o f the Roman Empirerdquo125 Although a strong assertion it nonetheless indicates the significance o f Sandows influence at the time That influence can still be felt today Acshycording to historian Jan Todd Sandow provided a lasting marketing and branding exshy

ample that a number o f physical culturists emulated in later years including Bernarr Macfadden Bob Hoffman Joe Weider and even Arnold Schwarzenegger126

Eugen Sandow was an extraordinary man His physique changed the way Victorian society viewed the body His propagation o f physical culture left lasting effects in scores of

countries including the United States Great Britain New Zealand and Australia His products and exercises helped ignite the iron game flame worldwide But Sandows legacy is not limited to these fields He muscled his way into the lives o f people who desired health youth and vigor through marketing techniques and strategies never before utilized

in physical culture and his example is emulated to this day Sandow was a self-made man with humble beginnings who became a physical culture mogul He was known for his incredible physique and gentlemanly standing He was an educator who enriched the lives o f others Perhaps then he actually was the perfect man

K e y w o r d s E u g e n Sa n d o w ph y sic a l c u l t u r e m a r k e t in g w e ig h t t r a in in g

T he story o f John L Sullivan is chronicled by Michael T Isenberg It provides evidence that Sullivan was the first American sport hero and sport celebrity Furthermore it provides evidence that he began branding himself in 1880 See Michael T Isenberg John L Sullivan a n d H is America (Urbana University

o f Illinois Press 1994) O ther sources that provide evidence for this assertion include Rick Knott ldquoJohn L Sullivan and the M yth o f the Self-Made M anrdquo paper presented at the annual meeting o f the North

American Society for Sport History London O ntario 2001 copy in possession o f author and Adam J Pollack JohnL Sullivan The Career o f the First Gloved Heavyweight Champion (Jefferson NC McFarland amp Company 2006)

2David L Chapm an Sandow the M agnificent Eugen Sandow and the Beginnings o f Bodybuilding 2nd

ed (Urbana University o f Illinois Press 2002)

3Kenneth D utton The Perfectible Body The Western Ideal o f M ale Physical Development (New York

C ontinuum International Publishing Group 1995) John F Kasson H oudini Tarzan and the Perfect M an The W hite M ale Body and the Challenge o f M odernity in America (New York Hill and Wang 2001)

Caroline Daley Leisure amp Pleasure Reshaping amp Revealing the N ew Zealand Body 1900-1960 (Auckland

Auckland University Press 2003) Ina Zweiniger-Bargielowska M anaging the Body Beauty Health and

Fitness in B ritain 1880-1939 (Oxford Oxford University Press 2010) David Waller The Perfect M an The M uscular L ife and Times o f Eugen Sandow Victorian Strongman (Brighton UK Victorian Secrets Limited 2011)

4Josh Buck ldquoSandow N o Folly with Ziegfeldrsquos First Glorificationrdquo Iron Game History The Journal o f Physical Culture 5 (1998) 29 -33 Caroline Daley ldquoThe Strongman o f Eugenics Eugen Sandowrdquo Australian H istorical Studies 33 (2002) 233-248 Scott Patrick ldquoBody-building and Empire-building George Douglas Brown the South African War and lsquoSandows Magazine o f Physical Culturersquordquo Victorian Periodicals Review 41 (2008) 78-94 Vike M artina Plock ldquoA Feat o f Strength in lsquoIthacarsquo Eugen Sandow and Physical Culture in Joyces Ulyssesrdquo Journal o f M odem Literature 30 (2006) 129-139 Ina Zweiniger- Bargielowska ldquoBuilding a British Superman Physical Culture in Interwar Britainrdquo Journal o f Contemposhy

rary History 41 (2006) 595-610 Jim Elledge ldquoEugen Sandowrsquos Gift to Gay M enrdquo Gay amp Lesbian Review Worldwide 18 (2011) 14-17 Ellery E Foutch ldquoArresting Beauty T he Perfectionist Impulse of Pealersquos Butterflies Headersquos Hummingbirds Blaschkas Flowers and Sandowrsquos Bodyrdquo (PhD diss Unishy

versity o f Pennsylvania 2011) Nicholas Turse ldquoPrometheus Unbound T he Technology o f Bodybuildshying in the Nervous Agerdquo Past Imperfect 8 (2008) lthttpejoumalslibraryualbertacaindexphppiar- ticleview l405gt [5 February 2013] Marianne Schultz ldquolsquoSons o f the Empirersquo Dance and the New

Zealand Malerdquo Dance Research 29 (2011) 19-42 David P Willoughby ldquoW hen Sandow Visited Califorshy

niardquo Pacific H istorian 15 (1971) 72-77 Carrie J Preston ldquoPosing Modernism Delsartism in Modern Dance and Silent Filmrdquo Theatre Joum al 6 1 (2009) 215-233 Kimberly Ayn Beckwith ldquoBuilding Strength Alan Calvert the Milo Bar-Bell Company and the Modernization o f American Weight Trainingrdquo (PhD diss University ofTexas at Austin 2006)

5lthttpw w w m arketingpow ercom C om m unity A R C PagesA dditionalH istory L iterature

Terminologyaspxgt [23 M arch 2011] Ralph Starr Butler Herbert Francis De Bower and John George

Jones M arketing M ethods a nd Salesmanship (New York Alexander Hamilton Institute 1914) Charles W ilson Hoyt Scientific Sales M anagement A Practical Application o f the Principles o f Scientific Manageshym ent to Selling (New Haven Conn GB Woolson amp Co 1918) Paul Terry Cherington Advertising As

a Business Force A Compilation o f Experience Records (New York Doubleday Page amp Co 1913) Chapman Sandow the M agnificent 12-14

6Foutch ldquoArresting Beautyrdquo 168

7Chapm an Sandow the M agnificent 1-32

Robert Ernst Weakness Is a Crime TheLifeofB em arrM acfadden (Syracuse NY Syracuse Univershysity Press 1991) Tom Peters ldquoThe Brand Called Yourdquo Fast Company 1997 lthttpwwwfestcompanycom

28905brand-called-yougt [3 March 2013] Ifan D H Shepherd ldquoFrom Cattle and Coke to Charlie

ldquoit joined godliness and manliness celebrated a robust and yet morally grounded physical-

ity self-discipline and character-building which were to be acquired in the pursuit of

sport and gamesrdquo25 It began in England during the first half o f the nineteenth century and eventually spread to the United States and much o f Europe by the second half o f the nineteenth century26

Sandow was an advocate o f the beliefs o f Muscular Christianity and actively proshy

moted them For example in his book The Construction and Reconstruction o f the Human

Body A M anual o f the Therapeutics o f Exercise (1907) he titled chapter five ldquoMoral Effect o f Exerciserdquo In it he declares ldquoAt first sight there does not appear to be much connection

between morals and exercise but a m om ents reflection will enable us to understand that

anything which develops the body invigorates the health and strengthens the will will also have a profound effect upon the characterrdquo27 In another book Strength and How to

Obtain I t (1905) allusions to moral edification via building the body are also evident In it Sandow describes his propagation o f physical culture as ldquopreach[ing] the lsquogospel o f health and strengthrsquordquo Later he states ldquoI maintain that he who neglects his bodymdash and not to

cultivate it is to neglect itmdash is guilty o f the worst sin for he sins against naturerdquo28 W hether these beliefs were motivated by fiscal desires is unknown But it is clear that Sandow was passionate about physical culture and dedicated to spreading ldquothe good wordrdquo

Another contributing factor to Sandows success was the new emphasis on physical education in the nineteenth century Although it gained modest ground earlier in the

century in the United States it did not become popular until Dudley Allen Sargent aided by his prestigious Harvard professorship legitimized physical education by clearly definshying it and providing reasons why it was necessary Sargent also helped popularize physical education by making it available to the entire student body rather than only upper-class

individuals who could afford exclusive club memberships Although concerns about physical education existed in England before the twentieth century as Zweiniger-Bargielowska explains major calls for it resounded in England after the military rejected 8000 out o f 11000 men between October o f 1899 and July o f 1900 because they were physically unfit As a result sports and physical culture experienced a surge of popularity at the turn o f the century29

Music halls and vaudeville were also part o f the milieu o f Sandows time as this is where he first performed his strongman acts Music halls spread quickly in England durshying the 1850s and many evolved into variety theaters by the 1890s with some holding as many as 3500 people According to Waller approximately five hundred music halls popushylated London and there were thousands more in provincial cities In the United States the music hall became known as vaudeville and shared a similar evolution By the turn of

the twentieth century most vaudeville houses had adopted the characteristics o f theaters by eliminating drinking and seating the audience in rows This evolution catered to Sandows style o f performance30

A wave o f globalization during the nineteenth century also benefitted Sandow31 Teleshygraphs telephones railroads and steamships supported faster transmission o f news capishytal ideas people and business Additionally by the mid nineteenth century the newly formed wire services created a network linking a myriad o f urban presses ushering in the transmission and dissemination o f foreign news32 This system of international communishy

cation played a major role in the formation o f global culture Railroads (which were flourshy

ishing in the United States India Africa and the Middle East) and steamboats also pershy

mitted increases in tourism immigration and tours like those o f AG Spalding in 1889

and Sandow33 Considering all these aspects o f the nineteenth century it seems the stage

was set for Sandows career

Building the Brand

Sandows willingness to enter into litigation in order to protect the Sandow name

from slander libel and infringement suggests he had a basic understanding o f branding34 The first step in this process is differentiating or branding oneself In order to do so

Sandow needed to find a way to distinguish his product (himself) from market competishy

tion (rival strongmen and acts) But branding oneself is to no avail if people are unaware the brand exists Sandow understood this concept o f brand awareness and used the staples

o f modern brandingmdash advertising and publicitymdash to position himself as a nonpareil among

strongmen35 Sandow differentiated himself from the large number o f other professional

strength entertainers in three ways he became known as 1) a perfectly developed man 2)

an English gentleman and 3) a celebrity whose exploits and physical feats became the stuff

o f mythsEarly in his career Sandow positioned himself as the Worldrsquos Most Perfectly Develshy

oped Man as evidenced by his book Sandow on Physical Training A Study in the Perfect Type o f the H uman Form published in 189436 And unlike most strongmen o f the era

Sandow realized the importance o f maintaining a high level o f muscularity throughout his life His build was densely packed with muscle and nearly devoid o f extra weight Sandow

was so muscular that he at times served as a living anatomy chart for spectators by demonshystrating his muscle control and allowing people to palpate his body37 According to one

author o f Sandows time he was the ldquophysical marvel o f the agerdquo38 Another author seemed

almost smitten with SandowCould physical beauty and perfect strength be more splendidly depicted As a study of proportionate development is it not ideal With all the wealth of his imagination and high sense and appreciation of the beautiful in Art the clevershyest sculptor in the world could never surpass this statue of human flesh and blood Nature alone can repeat herself in equalling it39

These assertions testify to the way Sandows viewers regarded his extraordinary physique and to its rarity

A major player in Sandows advertising strategy was the aforementioned Florenz

Ziegfeld Jr Most known for his theatrical revues called the Ziegfeld Follies Ziegfeld was an immensely successful manager o f music hall entertainers during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries40 Sandow was his first real act and he played a pivotal role in branding Sandow during their three years together41 Through publicity created by Ziegfeld beginning in 1893 Sandow became known as ldquothe perfect manrdquo ldquothe modern

Herculesrdquo and was even billed for a time as a ldquoveritable Colossus o f Rhodesrdquo despite his

5rsquo9rdquo height42W ith Ziegfeld acting as press agent the two made particular use o f the press to estabshy

lish Sandow as unique and extraordinary After many o f his acts or appearances vivid and

often exaggerated descriptions o f his body and feats were relayed For example one newsshy

paper article found in a scrapbook housed at the H J Lutcher Stark Center at the Univershy

sity ofTexas stated Sandows chest was ldquoas convex as the sides o f a barrelrdquo43 Even after parting with Ziegfeld Sandow was still considered the embodiment o f perfection as an article in the Australian newspaper Camperdown Chronicle in 1902 declared him ldquolike a Greek G odrdquo and an ldquoidol o f sculptorsrdquo44 Another report from The Cedar Rapids Evening Gazette in 1889 relayed that Sandow in a competition with another strongman named Sampson ldquotook from the floor with one hand a bar bell weighing 150 pounds which he threw high in the air catching it on his arm as it fell rdquo Finally the same author claimed that after being named the victor ldquoSandow then became the center o f an excited crowd eager

to shake the hand o f lsquoThe Strongest M an on Earthrsquordquo45 As Foutch explains ldquoalthough some critics argued that Sandows form was too muscular rendering it grotesque or heavy most viewers praised the symmetry beauty and balance o f his bodyrdquo46

In Sandow on Physical Training A Study in the Perfect Type o f the H uman Form a story reprinted from the New York World on June 181893 stated

O n e look at [Sandow] is enough to m ake the average young m an thoroughly

disgusted w ith himself an d to m ake h im give up his nightly hab it o f standing

in fron t o f his glass in his pajamas an d swelling his chest w ith p r id e H e

swelled ou t his chest an d on either side o f it five big muscles rose up It looked

as though five ribs o n either side were com ing through th e skin As a m atter o f

fact the ribs were n o t visible W h a t was seen was the m uscle w hich lies over

each rib and w hich on the ord inary m an is entirely undeveloped Each o f these

muscles was twice as big ro u n d as a m anrsquos thum b and the five on each side

stood ou t as distinctly as though a great h an d had been placed on e ither side o f

th e athletersquos chest47

One unknown author from the Age newspaper in Melbourne Australia in 1902 provided the following account o f Sandow

U p o n a small red pedestal stood S andow himself H is p ink and glossy flesh

bared to the waist looked even m ore p in k against a background o f purp le velshy

vet Slowly th e red pedestal began to revolve and the living statue w ith

i t H is thick well-developed limbs looked as i f they were as soft and velvety

as th e rolls o f fat an d flesh upo n a healthy baby O n e tw itch o f the body effected

a transform ation T h e muscles across his abdom en an d chest swelled un til they

resem bled ropes tha t were piercing his flesh T h e chest muscles rose and fell in

bulbous masses th a t appeared a t one m o m en t to be soft an d flabby an d the

next as hard and firm as steel48

T h e v iv idness a n d d ra m a m an ife s t in th ese d esc rip tio n s in d ic a te th a t p h y siq u es lik e S andow s

w e re ra re th e re b y a id in g in S an d o w s s tra te g y to b ra n d h im s e lf as a p e r fe c tly d e v e lo p e d

m a n

It seems almost every step Sandow took was recounted and embellished by the press Reprinted articles from Sandow on Physical Training A Study on the Perfect Type o f Human Form report that Sandow performed back-somersaults with a fifty-six-pound dumbbell in each hand juggled with dumbbells (most likely barbells) weighing upwards o f300 pounds and supported the weight o f three horses while in a bridge position Additionally upon surveying Sandow authors reported that he had piles o f muscles on his back and a neck that seemed ldquoto melt away into his chestrdquo49 Because viewing such a marvel was uncomshymon it was im portant to meticulously describe every intricate detail o f Sandows body

Accounts such as these also resulted because of Sandows intentional use o f eroticism

To display his nearly nude body at the height o f the Victorian era was brilliant marketing

on Sandow s pan and it differentiated him from other strongmen who merely lifted weights when on stage For example at the end of one o f his inaugural performances in Chicago at

the Trocadero Theater in 1893 Ziegfeld declared that any woman who would donate

$300 to charity would be allowed backstage to feel Sandows muscles Mrs Potter Palmer and Mrs George Pullman two women o f high society at the time pounced at the opporshy

tunity Amy Leslie drama critic for the Chicago Times wrote that after arriving backstage and upon stroking Sandows chest Mrs Potter claimed she was ldquothrilled to the spinerdquo

Leslie herself was reportedly stunned after Sandow ldquothrew out a stack o f corded muscles under the white smooth skin of his chest in a sort o f mechanical wayrdquo50 These backstage antics were not limited to Chicago or females however O ne male journalist o f the New

York Heralds 1893 stated ldquo [Sandow] took my hand while I was in his dressing room and rubbed it across his abdominal muscles and the feeling was just about the same as it would

be rubbing the hand over an old fashioned washboardrdquo51 Another story in the National Police Gazette from January 271894 reported that after Sandow took one womanrsquos hand

and ran it across his muscles at an exhibition in New York she stumbled back and fainted only to be brought back to consciousness with smelling salts52 These private exhibitions became part o f Sandow s after-show routine and were an im portant aspect o f his marketshying strategy

Finally accounts such as the following from the Australian newspaper Adelaide Regisshyter in 1902 excited and enlivened the female population while also increasing Sandows brand awareness through publicity

Every pose an d posture was a picture to be carried away in the memory H e

applied the pressure and his muscles becam e firm as s te e l Sandow was a

living H e rcu le s T h e muscles were show n first in a state o f repose and then

in a state o f tension T h e abdom inal muscles were contracted and produced

the w onderfu l checkerboard arrangem ent o f the fib re s Sandow [made] his

m uscles literally dance T here is no th ing gross o r coarse abou t Sandow he docs

n o t possess an ounce o f superfluous flesh he has a beautiful skin an d is in fact

all quality53

This account adequately highlights the erotic element o f Sandows performances This type o f publicity also helped solidify his feme as large numbers o f women bought tickets to his performances in order to satisfy their piqued curiosities54

The second aspect o f Sandows marketing strategy relied on what historian Daniel Boorstin called the Graphic Revolution According to Boorstin the Graphic Revolution

was the increased ability to capture and widely disseminate images in a myriad o f ways in the late nineteenth century It was aided by the advent o f the rotary press which allowed for increased printing speed at a decreased cost55 This revolution resulted in drastic inshycreases in souvenir photographs (which became a major industry during the nineteenth century) postcards cabinet cards cigarette cards and images in magazines These photoshygraphs also served as a basis for newspaper and magazine illustrations56

Sandow used this revolution to his advantage Prominent photographers such as Henry Van der Weyde Benjamin J Falk George Steckel Napoleon Sarony and his fether-in-law

Warwick Brookes captured his image multiple times The Rotary Photographic Comshy

pany even photographed him The images from these sessions were then printed on heavy

cardstock embellished with the photographers name and sold as ldquocabinet cardsrdquo These

types o f images were generally albumen print photographs measuring 425 x 65 inches It was customary in Sandows time to collect cabinet cards o f celebrities or royalty and place them in family albums These types o f photographs were prevalent as a plethora was proshyduced worldwide57 Images o f Sandow ldquowere sold at theaters hotels and photographersrsquo

studios and by mail in various sizesrdquo58 Sandow recognized the value o f photographs in his attempt to brand himself59 Furthermore his images could be found in a variety o f placesmdash

from womens private sitting rooms in their homes in the United States to the battlefields o f the Boer War in South Africa60 The camera allowed men and women to look upon his

image in private in ways that may not have been acceptable ir public It also goaded some o f those viewers to dream of their own self-improvement through physical culture61

Both o f his major biographers suggest that Sandow also a-tempted to brand himself as a gendeman W hen cff the stage Sandow dressed in clothing appropriate for an uppershyclass Englishman and affected the manners and habits o f the English aristocracy62 Bodyshy

building historian Kenneth D utton argues that the developed body is not merely an object to be viewed Rather he contends that social and cultural messages are transmitted through it63 Therefore since the body o f a man such as Sandow was considered perfect it was not too great a leap for the public to transpose the characteristics o f perfection from a physical

sense to a more intangible sense resulting in a ldquobuilt personardquo o f the seemingly perfect

man with high moral and intellectual qualities64 For example in the aforementioned article from the Camperdown Chronicle Sandows appearance was compared to the Gershyman emperorrsquos yet the paper reported he spoke English fluently with a ldquomelodious acshy

centrdquo65 The article also explained that Sandow devoted himself to spreading the message o f health and strength while turning down no class of individual who sought his guidance thereby providing his own type o f patronage

O ne pronounced attempt at branding himself as an English gentleman was demonshystrated during Sandows Great Competition in 1901 Although addressed later this conshytest was essentially a bodybuilding competition Competitors were judged by Sandow and

two other individuals Sir Charles Lawes sculptor and amateur athlete and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle author of the Sherlock Holmes stories Both were revered and admired in England Rubbing elbows with these prominent figures aided in Sandows effort to be considered a gentleman66

As any English gentleman knew it was also right to support king and country and Sandow did just that Due to interest in his techniques by LrCol G Malcom Fox who was ultimately appointed Inspector o f Physical Training for all public elementary schools Sandow gave a number of exhibitions in order to raise awareness o f physical culture in the British military67 Moreover prior to and during the Boer War many o f Great Britains men were denied the opportunity to join the military due to a lack o f fitness Thus Sandow took it upon himself to train 11000 members o f the British Army in London and offered cash prizes totaling pound1000 for those showing the best physical improvement68 Because of his assistance with the British Army Sandow was rewarded by being appointed honorary Professor o f Scientific and Physical Culture to His Majesty in 191169 This provided anshyother means for Sandow to associate himself with the uppercrust o f society

This was not the only instance o f Sandow promoting himself through royal associashy

tions As Chapman explains Sandow offered an accountmdash most likely embellishedmdash of his performance before Crown Prince Frederick o f Prussia and Crown Princess Victoria

daughter o f the queen o f the United Kingdom o f Great Britain According to Sandow

although the Crown Prince was sick he claimed he could match Sandow at one o f his feats and tore asunder a pack o f playing cards But Sandow not willing to be bested by even

royalty replicated the feat with two packs o f playing cards According to the account Frederick was so impressed that he bequeathed a ring to Sandow who was fond o f displayshy

ing it and even published a picture o f it in The Strand magazine Despite this association with European royalty Sandow continuously attempted to be considered an Englishman

especially as tensions heightened before and during World War I70The last facet o f Sandowrsquos branding strategy was a process called myth-making This

was an attem pt to elevate his status from a normal human to that o f a hero or mythic being This strategy also elevated him above the ranks o f other strongmen Sandow acshycomplished his myth-making through stories he propagated reports o f his public strength exhibitions and the continued discussion in the press o f his body as a site o f physical

perfectionA classic example o f Sandows attempt to increase his brand awareness can be found in

the often repeated story of how he first garnered public attention as a strongman After vainly searching for venues needing a strongman in Amsterdam in 1887 Sandow decided he needed publicity At that time in Europe weightlifting machines existed that tested the strength o f individuals with a lever arm similar to a slot machine So in the dead o f the night Sandow traversed the city pushing every machine he happened upon past its limit and broke them all After accomplishing this task twice more the city was wildly curious

to know the identity o f this enormously strong vandal Finally Sandow turned himself

over to the authorities who at first did not believe that he was the culpritmdash he simply did not look large enough After lifting an officer in the air with just one arm to prove his strength however Sandow was arrested By the time he was bailed out o f jail his exploits had spread throughout Amsterdam Thereafter he received free room and board at his hotel and the theater that once refused to hire him at ten guilders a week booked him at

1200 guilders per week Sandow not only garnered the publicity he sought in Amsterdam but in the years ahead the story was repeated in newspaper accounts in city after city as a testament to his mythic strength71

Another example o f Sandowrsquos attempt at glorification can be found in a tale told by

G Mercer Adam During one o f Sandowrsquos trips to Italy two thieves managed to steal some

o f Sandowrsquos more valuable belongings while he was on a train Upon arriving at his final destination he received bricks rather than his valuables from the railroad porter who probably played a role in the chicanery So Sandow returned to Nice Italy where he last

saw his possessions After identifying the thieves and without the aid o f police Adam

relays that Sandowpounced u pon them suddenly and caught each m an firm ly by the back o f the

neck W hen they recovered from their surprise an d began to struggle to get free

the s trongm an brough t their two heads repeatedly in contact until unconshy

sciousness rendered one m an lim p and fright quieted the other72

Then he dragged them to the police station ldquointo which he flung themrdquo Finally in an ending fit for a hero Sandow found the pawn-tickets o f his valuables and was able to

recover his stolen property73 O f course he also had another story he could use bolster his mythic persona

One o f the most notorious ways Sandow attempted to utilize the myth-making conshycept was through a wrestling match with a lion After a proposed fight between a bear and

a lion was halted by the Society for the Prevention o f Cruelty to Animals Ziegfeld Sandowrsquos manager at the time prompdy substituted Sandow for the bear However he also substishytuted an older more docile and possibly drugged lion for the original savage beast slated

to fight the bear The public was unaware of this change and the anticipation o f the bout was palpable Unfortunately for Sandow and the lion for that matter the match was one

sided To protect Sandow a muzzle and large gloves were secured to the supposedly savage beast before the fight During the first part o f the match the lion seemed dejected and the crowd began to sympathize with it Sensing this Sandow tried to antagonize it by dragshyging it and flinging it by the tail pulling its whiskers and even carrying it around the ring

on his back His efforts were to no avail Although Sandow later attempted to embellish

the tale to make his actions seem more admirable the bout held in San Francisco on May 2 2 1894 garnered negative reviews from newspapers and proved humiliating for Sandow74 This example o f glorification indicates that not all o f Sandowrsquos attempts were successful

Although discussed previously the use o f photographs glorified Sandow as well

Through lighting powder and different poses his muscularity could be accentuated

making him seem superhuman75 Furthermore his habit o f assuming poses reminiscent o f classical statuary such as the Farnese Hercules and the Dying Gaul provided direct links to the fin de sikles fascination with neo-classicism76 Sandow understood that pictures

ldquoverified [his] superhuman status and formed a crucial visual element o f [his] promoshytional campaignrdquo77

From a historical standpoint the significance o f Sandow branding himself cannot be overstated First Sancow shifted the primary focus of his performances from the strength o f his body to the look o f his body This was innovation in itself78 Second and more

importantly Sandow not only pushed the boundaries o f social acceptability but in the midst o f a conservative Victorian era he shifted social standards so that the body became a positive image79 Finally Sandowrsquos efforts at increasing his brand awareness resulted in his association with health strength fitness and perfection among tens o f thousands of readers80 These three elements caused him by 1903 to be the ldquohighest salaried vaudeville artist in the worldrdquomdash a fret that suggests Sandowrsquos branding campaign proved successshyful81

Exploiting the Built Brand

Having built his brand through his exhibitions and publicity Sandow next turned his attention to new forms o f marketing through brand extension Brand extensions are prodshyucts that vaunt an established brand name but in a different market category82 A modern example o f this is Sir Richard Bransonrsquos extension o f his brand ldquoVirginrdquomdash originally a record store and music labelmdash into the mobile phone and airline industries83 The first products Sandow sole were advice books on training and self-improvement He published

his first book Sandow on Physical Training A Study in the Perfect Type o f the H uman Form

in 1894 and followed with five more They include Strength and How to Obtain It (1897) The Gospel o f Strength According to Sandow (1902) Body-building or M an in the Making

How to Become Healthy and Strong (1904) The Construction and Reconstruction o f The

H uman Body A M anual o f the Therapeutics o f Exercise (1907) and Life Is Movement Or the Physical Reconstruction and Regeneration o f the People (1919)84 These books contain inforshy

mation about Sandowrsquos travels his honors and accomplishments how to exercise and train with resistance anatomy hygiene and even physical culture for women

As mentioned Sandow also started his own magazine in 1898 which was ultimately tided Sandows Magazinersquo This periodical aimed to satisfy the increasing interest in physical culture at the time and included articles such as ldquoHow to Keep in Condition in H ot

Weatherrdquo ldquoThe Strength and Symmetry o f M en Compared with Animalsrdquo ldquoSleeplessshy

nessrdquo and ldquoBacteria Germs N ot the Only Cause o f Diseaserdquo86 Although filled with physishycal culture information the magazine also covered topical events contained household

hints and had a ldquobreezy populist tonerdquo87 The magazine established Sandow as an ldquoexshypertrdquo on a variety o f matters A case could almost be made for including him as a pioneer

among lifestyle experts such as M artha Stewart who have successfully branded themshyselves88 Most importantly the books and magazines allowed him ldquofreerdquo advertising so that he could extend his brand to other products and entities bearing the Sandow name89

Included among these other extensions were Sandows Curative Institutes These inshy

stitutes were posited to be ldquoinvaluable to sufferers from Insomnia Neurotic Persons or those whose nervous system is run down all who desire a graceful carriage and symmetrishycal form those whose sedentary occupations have caused sluggish liver or constipation athletes in every branch o f Sportrdquo90 Catering to men and women Sandows schools proshyvided individual as well as group training sessions The equipment used consisted solely o f

dumbbells Sandow opened the first in this chain o f establishments at 32A St Jamesrsquos Street in London in 189791 As advertised by Sandow five more were establishedmdash one at each o f the following locations 115 A Ebury Street in London Brook House in Walbrook London EC 185 Tottenham Court Road London WC Oxford Street Manchester and 16 Colquitt Street Liverpool92 Finally he opened a more prestigious and luxurious College o f Physical Culture in Boston Massachusetts H e initially planned to establish

another in New York with Earle Liederman as a partner Those plans were not realized however due to Sandows death93 Despite the initial exponential growth o f membership in these Victorian equivalents o f health clubs none but his Institute on St James Street endured after World War I94 Nevertheless Sandowrsquos reputation and his club(s) were reshy

vered as their reputation o f achieving stellar results with exercise and dietary advice spread95

Sandow also extended his brand to exercise products Sandowrsquos Spring Grip D um bshybells was one o f these These were shaped like regular dumbbells but with a spring in the middle The user was to squeeze the dumbbell throughout the exercise routine in order to

facilitate concentration on the particular task Included were illustrated instructions for

the user to follow96 He even endorsed a polishing cloth for the dumbbells that was touted as ldquosuperior to chamois leatherrdquo97 O ther exercise products included the Sandowrsquos Develshyoper and Sandows Symmetrion The Symmetrion was essentially a Sandowrsquos Developer for women Like the Developer it consisted o f ldquoa combination o f rubber cords and dumbshy

bell attachmentsrdquo and was meant to be a versatile in-home exercise machine98 Eventually

Sandow advertised a mail-order health and exercise system that promised relief for suffershy

ers o f constipation liver troubles insomnia indigestion loss o f vigor and inadequate physical development99

Sandow even attempted to target children with one o f his brand extensions In 1913

he devised an exercise contraption that was actually a childrens doll that resembled acheerful sailor The arms and legs o f the doll could be manipulated by the user but not w ithout a certain degree o f resistance provided by pulleys inside the machine Once the

arms and legs were maneuvered enough a piece o f candy was rewarded and transferred via the mouth o f the doll However possibly because o f the complexity o f the doll or the

contradiction o f providing candy as a reward for exercising Sandow was unable to secure funding for the product100

O ther miscellaneous health products also boasted the Sandow name For example Sandows equivalent o f the modern athletic rub known as Bengay was his Sandows Conshycentrated Embrocation This was a liniment promoted to ensure strong supple muscles

Advertisements for this product asserted that ldquoregular use o f this Embrocation [brought] and [kept] the muscles in perfect condition [relieved] muscular stiffness and [healed]

sprains strains bruises or injured jointsrdquo101 Another Sandow product was his Sandows Patent Health and Perfect Figure Corset Makers o f the corset claimed it allowed freedom and movement yet retained a hygienic design Though other health conscious corsets had

flooded the market by that time his carried the Sandow name Sandow also extended his brand to include Sandows Health and Strength Cocoa The drink was advertised as being pure and o f high food value However it proved more problematic than profitable due to connections with Germany during World War I and competition from rival firms It also caused him great financial stress when the company became insolvent102

No matter how many products Sandow created he understood that success could not be achieved if consumers purchased only one It was necessary for him to nurture the bonds with consumers in order to retain their business This is known as relationship

marketing Via his magazine institutes and touring Sandow attempted to cultivate furshyther his relationship with customers thereby increasing and demonstrating a cursory unshyderstanding o f brand loyalty103

O ne o f the major media Sandow utilized to maintain and strengthen relationships with his consumers was his Sandow Magazine Readersrsquo Club This club was a portion of Sandows magazine devoted to the testimonials o f readers Here readers would extol Sandow and his system The club also provided an arena where followers including women could publicize their achievements and seek praise from Sandow104 An explanation o f the club from Sandows M agazine follows

For the exchange of ideas personal experiences and photos for the encourageshyment of Club Members Readers are expected to act up to the Club Motto [T]he President will award to the sender of every published idea experience or photo the Club Fellowship Medal as a token that the rightful owner has earned the Fellowship of the Club105

However in some magazines a Club Fellowship Medal was awarded only to readers who submitted something worthy o f publication and provided the names and addresses o f fifty people the reader introduced to the magazine106

Sandow also titled a section o f his magazine H ints from Sandow Here it was advershy

tised that Sandow responded to questions from his readers concerning issues such as equipshyment night sweats and knock-knees Although responses were ldquofor the purpose o f comshy

ing into closer touch with [his] friends and readersrdquo space was limited and it was encouraged

to inquire about prescribed mail-order exercise courses107 This was another way Sandow

strengthened relations with his consumers and encouraged them to invest in his productsThese components of Sandows brand loyalty and publicity strategies apparently worked

as readers from Canada England India New Zealand Ireland Australia South Africa

Malta Hong Kong Japan Norway and Singapore wrote to him 108 In his book Strength and How to Obtain It Sandow even boasted that ldquoevery week many letters [reached him]

from the Coloniesmdash from India Canada Australia South Africamdash even from distant

Klondikerdquo109 W hen one interviewer inquired about the number o f pupils under his inshy

struction in 1904 Sandow replied that he had ldquoabout a millionrdquo110 Many o f these pupils became disciples and ldquospread the good newsrdquo regarding his products and exercise system

which aided in Sandows success1

Like savvy marketers in the twenty-first century Sandow also sought ways to involve

his customers personally in his efforts O ne means for this was his holding o f physical

culture competitions in his magazine These monthly competitions for both children and

adults required applicants to send one photograph o f himherself to the magazine Then

applicants were judged on their development and measurements and each months winshy

ner received a gold medal112 But these were not the only physical culture competitionspromoted by Sandow As mentioned in 1901 Sandowrsquos Great Competition was held to determine the United Kingdoms ldquoBest Developed M anrdquo The competition was the culmishy

nation o f a series o f local contests held in provinces throughout the UK during the three years before the final competition The top three place winners in each local contest were

eligible to compete in ldquoSandowrsquos Great Competitionrdquo The final contest held on Septemshyber 14 was a spectacle as 15000 people attended113 These competitions not only created

publicity they strengthened Sandows relationship with his consumers because o f the inshycreased interaction facilitated by them

Sandow attempted to increase his brand loyalty by touring the globe as well By the time he began his first tour in 1901 his brand was already established114 Thus he not

only increased his international presence by touring but actively participated in relationshy

ship marketing He strengthened relationships with his fans and followers by giving exhishybitions and lectures that were accessible to them and allowed for interaction on a personal level

Sandow toured internationally twice O n the North American continent he performed in Chicago San Francisco Boston New York St Louis Omaha Detroit Richmond and even select cities in Canada His tours also landed him in Australia New Zealand South Africa India Italy China Egypt and Japan115 At his exhibitions he would first pose and then perform his strength act After his performance he would promote physical

culture and health by lecturing on the importance of each He also discussed the anatomy of the human body using himself as a model6

His influence on the countries he visited attests to his success in increasing his brand loyalty and publicity For example a scrapbook clipping by Clarence Weber ascribes Sandow

the ldquocredit o f arousing deep interest in and demonstrating the possibilities o f scientific

exerciserdquo117 In New Zealand as historian Caroline Daley has shown people established Sandow schools physical culture contests were held and Sandows system was utilized in many ways after his tour118 O ne example o f his influence can be found in the fact that three years after Sandow visited New Zealand the All Black Rugby team had integrated his Sandows Developer in their exercise routine on their 1905 tour and some members were training with his dumbbell system119

India readily accepted Sandow as well His exhibitions drew thousands o f attendees

and interest in physical culture heightened after his visit120 Results o f his impact are demshyonstrated through individuals like Ram Murti Naidu who was also known as the Indian Sandow Murti was best known for supporting the weight o f a three-ton elephant on his stomach and being a vegetarian121 Professor KV Iyer was also inspired by Sandows presshyence in India He would go on to combine Indian and Western physical culture to create his own exercise system122

Other countries were impacted by Sandow as well albeit less than in New Zealand

Australia or England Evidence o f his influence is found in Egypt where a man named

Abd al-Halim al-Misri designated ldquoEgyptian Sandowrdquo by Wilson Chacko Jacob traveled to exhibit his body and his feats o f strength123 And outside Austin Texas the inhabitants o f the small town o f Freezeout voted to change its name to Sandow Texas to honor the great strongman124

Amongst the milieu o f general social movements and technological advancements of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries Eugen Sandow became a global pheshynomenon synonymous with exercise and health Sandow s legacy and impact on the world is impossible to deny O ne enthusiastic author from his era bloviated that Sandow was ldquothe

strongest man greatest physical culture authority and finest physical example o f the elecshytrical period who practically revived physical education which had become obscure after the fall o f the Roman Empirerdquo125 Although a strong assertion it nonetheless indicates the significance o f Sandows influence at the time That influence can still be felt today Acshycording to historian Jan Todd Sandow provided a lasting marketing and branding exshy

ample that a number o f physical culturists emulated in later years including Bernarr Macfadden Bob Hoffman Joe Weider and even Arnold Schwarzenegger126

Eugen Sandow was an extraordinary man His physique changed the way Victorian society viewed the body His propagation o f physical culture left lasting effects in scores of

countries including the United States Great Britain New Zealand and Australia His products and exercises helped ignite the iron game flame worldwide But Sandows legacy is not limited to these fields He muscled his way into the lives o f people who desired health youth and vigor through marketing techniques and strategies never before utilized

in physical culture and his example is emulated to this day Sandow was a self-made man with humble beginnings who became a physical culture mogul He was known for his incredible physique and gentlemanly standing He was an educator who enriched the lives o f others Perhaps then he actually was the perfect man

K e y w o r d s E u g e n Sa n d o w ph y sic a l c u l t u r e m a r k e t in g w e ig h t t r a in in g

T he story o f John L Sullivan is chronicled by Michael T Isenberg It provides evidence that Sullivan was the first American sport hero and sport celebrity Furthermore it provides evidence that he began branding himself in 1880 See Michael T Isenberg John L Sullivan a n d H is America (Urbana University

o f Illinois Press 1994) O ther sources that provide evidence for this assertion include Rick Knott ldquoJohn L Sullivan and the M yth o f the Self-Made M anrdquo paper presented at the annual meeting o f the North

American Society for Sport History London O ntario 2001 copy in possession o f author and Adam J Pollack JohnL Sullivan The Career o f the First Gloved Heavyweight Champion (Jefferson NC McFarland amp Company 2006)

2David L Chapm an Sandow the M agnificent Eugen Sandow and the Beginnings o f Bodybuilding 2nd

ed (Urbana University o f Illinois Press 2002)

3Kenneth D utton The Perfectible Body The Western Ideal o f M ale Physical Development (New York

C ontinuum International Publishing Group 1995) John F Kasson H oudini Tarzan and the Perfect M an The W hite M ale Body and the Challenge o f M odernity in America (New York Hill and Wang 2001)

Caroline Daley Leisure amp Pleasure Reshaping amp Revealing the N ew Zealand Body 1900-1960 (Auckland

Auckland University Press 2003) Ina Zweiniger-Bargielowska M anaging the Body Beauty Health and

Fitness in B ritain 1880-1939 (Oxford Oxford University Press 2010) David Waller The Perfect M an The M uscular L ife and Times o f Eugen Sandow Victorian Strongman (Brighton UK Victorian Secrets Limited 2011)

4Josh Buck ldquoSandow N o Folly with Ziegfeldrsquos First Glorificationrdquo Iron Game History The Journal o f Physical Culture 5 (1998) 29 -33 Caroline Daley ldquoThe Strongman o f Eugenics Eugen Sandowrdquo Australian H istorical Studies 33 (2002) 233-248 Scott Patrick ldquoBody-building and Empire-building George Douglas Brown the South African War and lsquoSandows Magazine o f Physical Culturersquordquo Victorian Periodicals Review 41 (2008) 78-94 Vike M artina Plock ldquoA Feat o f Strength in lsquoIthacarsquo Eugen Sandow and Physical Culture in Joyces Ulyssesrdquo Journal o f M odem Literature 30 (2006) 129-139 Ina Zweiniger- Bargielowska ldquoBuilding a British Superman Physical Culture in Interwar Britainrdquo Journal o f Contemposhy

rary History 41 (2006) 595-610 Jim Elledge ldquoEugen Sandowrsquos Gift to Gay M enrdquo Gay amp Lesbian Review Worldwide 18 (2011) 14-17 Ellery E Foutch ldquoArresting Beauty T he Perfectionist Impulse of Pealersquos Butterflies Headersquos Hummingbirds Blaschkas Flowers and Sandowrsquos Bodyrdquo (PhD diss Unishy

versity o f Pennsylvania 2011) Nicholas Turse ldquoPrometheus Unbound T he Technology o f Bodybuildshying in the Nervous Agerdquo Past Imperfect 8 (2008) lthttpejoumalslibraryualbertacaindexphppiar- ticleview l405gt [5 February 2013] Marianne Schultz ldquolsquoSons o f the Empirersquo Dance and the New

Zealand Malerdquo Dance Research 29 (2011) 19-42 David P Willoughby ldquoW hen Sandow Visited Califorshy

niardquo Pacific H istorian 15 (1971) 72-77 Carrie J Preston ldquoPosing Modernism Delsartism in Modern Dance and Silent Filmrdquo Theatre Joum al 6 1 (2009) 215-233 Kimberly Ayn Beckwith ldquoBuilding Strength Alan Calvert the Milo Bar-Bell Company and the Modernization o f American Weight Trainingrdquo (PhD diss University ofTexas at Austin 2006)

5lthttpw w w m arketingpow ercom C om m unity A R C PagesA dditionalH istory L iterature

Terminologyaspxgt [23 M arch 2011] Ralph Starr Butler Herbert Francis De Bower and John George

Jones M arketing M ethods a nd Salesmanship (New York Alexander Hamilton Institute 1914) Charles W ilson Hoyt Scientific Sales M anagement A Practical Application o f the Principles o f Scientific Manageshym ent to Selling (New Haven Conn GB Woolson amp Co 1918) Paul Terry Cherington Advertising As

a Business Force A Compilation o f Experience Records (New York Doubleday Page amp Co 1913) Chapman Sandow the M agnificent 12-14

6Foutch ldquoArresting Beautyrdquo 168

7Chapm an Sandow the M agnificent 1-32

Robert Ernst Weakness Is a Crime TheLifeofB em arrM acfadden (Syracuse NY Syracuse Univershysity Press 1991) Tom Peters ldquoThe Brand Called Yourdquo Fast Company 1997 lthttpwwwfestcompanycom

28905brand-called-yougt [3 March 2013] Ifan D H Shepherd ldquoFrom Cattle and Coke to Charlie

cation played a major role in the formation o f global culture Railroads (which were flourshy

ishing in the United States India Africa and the Middle East) and steamboats also pershy

mitted increases in tourism immigration and tours like those o f AG Spalding in 1889

and Sandow33 Considering all these aspects o f the nineteenth century it seems the stage

was set for Sandows career

Building the Brand

Sandows willingness to enter into litigation in order to protect the Sandow name

from slander libel and infringement suggests he had a basic understanding o f branding34 The first step in this process is differentiating or branding oneself In order to do so

Sandow needed to find a way to distinguish his product (himself) from market competishy

tion (rival strongmen and acts) But branding oneself is to no avail if people are unaware the brand exists Sandow understood this concept o f brand awareness and used the staples

o f modern brandingmdash advertising and publicitymdash to position himself as a nonpareil among

strongmen35 Sandow differentiated himself from the large number o f other professional

strength entertainers in three ways he became known as 1) a perfectly developed man 2)

an English gentleman and 3) a celebrity whose exploits and physical feats became the stuff

o f mythsEarly in his career Sandow positioned himself as the Worldrsquos Most Perfectly Develshy

oped Man as evidenced by his book Sandow on Physical Training A Study in the Perfect Type o f the H uman Form published in 189436 And unlike most strongmen o f the era

Sandow realized the importance o f maintaining a high level o f muscularity throughout his life His build was densely packed with muscle and nearly devoid o f extra weight Sandow

was so muscular that he at times served as a living anatomy chart for spectators by demonshystrating his muscle control and allowing people to palpate his body37 According to one

author o f Sandows time he was the ldquophysical marvel o f the agerdquo38 Another author seemed

almost smitten with SandowCould physical beauty and perfect strength be more splendidly depicted As a study of proportionate development is it not ideal With all the wealth of his imagination and high sense and appreciation of the beautiful in Art the clevershyest sculptor in the world could never surpass this statue of human flesh and blood Nature alone can repeat herself in equalling it39

These assertions testify to the way Sandows viewers regarded his extraordinary physique and to its rarity

A major player in Sandows advertising strategy was the aforementioned Florenz

Ziegfeld Jr Most known for his theatrical revues called the Ziegfeld Follies Ziegfeld was an immensely successful manager o f music hall entertainers during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries40 Sandow was his first real act and he played a pivotal role in branding Sandow during their three years together41 Through publicity created by Ziegfeld beginning in 1893 Sandow became known as ldquothe perfect manrdquo ldquothe modern

Herculesrdquo and was even billed for a time as a ldquoveritable Colossus o f Rhodesrdquo despite his

5rsquo9rdquo height42W ith Ziegfeld acting as press agent the two made particular use o f the press to estabshy

lish Sandow as unique and extraordinary After many o f his acts or appearances vivid and

often exaggerated descriptions o f his body and feats were relayed For example one newsshy

paper article found in a scrapbook housed at the H J Lutcher Stark Center at the Univershy

sity ofTexas stated Sandows chest was ldquoas convex as the sides o f a barrelrdquo43 Even after parting with Ziegfeld Sandow was still considered the embodiment o f perfection as an article in the Australian newspaper Camperdown Chronicle in 1902 declared him ldquolike a Greek G odrdquo and an ldquoidol o f sculptorsrdquo44 Another report from The Cedar Rapids Evening Gazette in 1889 relayed that Sandow in a competition with another strongman named Sampson ldquotook from the floor with one hand a bar bell weighing 150 pounds which he threw high in the air catching it on his arm as it fell rdquo Finally the same author claimed that after being named the victor ldquoSandow then became the center o f an excited crowd eager

to shake the hand o f lsquoThe Strongest M an on Earthrsquordquo45 As Foutch explains ldquoalthough some critics argued that Sandows form was too muscular rendering it grotesque or heavy most viewers praised the symmetry beauty and balance o f his bodyrdquo46

In Sandow on Physical Training A Study in the Perfect Type o f the H uman Form a story reprinted from the New York World on June 181893 stated

O n e look at [Sandow] is enough to m ake the average young m an thoroughly

disgusted w ith himself an d to m ake h im give up his nightly hab it o f standing

in fron t o f his glass in his pajamas an d swelling his chest w ith p r id e H e

swelled ou t his chest an d on either side o f it five big muscles rose up It looked

as though five ribs o n either side were com ing through th e skin As a m atter o f

fact the ribs were n o t visible W h a t was seen was the m uscle w hich lies over

each rib and w hich on the ord inary m an is entirely undeveloped Each o f these

muscles was twice as big ro u n d as a m anrsquos thum b and the five on each side

stood ou t as distinctly as though a great h an d had been placed on e ither side o f

th e athletersquos chest47

One unknown author from the Age newspaper in Melbourne Australia in 1902 provided the following account o f Sandow

U p o n a small red pedestal stood S andow himself H is p ink and glossy flesh

bared to the waist looked even m ore p in k against a background o f purp le velshy

vet Slowly th e red pedestal began to revolve and the living statue w ith

i t H is thick well-developed limbs looked as i f they were as soft and velvety

as th e rolls o f fat an d flesh upo n a healthy baby O n e tw itch o f the body effected

a transform ation T h e muscles across his abdom en an d chest swelled un til they

resem bled ropes tha t were piercing his flesh T h e chest muscles rose and fell in

bulbous masses th a t appeared a t one m o m en t to be soft an d flabby an d the

next as hard and firm as steel48

T h e v iv idness a n d d ra m a m an ife s t in th ese d esc rip tio n s in d ic a te th a t p h y siq u es lik e S andow s

w e re ra re th e re b y a id in g in S an d o w s s tra te g y to b ra n d h im s e lf as a p e r fe c tly d e v e lo p e d

m a n

It seems almost every step Sandow took was recounted and embellished by the press Reprinted articles from Sandow on Physical Training A Study on the Perfect Type o f Human Form report that Sandow performed back-somersaults with a fifty-six-pound dumbbell in each hand juggled with dumbbells (most likely barbells) weighing upwards o f300 pounds and supported the weight o f three horses while in a bridge position Additionally upon surveying Sandow authors reported that he had piles o f muscles on his back and a neck that seemed ldquoto melt away into his chestrdquo49 Because viewing such a marvel was uncomshymon it was im portant to meticulously describe every intricate detail o f Sandows body

Accounts such as these also resulted because of Sandows intentional use o f eroticism

To display his nearly nude body at the height o f the Victorian era was brilliant marketing

on Sandow s pan and it differentiated him from other strongmen who merely lifted weights when on stage For example at the end of one o f his inaugural performances in Chicago at

the Trocadero Theater in 1893 Ziegfeld declared that any woman who would donate

$300 to charity would be allowed backstage to feel Sandows muscles Mrs Potter Palmer and Mrs George Pullman two women o f high society at the time pounced at the opporshy

tunity Amy Leslie drama critic for the Chicago Times wrote that after arriving backstage and upon stroking Sandows chest Mrs Potter claimed she was ldquothrilled to the spinerdquo

Leslie herself was reportedly stunned after Sandow ldquothrew out a stack o f corded muscles under the white smooth skin of his chest in a sort o f mechanical wayrdquo50 These backstage antics were not limited to Chicago or females however O ne male journalist o f the New

York Heralds 1893 stated ldquo [Sandow] took my hand while I was in his dressing room and rubbed it across his abdominal muscles and the feeling was just about the same as it would

be rubbing the hand over an old fashioned washboardrdquo51 Another story in the National Police Gazette from January 271894 reported that after Sandow took one womanrsquos hand

and ran it across his muscles at an exhibition in New York she stumbled back and fainted only to be brought back to consciousness with smelling salts52 These private exhibitions became part o f Sandow s after-show routine and were an im portant aspect o f his marketshying strategy

Finally accounts such as the following from the Australian newspaper Adelaide Regisshyter in 1902 excited and enlivened the female population while also increasing Sandows brand awareness through publicity

Every pose an d posture was a picture to be carried away in the memory H e

applied the pressure and his muscles becam e firm as s te e l Sandow was a

living H e rcu le s T h e muscles were show n first in a state o f repose and then

in a state o f tension T h e abdom inal muscles were contracted and produced

the w onderfu l checkerboard arrangem ent o f the fib re s Sandow [made] his

m uscles literally dance T here is no th ing gross o r coarse abou t Sandow he docs

n o t possess an ounce o f superfluous flesh he has a beautiful skin an d is in fact

all quality53

This account adequately highlights the erotic element o f Sandows performances This type o f publicity also helped solidify his feme as large numbers o f women bought tickets to his performances in order to satisfy their piqued curiosities54

The second aspect o f Sandows marketing strategy relied on what historian Daniel Boorstin called the Graphic Revolution According to Boorstin the Graphic Revolution

was the increased ability to capture and widely disseminate images in a myriad o f ways in the late nineteenth century It was aided by the advent o f the rotary press which allowed for increased printing speed at a decreased cost55 This revolution resulted in drastic inshycreases in souvenir photographs (which became a major industry during the nineteenth century) postcards cabinet cards cigarette cards and images in magazines These photoshygraphs also served as a basis for newspaper and magazine illustrations56

Sandow used this revolution to his advantage Prominent photographers such as Henry Van der Weyde Benjamin J Falk George Steckel Napoleon Sarony and his fether-in-law

Warwick Brookes captured his image multiple times The Rotary Photographic Comshy

pany even photographed him The images from these sessions were then printed on heavy

cardstock embellished with the photographers name and sold as ldquocabinet cardsrdquo These

types o f images were generally albumen print photographs measuring 425 x 65 inches It was customary in Sandows time to collect cabinet cards o f celebrities or royalty and place them in family albums These types o f photographs were prevalent as a plethora was proshyduced worldwide57 Images o f Sandow ldquowere sold at theaters hotels and photographersrsquo

studios and by mail in various sizesrdquo58 Sandow recognized the value o f photographs in his attempt to brand himself59 Furthermore his images could be found in a variety o f placesmdash

from womens private sitting rooms in their homes in the United States to the battlefields o f the Boer War in South Africa60 The camera allowed men and women to look upon his

image in private in ways that may not have been acceptable ir public It also goaded some o f those viewers to dream of their own self-improvement through physical culture61

Both o f his major biographers suggest that Sandow also a-tempted to brand himself as a gendeman W hen cff the stage Sandow dressed in clothing appropriate for an uppershyclass Englishman and affected the manners and habits o f the English aristocracy62 Bodyshy

building historian Kenneth D utton argues that the developed body is not merely an object to be viewed Rather he contends that social and cultural messages are transmitted through it63 Therefore since the body o f a man such as Sandow was considered perfect it was not too great a leap for the public to transpose the characteristics o f perfection from a physical

sense to a more intangible sense resulting in a ldquobuilt personardquo o f the seemingly perfect

man with high moral and intellectual qualities64 For example in the aforementioned article from the Camperdown Chronicle Sandows appearance was compared to the Gershyman emperorrsquos yet the paper reported he spoke English fluently with a ldquomelodious acshy

centrdquo65 The article also explained that Sandow devoted himself to spreading the message o f health and strength while turning down no class of individual who sought his guidance thereby providing his own type o f patronage

O ne pronounced attempt at branding himself as an English gentleman was demonshystrated during Sandows Great Competition in 1901 Although addressed later this conshytest was essentially a bodybuilding competition Competitors were judged by Sandow and

two other individuals Sir Charles Lawes sculptor and amateur athlete and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle author of the Sherlock Holmes stories Both were revered and admired in England Rubbing elbows with these prominent figures aided in Sandows effort to be considered a gentleman66

As any English gentleman knew it was also right to support king and country and Sandow did just that Due to interest in his techniques by LrCol G Malcom Fox who was ultimately appointed Inspector o f Physical Training for all public elementary schools Sandow gave a number of exhibitions in order to raise awareness o f physical culture in the British military67 Moreover prior to and during the Boer War many o f Great Britains men were denied the opportunity to join the military due to a lack o f fitness Thus Sandow took it upon himself to train 11000 members o f the British Army in London and offered cash prizes totaling pound1000 for those showing the best physical improvement68 Because of his assistance with the British Army Sandow was rewarded by being appointed honorary Professor o f Scientific and Physical Culture to His Majesty in 191169 This provided anshyother means for Sandow to associate himself with the uppercrust o f society

This was not the only instance o f Sandow promoting himself through royal associashy

tions As Chapman explains Sandow offered an accountmdash most likely embellishedmdash of his performance before Crown Prince Frederick o f Prussia and Crown Princess Victoria

daughter o f the queen o f the United Kingdom o f Great Britain According to Sandow

although the Crown Prince was sick he claimed he could match Sandow at one o f his feats and tore asunder a pack o f playing cards But Sandow not willing to be bested by even

royalty replicated the feat with two packs o f playing cards According to the account Frederick was so impressed that he bequeathed a ring to Sandow who was fond o f displayshy

ing it and even published a picture o f it in The Strand magazine Despite this association with European royalty Sandow continuously attempted to be considered an Englishman

especially as tensions heightened before and during World War I70The last facet o f Sandowrsquos branding strategy was a process called myth-making This

was an attem pt to elevate his status from a normal human to that o f a hero or mythic being This strategy also elevated him above the ranks o f other strongmen Sandow acshycomplished his myth-making through stories he propagated reports o f his public strength exhibitions and the continued discussion in the press o f his body as a site o f physical

perfectionA classic example o f Sandows attempt to increase his brand awareness can be found in

the often repeated story of how he first garnered public attention as a strongman After vainly searching for venues needing a strongman in Amsterdam in 1887 Sandow decided he needed publicity At that time in Europe weightlifting machines existed that tested the strength o f individuals with a lever arm similar to a slot machine So in the dead o f the night Sandow traversed the city pushing every machine he happened upon past its limit and broke them all After accomplishing this task twice more the city was wildly curious

to know the identity o f this enormously strong vandal Finally Sandow turned himself

over to the authorities who at first did not believe that he was the culpritmdash he simply did not look large enough After lifting an officer in the air with just one arm to prove his strength however Sandow was arrested By the time he was bailed out o f jail his exploits had spread throughout Amsterdam Thereafter he received free room and board at his hotel and the theater that once refused to hire him at ten guilders a week booked him at

1200 guilders per week Sandow not only garnered the publicity he sought in Amsterdam but in the years ahead the story was repeated in newspaper accounts in city after city as a testament to his mythic strength71

Another example o f Sandowrsquos attempt at glorification can be found in a tale told by

G Mercer Adam During one o f Sandowrsquos trips to Italy two thieves managed to steal some

o f Sandowrsquos more valuable belongings while he was on a train Upon arriving at his final destination he received bricks rather than his valuables from the railroad porter who probably played a role in the chicanery So Sandow returned to Nice Italy where he last

saw his possessions After identifying the thieves and without the aid o f police Adam

relays that Sandowpounced u pon them suddenly and caught each m an firm ly by the back o f the

neck W hen they recovered from their surprise an d began to struggle to get free

the s trongm an brough t their two heads repeatedly in contact until unconshy

sciousness rendered one m an lim p and fright quieted the other72

Then he dragged them to the police station ldquointo which he flung themrdquo Finally in an ending fit for a hero Sandow found the pawn-tickets o f his valuables and was able to

recover his stolen property73 O f course he also had another story he could use bolster his mythic persona

One o f the most notorious ways Sandow attempted to utilize the myth-making conshycept was through a wrestling match with a lion After a proposed fight between a bear and

a lion was halted by the Society for the Prevention o f Cruelty to Animals Ziegfeld Sandowrsquos manager at the time prompdy substituted Sandow for the bear However he also substishytuted an older more docile and possibly drugged lion for the original savage beast slated

to fight the bear The public was unaware of this change and the anticipation o f the bout was palpable Unfortunately for Sandow and the lion for that matter the match was one

sided To protect Sandow a muzzle and large gloves were secured to the supposedly savage beast before the fight During the first part o f the match the lion seemed dejected and the crowd began to sympathize with it Sensing this Sandow tried to antagonize it by dragshyging it and flinging it by the tail pulling its whiskers and even carrying it around the ring

on his back His efforts were to no avail Although Sandow later attempted to embellish

the tale to make his actions seem more admirable the bout held in San Francisco on May 2 2 1894 garnered negative reviews from newspapers and proved humiliating for Sandow74 This example o f glorification indicates that not all o f Sandowrsquos attempts were successful

Although discussed previously the use o f photographs glorified Sandow as well

Through lighting powder and different poses his muscularity could be accentuated

making him seem superhuman75 Furthermore his habit o f assuming poses reminiscent o f classical statuary such as the Farnese Hercules and the Dying Gaul provided direct links to the fin de sikles fascination with neo-classicism76 Sandow understood that pictures

ldquoverified [his] superhuman status and formed a crucial visual element o f [his] promoshytional campaignrdquo77

From a historical standpoint the significance o f Sandow branding himself cannot be overstated First Sancow shifted the primary focus of his performances from the strength o f his body to the look o f his body This was innovation in itself78 Second and more

importantly Sandow not only pushed the boundaries o f social acceptability but in the midst o f a conservative Victorian era he shifted social standards so that the body became a positive image79 Finally Sandowrsquos efforts at increasing his brand awareness resulted in his association with health strength fitness and perfection among tens o f thousands of readers80 These three elements caused him by 1903 to be the ldquohighest salaried vaudeville artist in the worldrdquomdash a fret that suggests Sandowrsquos branding campaign proved successshyful81

Exploiting the Built Brand

Having built his brand through his exhibitions and publicity Sandow next turned his attention to new forms o f marketing through brand extension Brand extensions are prodshyucts that vaunt an established brand name but in a different market category82 A modern example o f this is Sir Richard Bransonrsquos extension o f his brand ldquoVirginrdquomdash originally a record store and music labelmdash into the mobile phone and airline industries83 The first products Sandow sole were advice books on training and self-improvement He published

his first book Sandow on Physical Training A Study in the Perfect Type o f the H uman Form

in 1894 and followed with five more They include Strength and How to Obtain It (1897) The Gospel o f Strength According to Sandow (1902) Body-building or M an in the Making

How to Become Healthy and Strong (1904) The Construction and Reconstruction o f The

H uman Body A M anual o f the Therapeutics o f Exercise (1907) and Life Is Movement Or the Physical Reconstruction and Regeneration o f the People (1919)84 These books contain inforshy

mation about Sandowrsquos travels his honors and accomplishments how to exercise and train with resistance anatomy hygiene and even physical culture for women

As mentioned Sandow also started his own magazine in 1898 which was ultimately tided Sandows Magazinersquo This periodical aimed to satisfy the increasing interest in physical culture at the time and included articles such as ldquoHow to Keep in Condition in H ot

Weatherrdquo ldquoThe Strength and Symmetry o f M en Compared with Animalsrdquo ldquoSleeplessshy

nessrdquo and ldquoBacteria Germs N ot the Only Cause o f Diseaserdquo86 Although filled with physishycal culture information the magazine also covered topical events contained household

hints and had a ldquobreezy populist tonerdquo87 The magazine established Sandow as an ldquoexshypertrdquo on a variety o f matters A case could almost be made for including him as a pioneer

among lifestyle experts such as M artha Stewart who have successfully branded themshyselves88 Most importantly the books and magazines allowed him ldquofreerdquo advertising so that he could extend his brand to other products and entities bearing the Sandow name89

Included among these other extensions were Sandows Curative Institutes These inshy

stitutes were posited to be ldquoinvaluable to sufferers from Insomnia Neurotic Persons or those whose nervous system is run down all who desire a graceful carriage and symmetrishycal form those whose sedentary occupations have caused sluggish liver or constipation athletes in every branch o f Sportrdquo90 Catering to men and women Sandows schools proshyvided individual as well as group training sessions The equipment used consisted solely o f

dumbbells Sandow opened the first in this chain o f establishments at 32A St Jamesrsquos Street in London in 189791 As advertised by Sandow five more were establishedmdash one at each o f the following locations 115 A Ebury Street in London Brook House in Walbrook London EC 185 Tottenham Court Road London WC Oxford Street Manchester and 16 Colquitt Street Liverpool92 Finally he opened a more prestigious and luxurious College o f Physical Culture in Boston Massachusetts H e initially planned to establish

another in New York with Earle Liederman as a partner Those plans were not realized however due to Sandows death93 Despite the initial exponential growth o f membership in these Victorian equivalents o f health clubs none but his Institute on St James Street endured after World War I94 Nevertheless Sandowrsquos reputation and his club(s) were reshy

vered as their reputation o f achieving stellar results with exercise and dietary advice spread95

Sandow also extended his brand to exercise products Sandowrsquos Spring Grip D um bshybells was one o f these These were shaped like regular dumbbells but with a spring in the middle The user was to squeeze the dumbbell throughout the exercise routine in order to

facilitate concentration on the particular task Included were illustrated instructions for

the user to follow96 He even endorsed a polishing cloth for the dumbbells that was touted as ldquosuperior to chamois leatherrdquo97 O ther exercise products included the Sandowrsquos Develshyoper and Sandows Symmetrion The Symmetrion was essentially a Sandowrsquos Developer for women Like the Developer it consisted o f ldquoa combination o f rubber cords and dumbshy

bell attachmentsrdquo and was meant to be a versatile in-home exercise machine98 Eventually

Sandow advertised a mail-order health and exercise system that promised relief for suffershy

ers o f constipation liver troubles insomnia indigestion loss o f vigor and inadequate physical development99

Sandow even attempted to target children with one o f his brand extensions In 1913

he devised an exercise contraption that was actually a childrens doll that resembled acheerful sailor The arms and legs o f the doll could be manipulated by the user but not w ithout a certain degree o f resistance provided by pulleys inside the machine Once the

arms and legs were maneuvered enough a piece o f candy was rewarded and transferred via the mouth o f the doll However possibly because o f the complexity o f the doll or the

contradiction o f providing candy as a reward for exercising Sandow was unable to secure funding for the product100

O ther miscellaneous health products also boasted the Sandow name For example Sandows equivalent o f the modern athletic rub known as Bengay was his Sandows Conshycentrated Embrocation This was a liniment promoted to ensure strong supple muscles

Advertisements for this product asserted that ldquoregular use o f this Embrocation [brought] and [kept] the muscles in perfect condition [relieved] muscular stiffness and [healed]

sprains strains bruises or injured jointsrdquo101 Another Sandow product was his Sandows Patent Health and Perfect Figure Corset Makers o f the corset claimed it allowed freedom and movement yet retained a hygienic design Though other health conscious corsets had

flooded the market by that time his carried the Sandow name Sandow also extended his brand to include Sandows Health and Strength Cocoa The drink was advertised as being pure and o f high food value However it proved more problematic than profitable due to connections with Germany during World War I and competition from rival firms It also caused him great financial stress when the company became insolvent102

No matter how many products Sandow created he understood that success could not be achieved if consumers purchased only one It was necessary for him to nurture the bonds with consumers in order to retain their business This is known as relationship

marketing Via his magazine institutes and touring Sandow attempted to cultivate furshyther his relationship with customers thereby increasing and demonstrating a cursory unshyderstanding o f brand loyalty103

O ne o f the major media Sandow utilized to maintain and strengthen relationships with his consumers was his Sandow Magazine Readersrsquo Club This club was a portion of Sandows magazine devoted to the testimonials o f readers Here readers would extol Sandow and his system The club also provided an arena where followers including women could publicize their achievements and seek praise from Sandow104 An explanation o f the club from Sandows M agazine follows

For the exchange of ideas personal experiences and photos for the encourageshyment of Club Members Readers are expected to act up to the Club Motto [T]he President will award to the sender of every published idea experience or photo the Club Fellowship Medal as a token that the rightful owner has earned the Fellowship of the Club105

However in some magazines a Club Fellowship Medal was awarded only to readers who submitted something worthy o f publication and provided the names and addresses o f fifty people the reader introduced to the magazine106

Sandow also titled a section o f his magazine H ints from Sandow Here it was advershy

tised that Sandow responded to questions from his readers concerning issues such as equipshyment night sweats and knock-knees Although responses were ldquofor the purpose o f comshy

ing into closer touch with [his] friends and readersrdquo space was limited and it was encouraged

to inquire about prescribed mail-order exercise courses107 This was another way Sandow

strengthened relations with his consumers and encouraged them to invest in his productsThese components of Sandows brand loyalty and publicity strategies apparently worked

as readers from Canada England India New Zealand Ireland Australia South Africa

Malta Hong Kong Japan Norway and Singapore wrote to him 108 In his book Strength and How to Obtain It Sandow even boasted that ldquoevery week many letters [reached him]

from the Coloniesmdash from India Canada Australia South Africamdash even from distant

Klondikerdquo109 W hen one interviewer inquired about the number o f pupils under his inshy

struction in 1904 Sandow replied that he had ldquoabout a millionrdquo110 Many o f these pupils became disciples and ldquospread the good newsrdquo regarding his products and exercise system

which aided in Sandows success1

Like savvy marketers in the twenty-first century Sandow also sought ways to involve

his customers personally in his efforts O ne means for this was his holding o f physical

culture competitions in his magazine These monthly competitions for both children and

adults required applicants to send one photograph o f himherself to the magazine Then

applicants were judged on their development and measurements and each months winshy

ner received a gold medal112 But these were not the only physical culture competitionspromoted by Sandow As mentioned in 1901 Sandowrsquos Great Competition was held to determine the United Kingdoms ldquoBest Developed M anrdquo The competition was the culmishy

nation o f a series o f local contests held in provinces throughout the UK during the three years before the final competition The top three place winners in each local contest were

eligible to compete in ldquoSandowrsquos Great Competitionrdquo The final contest held on Septemshyber 14 was a spectacle as 15000 people attended113 These competitions not only created

publicity they strengthened Sandows relationship with his consumers because o f the inshycreased interaction facilitated by them

Sandow attempted to increase his brand loyalty by touring the globe as well By the time he began his first tour in 1901 his brand was already established114 Thus he not

only increased his international presence by touring but actively participated in relationshy

ship marketing He strengthened relationships with his fans and followers by giving exhishybitions and lectures that were accessible to them and allowed for interaction on a personal level

Sandow toured internationally twice O n the North American continent he performed in Chicago San Francisco Boston New York St Louis Omaha Detroit Richmond and even select cities in Canada His tours also landed him in Australia New Zealand South Africa India Italy China Egypt and Japan115 At his exhibitions he would first pose and then perform his strength act After his performance he would promote physical

culture and health by lecturing on the importance of each He also discussed the anatomy of the human body using himself as a model6

His influence on the countries he visited attests to his success in increasing his brand loyalty and publicity For example a scrapbook clipping by Clarence Weber ascribes Sandow

the ldquocredit o f arousing deep interest in and demonstrating the possibilities o f scientific

exerciserdquo117 In New Zealand as historian Caroline Daley has shown people established Sandow schools physical culture contests were held and Sandows system was utilized in many ways after his tour118 O ne example o f his influence can be found in the fact that three years after Sandow visited New Zealand the All Black Rugby team had integrated his Sandows Developer in their exercise routine on their 1905 tour and some members were training with his dumbbell system119

India readily accepted Sandow as well His exhibitions drew thousands o f attendees

and interest in physical culture heightened after his visit120 Results o f his impact are demshyonstrated through individuals like Ram Murti Naidu who was also known as the Indian Sandow Murti was best known for supporting the weight o f a three-ton elephant on his stomach and being a vegetarian121 Professor KV Iyer was also inspired by Sandows presshyence in India He would go on to combine Indian and Western physical culture to create his own exercise system122

Other countries were impacted by Sandow as well albeit less than in New Zealand

Australia or England Evidence o f his influence is found in Egypt where a man named

Abd al-Halim al-Misri designated ldquoEgyptian Sandowrdquo by Wilson Chacko Jacob traveled to exhibit his body and his feats o f strength123 And outside Austin Texas the inhabitants o f the small town o f Freezeout voted to change its name to Sandow Texas to honor the great strongman124

Amongst the milieu o f general social movements and technological advancements of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries Eugen Sandow became a global pheshynomenon synonymous with exercise and health Sandow s legacy and impact on the world is impossible to deny O ne enthusiastic author from his era bloviated that Sandow was ldquothe

strongest man greatest physical culture authority and finest physical example o f the elecshytrical period who practically revived physical education which had become obscure after the fall o f the Roman Empirerdquo125 Although a strong assertion it nonetheless indicates the significance o f Sandows influence at the time That influence can still be felt today Acshycording to historian Jan Todd Sandow provided a lasting marketing and branding exshy

ample that a number o f physical culturists emulated in later years including Bernarr Macfadden Bob Hoffman Joe Weider and even Arnold Schwarzenegger126

Eugen Sandow was an extraordinary man His physique changed the way Victorian society viewed the body His propagation o f physical culture left lasting effects in scores of

countries including the United States Great Britain New Zealand and Australia His products and exercises helped ignite the iron game flame worldwide But Sandows legacy is not limited to these fields He muscled his way into the lives o f people who desired health youth and vigor through marketing techniques and strategies never before utilized

in physical culture and his example is emulated to this day Sandow was a self-made man with humble beginnings who became a physical culture mogul He was known for his incredible physique and gentlemanly standing He was an educator who enriched the lives o f others Perhaps then he actually was the perfect man

K e y w o r d s E u g e n Sa n d o w ph y sic a l c u l t u r e m a r k e t in g w e ig h t t r a in in g

T he story o f John L Sullivan is chronicled by Michael T Isenberg It provides evidence that Sullivan was the first American sport hero and sport celebrity Furthermore it provides evidence that he began branding himself in 1880 See Michael T Isenberg John L Sullivan a n d H is America (Urbana University

o f Illinois Press 1994) O ther sources that provide evidence for this assertion include Rick Knott ldquoJohn L Sullivan and the M yth o f the Self-Made M anrdquo paper presented at the annual meeting o f the North

American Society for Sport History London O ntario 2001 copy in possession o f author and Adam J Pollack JohnL Sullivan The Career o f the First Gloved Heavyweight Champion (Jefferson NC McFarland amp Company 2006)

2David L Chapm an Sandow the M agnificent Eugen Sandow and the Beginnings o f Bodybuilding 2nd

ed (Urbana University o f Illinois Press 2002)

3Kenneth D utton The Perfectible Body The Western Ideal o f M ale Physical Development (New York

C ontinuum International Publishing Group 1995) John F Kasson H oudini Tarzan and the Perfect M an The W hite M ale Body and the Challenge o f M odernity in America (New York Hill and Wang 2001)

Caroline Daley Leisure amp Pleasure Reshaping amp Revealing the N ew Zealand Body 1900-1960 (Auckland

Auckland University Press 2003) Ina Zweiniger-Bargielowska M anaging the Body Beauty Health and

Fitness in B ritain 1880-1939 (Oxford Oxford University Press 2010) David Waller The Perfect M an The M uscular L ife and Times o f Eugen Sandow Victorian Strongman (Brighton UK Victorian Secrets Limited 2011)

4Josh Buck ldquoSandow N o Folly with Ziegfeldrsquos First Glorificationrdquo Iron Game History The Journal o f Physical Culture 5 (1998) 29 -33 Caroline Daley ldquoThe Strongman o f Eugenics Eugen Sandowrdquo Australian H istorical Studies 33 (2002) 233-248 Scott Patrick ldquoBody-building and Empire-building George Douglas Brown the South African War and lsquoSandows Magazine o f Physical Culturersquordquo Victorian Periodicals Review 41 (2008) 78-94 Vike M artina Plock ldquoA Feat o f Strength in lsquoIthacarsquo Eugen Sandow and Physical Culture in Joyces Ulyssesrdquo Journal o f M odem Literature 30 (2006) 129-139 Ina Zweiniger- Bargielowska ldquoBuilding a British Superman Physical Culture in Interwar Britainrdquo Journal o f Contemposhy

rary History 41 (2006) 595-610 Jim Elledge ldquoEugen Sandowrsquos Gift to Gay M enrdquo Gay amp Lesbian Review Worldwide 18 (2011) 14-17 Ellery E Foutch ldquoArresting Beauty T he Perfectionist Impulse of Pealersquos Butterflies Headersquos Hummingbirds Blaschkas Flowers and Sandowrsquos Bodyrdquo (PhD diss Unishy

versity o f Pennsylvania 2011) Nicholas Turse ldquoPrometheus Unbound T he Technology o f Bodybuildshying in the Nervous Agerdquo Past Imperfect 8 (2008) lthttpejoumalslibraryualbertacaindexphppiar- ticleview l405gt [5 February 2013] Marianne Schultz ldquolsquoSons o f the Empirersquo Dance and the New

Zealand Malerdquo Dance Research 29 (2011) 19-42 David P Willoughby ldquoW hen Sandow Visited Califorshy

niardquo Pacific H istorian 15 (1971) 72-77 Carrie J Preston ldquoPosing Modernism Delsartism in Modern Dance and Silent Filmrdquo Theatre Joum al 6 1 (2009) 215-233 Kimberly Ayn Beckwith ldquoBuilding Strength Alan Calvert the Milo Bar-Bell Company and the Modernization o f American Weight Trainingrdquo (PhD diss University ofTexas at Austin 2006)

5lthttpw w w m arketingpow ercom C om m unity A R C PagesA dditionalH istory L iterature

Terminologyaspxgt [23 M arch 2011] Ralph Starr Butler Herbert Francis De Bower and John George

Jones M arketing M ethods a nd Salesmanship (New York Alexander Hamilton Institute 1914) Charles W ilson Hoyt Scientific Sales M anagement A Practical Application o f the Principles o f Scientific Manageshym ent to Selling (New Haven Conn GB Woolson amp Co 1918) Paul Terry Cherington Advertising As

a Business Force A Compilation o f Experience Records (New York Doubleday Page amp Co 1913) Chapman Sandow the M agnificent 12-14

6Foutch ldquoArresting Beautyrdquo 168

7Chapm an Sandow the M agnificent 1-32

Robert Ernst Weakness Is a Crime TheLifeofB em arrM acfadden (Syracuse NY Syracuse Univershysity Press 1991) Tom Peters ldquoThe Brand Called Yourdquo Fast Company 1997 lthttpwwwfestcompanycom

28905brand-called-yougt [3 March 2013] Ifan D H Shepherd ldquoFrom Cattle and Coke to Charlie

paper article found in a scrapbook housed at the H J Lutcher Stark Center at the Univershy

sity ofTexas stated Sandows chest was ldquoas convex as the sides o f a barrelrdquo43 Even after parting with Ziegfeld Sandow was still considered the embodiment o f perfection as an article in the Australian newspaper Camperdown Chronicle in 1902 declared him ldquolike a Greek G odrdquo and an ldquoidol o f sculptorsrdquo44 Another report from The Cedar Rapids Evening Gazette in 1889 relayed that Sandow in a competition with another strongman named Sampson ldquotook from the floor with one hand a bar bell weighing 150 pounds which he threw high in the air catching it on his arm as it fell rdquo Finally the same author claimed that after being named the victor ldquoSandow then became the center o f an excited crowd eager

to shake the hand o f lsquoThe Strongest M an on Earthrsquordquo45 As Foutch explains ldquoalthough some critics argued that Sandows form was too muscular rendering it grotesque or heavy most viewers praised the symmetry beauty and balance o f his bodyrdquo46

In Sandow on Physical Training A Study in the Perfect Type o f the H uman Form a story reprinted from the New York World on June 181893 stated

O n e look at [Sandow] is enough to m ake the average young m an thoroughly

disgusted w ith himself an d to m ake h im give up his nightly hab it o f standing

in fron t o f his glass in his pajamas an d swelling his chest w ith p r id e H e

swelled ou t his chest an d on either side o f it five big muscles rose up It looked

as though five ribs o n either side were com ing through th e skin As a m atter o f

fact the ribs were n o t visible W h a t was seen was the m uscle w hich lies over

each rib and w hich on the ord inary m an is entirely undeveloped Each o f these

muscles was twice as big ro u n d as a m anrsquos thum b and the five on each side

stood ou t as distinctly as though a great h an d had been placed on e ither side o f

th e athletersquos chest47

One unknown author from the Age newspaper in Melbourne Australia in 1902 provided the following account o f Sandow

U p o n a small red pedestal stood S andow himself H is p ink and glossy flesh

bared to the waist looked even m ore p in k against a background o f purp le velshy

vet Slowly th e red pedestal began to revolve and the living statue w ith

i t H is thick well-developed limbs looked as i f they were as soft and velvety

as th e rolls o f fat an d flesh upo n a healthy baby O n e tw itch o f the body effected

a transform ation T h e muscles across his abdom en an d chest swelled un til they

resem bled ropes tha t were piercing his flesh T h e chest muscles rose and fell in

bulbous masses th a t appeared a t one m o m en t to be soft an d flabby an d the

next as hard and firm as steel48

T h e v iv idness a n d d ra m a m an ife s t in th ese d esc rip tio n s in d ic a te th a t p h y siq u es lik e S andow s

w e re ra re th e re b y a id in g in S an d o w s s tra te g y to b ra n d h im s e lf as a p e r fe c tly d e v e lo p e d

m a n

It seems almost every step Sandow took was recounted and embellished by the press Reprinted articles from Sandow on Physical Training A Study on the Perfect Type o f Human Form report that Sandow performed back-somersaults with a fifty-six-pound dumbbell in each hand juggled with dumbbells (most likely barbells) weighing upwards o f300 pounds and supported the weight o f three horses while in a bridge position Additionally upon surveying Sandow authors reported that he had piles o f muscles on his back and a neck that seemed ldquoto melt away into his chestrdquo49 Because viewing such a marvel was uncomshymon it was im portant to meticulously describe every intricate detail o f Sandows body

Accounts such as these also resulted because of Sandows intentional use o f eroticism

To display his nearly nude body at the height o f the Victorian era was brilliant marketing

on Sandow s pan and it differentiated him from other strongmen who merely lifted weights when on stage For example at the end of one o f his inaugural performances in Chicago at

the Trocadero Theater in 1893 Ziegfeld declared that any woman who would donate

$300 to charity would be allowed backstage to feel Sandows muscles Mrs Potter Palmer and Mrs George Pullman two women o f high society at the time pounced at the opporshy

tunity Amy Leslie drama critic for the Chicago Times wrote that after arriving backstage and upon stroking Sandows chest Mrs Potter claimed she was ldquothrilled to the spinerdquo

Leslie herself was reportedly stunned after Sandow ldquothrew out a stack o f corded muscles under the white smooth skin of his chest in a sort o f mechanical wayrdquo50 These backstage antics were not limited to Chicago or females however O ne male journalist o f the New

York Heralds 1893 stated ldquo [Sandow] took my hand while I was in his dressing room and rubbed it across his abdominal muscles and the feeling was just about the same as it would

be rubbing the hand over an old fashioned washboardrdquo51 Another story in the National Police Gazette from January 271894 reported that after Sandow took one womanrsquos hand

and ran it across his muscles at an exhibition in New York she stumbled back and fainted only to be brought back to consciousness with smelling salts52 These private exhibitions became part o f Sandow s after-show routine and were an im portant aspect o f his marketshying strategy

Finally accounts such as the following from the Australian newspaper Adelaide Regisshyter in 1902 excited and enlivened the female population while also increasing Sandows brand awareness through publicity

Every pose an d posture was a picture to be carried away in the memory H e

applied the pressure and his muscles becam e firm as s te e l Sandow was a

living H e rcu le s T h e muscles were show n first in a state o f repose and then

in a state o f tension T h e abdom inal muscles were contracted and produced

the w onderfu l checkerboard arrangem ent o f the fib re s Sandow [made] his

m uscles literally dance T here is no th ing gross o r coarse abou t Sandow he docs

n o t possess an ounce o f superfluous flesh he has a beautiful skin an d is in fact

all quality53

This account adequately highlights the erotic element o f Sandows performances This type o f publicity also helped solidify his feme as large numbers o f women bought tickets to his performances in order to satisfy their piqued curiosities54

The second aspect o f Sandows marketing strategy relied on what historian Daniel Boorstin called the Graphic Revolution According to Boorstin the Graphic Revolution

was the increased ability to capture and widely disseminate images in a myriad o f ways in the late nineteenth century It was aided by the advent o f the rotary press which allowed for increased printing speed at a decreased cost55 This revolution resulted in drastic inshycreases in souvenir photographs (which became a major industry during the nineteenth century) postcards cabinet cards cigarette cards and images in magazines These photoshygraphs also served as a basis for newspaper and magazine illustrations56

Sandow used this revolution to his advantage Prominent photographers such as Henry Van der Weyde Benjamin J Falk George Steckel Napoleon Sarony and his fether-in-law

Warwick Brookes captured his image multiple times The Rotary Photographic Comshy

pany even photographed him The images from these sessions were then printed on heavy

cardstock embellished with the photographers name and sold as ldquocabinet cardsrdquo These

types o f images were generally albumen print photographs measuring 425 x 65 inches It was customary in Sandows time to collect cabinet cards o f celebrities or royalty and place them in family albums These types o f photographs were prevalent as a plethora was proshyduced worldwide57 Images o f Sandow ldquowere sold at theaters hotels and photographersrsquo

studios and by mail in various sizesrdquo58 Sandow recognized the value o f photographs in his attempt to brand himself59 Furthermore his images could be found in a variety o f placesmdash

from womens private sitting rooms in their homes in the United States to the battlefields o f the Boer War in South Africa60 The camera allowed men and women to look upon his

image in private in ways that may not have been acceptable ir public It also goaded some o f those viewers to dream of their own self-improvement through physical culture61

Both o f his major biographers suggest that Sandow also a-tempted to brand himself as a gendeman W hen cff the stage Sandow dressed in clothing appropriate for an uppershyclass Englishman and affected the manners and habits o f the English aristocracy62 Bodyshy

building historian Kenneth D utton argues that the developed body is not merely an object to be viewed Rather he contends that social and cultural messages are transmitted through it63 Therefore since the body o f a man such as Sandow was considered perfect it was not too great a leap for the public to transpose the characteristics o f perfection from a physical

sense to a more intangible sense resulting in a ldquobuilt personardquo o f the seemingly perfect

man with high moral and intellectual qualities64 For example in the aforementioned article from the Camperdown Chronicle Sandows appearance was compared to the Gershyman emperorrsquos yet the paper reported he spoke English fluently with a ldquomelodious acshy

centrdquo65 The article also explained that Sandow devoted himself to spreading the message o f health and strength while turning down no class of individual who sought his guidance thereby providing his own type o f patronage

O ne pronounced attempt at branding himself as an English gentleman was demonshystrated during Sandows Great Competition in 1901 Although addressed later this conshytest was essentially a bodybuilding competition Competitors were judged by Sandow and

two other individuals Sir Charles Lawes sculptor and amateur athlete and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle author of the Sherlock Holmes stories Both were revered and admired in England Rubbing elbows with these prominent figures aided in Sandows effort to be considered a gentleman66

As any English gentleman knew it was also right to support king and country and Sandow did just that Due to interest in his techniques by LrCol G Malcom Fox who was ultimately appointed Inspector o f Physical Training for all public elementary schools Sandow gave a number of exhibitions in order to raise awareness o f physical culture in the British military67 Moreover prior to and during the Boer War many o f Great Britains men were denied the opportunity to join the military due to a lack o f fitness Thus Sandow took it upon himself to train 11000 members o f the British Army in London and offered cash prizes totaling pound1000 for those showing the best physical improvement68 Because of his assistance with the British Army Sandow was rewarded by being appointed honorary Professor o f Scientific and Physical Culture to His Majesty in 191169 This provided anshyother means for Sandow to associate himself with the uppercrust o f society

This was not the only instance o f Sandow promoting himself through royal associashy

tions As Chapman explains Sandow offered an accountmdash most likely embellishedmdash of his performance before Crown Prince Frederick o f Prussia and Crown Princess Victoria

daughter o f the queen o f the United Kingdom o f Great Britain According to Sandow

although the Crown Prince was sick he claimed he could match Sandow at one o f his feats and tore asunder a pack o f playing cards But Sandow not willing to be bested by even

royalty replicated the feat with two packs o f playing cards According to the account Frederick was so impressed that he bequeathed a ring to Sandow who was fond o f displayshy

ing it and even published a picture o f it in The Strand magazine Despite this association with European royalty Sandow continuously attempted to be considered an Englishman

especially as tensions heightened before and during World War I70The last facet o f Sandowrsquos branding strategy was a process called myth-making This

was an attem pt to elevate his status from a normal human to that o f a hero or mythic being This strategy also elevated him above the ranks o f other strongmen Sandow acshycomplished his myth-making through stories he propagated reports o f his public strength exhibitions and the continued discussion in the press o f his body as a site o f physical

perfectionA classic example o f Sandows attempt to increase his brand awareness can be found in

the often repeated story of how he first garnered public attention as a strongman After vainly searching for venues needing a strongman in Amsterdam in 1887 Sandow decided he needed publicity At that time in Europe weightlifting machines existed that tested the strength o f individuals with a lever arm similar to a slot machine So in the dead o f the night Sandow traversed the city pushing every machine he happened upon past its limit and broke them all After accomplishing this task twice more the city was wildly curious

to know the identity o f this enormously strong vandal Finally Sandow turned himself

over to the authorities who at first did not believe that he was the culpritmdash he simply did not look large enough After lifting an officer in the air with just one arm to prove his strength however Sandow was arrested By the time he was bailed out o f jail his exploits had spread throughout Amsterdam Thereafter he received free room and board at his hotel and the theater that once refused to hire him at ten guilders a week booked him at

1200 guilders per week Sandow not only garnered the publicity he sought in Amsterdam but in the years ahead the story was repeated in newspaper accounts in city after city as a testament to his mythic strength71

Another example o f Sandowrsquos attempt at glorification can be found in a tale told by

G Mercer Adam During one o f Sandowrsquos trips to Italy two thieves managed to steal some

o f Sandowrsquos more valuable belongings while he was on a train Upon arriving at his final destination he received bricks rather than his valuables from the railroad porter who probably played a role in the chicanery So Sandow returned to Nice Italy where he last

saw his possessions After identifying the thieves and without the aid o f police Adam

relays that Sandowpounced u pon them suddenly and caught each m an firm ly by the back o f the

neck W hen they recovered from their surprise an d began to struggle to get free

the s trongm an brough t their two heads repeatedly in contact until unconshy

sciousness rendered one m an lim p and fright quieted the other72

Then he dragged them to the police station ldquointo which he flung themrdquo Finally in an ending fit for a hero Sandow found the pawn-tickets o f his valuables and was able to

recover his stolen property73 O f course he also had another story he could use bolster his mythic persona

One o f the most notorious ways Sandow attempted to utilize the myth-making conshycept was through a wrestling match with a lion After a proposed fight between a bear and

a lion was halted by the Society for the Prevention o f Cruelty to Animals Ziegfeld Sandowrsquos manager at the time prompdy substituted Sandow for the bear However he also substishytuted an older more docile and possibly drugged lion for the original savage beast slated

to fight the bear The public was unaware of this change and the anticipation o f the bout was palpable Unfortunately for Sandow and the lion for that matter the match was one

sided To protect Sandow a muzzle and large gloves were secured to the supposedly savage beast before the fight During the first part o f the match the lion seemed dejected and the crowd began to sympathize with it Sensing this Sandow tried to antagonize it by dragshyging it and flinging it by the tail pulling its whiskers and even carrying it around the ring

on his back His efforts were to no avail Although Sandow later attempted to embellish

the tale to make his actions seem more admirable the bout held in San Francisco on May 2 2 1894 garnered negative reviews from newspapers and proved humiliating for Sandow74 This example o f glorification indicates that not all o f Sandowrsquos attempts were successful

Although discussed previously the use o f photographs glorified Sandow as well

Through lighting powder and different poses his muscularity could be accentuated

making him seem superhuman75 Furthermore his habit o f assuming poses reminiscent o f classical statuary such as the Farnese Hercules and the Dying Gaul provided direct links to the fin de sikles fascination with neo-classicism76 Sandow understood that pictures

ldquoverified [his] superhuman status and formed a crucial visual element o f [his] promoshytional campaignrdquo77

From a historical standpoint the significance o f Sandow branding himself cannot be overstated First Sancow shifted the primary focus of his performances from the strength o f his body to the look o f his body This was innovation in itself78 Second and more

importantly Sandow not only pushed the boundaries o f social acceptability but in the midst o f a conservative Victorian era he shifted social standards so that the body became a positive image79 Finally Sandowrsquos efforts at increasing his brand awareness resulted in his association with health strength fitness and perfection among tens o f thousands of readers80 These three elements caused him by 1903 to be the ldquohighest salaried vaudeville artist in the worldrdquomdash a fret that suggests Sandowrsquos branding campaign proved successshyful81

Exploiting the Built Brand

Having built his brand through his exhibitions and publicity Sandow next turned his attention to new forms o f marketing through brand extension Brand extensions are prodshyucts that vaunt an established brand name but in a different market category82 A modern example o f this is Sir Richard Bransonrsquos extension o f his brand ldquoVirginrdquomdash originally a record store and music labelmdash into the mobile phone and airline industries83 The first products Sandow sole were advice books on training and self-improvement He published

his first book Sandow on Physical Training A Study in the Perfect Type o f the H uman Form

in 1894 and followed with five more They include Strength and How to Obtain It (1897) The Gospel o f Strength According to Sandow (1902) Body-building or M an in the Making

How to Become Healthy and Strong (1904) The Construction and Reconstruction o f The

H uman Body A M anual o f the Therapeutics o f Exercise (1907) and Life Is Movement Or the Physical Reconstruction and Regeneration o f the People (1919)84 These books contain inforshy

mation about Sandowrsquos travels his honors and accomplishments how to exercise and train with resistance anatomy hygiene and even physical culture for women

As mentioned Sandow also started his own magazine in 1898 which was ultimately tided Sandows Magazinersquo This periodical aimed to satisfy the increasing interest in physical culture at the time and included articles such as ldquoHow to Keep in Condition in H ot

Weatherrdquo ldquoThe Strength and Symmetry o f M en Compared with Animalsrdquo ldquoSleeplessshy

nessrdquo and ldquoBacteria Germs N ot the Only Cause o f Diseaserdquo86 Although filled with physishycal culture information the magazine also covered topical events contained household

hints and had a ldquobreezy populist tonerdquo87 The magazine established Sandow as an ldquoexshypertrdquo on a variety o f matters A case could almost be made for including him as a pioneer

among lifestyle experts such as M artha Stewart who have successfully branded themshyselves88 Most importantly the books and magazines allowed him ldquofreerdquo advertising so that he could extend his brand to other products and entities bearing the Sandow name89

Included among these other extensions were Sandows Curative Institutes These inshy

stitutes were posited to be ldquoinvaluable to sufferers from Insomnia Neurotic Persons or those whose nervous system is run down all who desire a graceful carriage and symmetrishycal form those whose sedentary occupations have caused sluggish liver or constipation athletes in every branch o f Sportrdquo90 Catering to men and women Sandows schools proshyvided individual as well as group training sessions The equipment used consisted solely o f

dumbbells Sandow opened the first in this chain o f establishments at 32A St Jamesrsquos Street in London in 189791 As advertised by Sandow five more were establishedmdash one at each o f the following locations 115 A Ebury Street in London Brook House in Walbrook London EC 185 Tottenham Court Road London WC Oxford Street Manchester and 16 Colquitt Street Liverpool92 Finally he opened a more prestigious and luxurious College o f Physical Culture in Boston Massachusetts H e initially planned to establish

another in New York with Earle Liederman as a partner Those plans were not realized however due to Sandows death93 Despite the initial exponential growth o f membership in these Victorian equivalents o f health clubs none but his Institute on St James Street endured after World War I94 Nevertheless Sandowrsquos reputation and his club(s) were reshy

vered as their reputation o f achieving stellar results with exercise and dietary advice spread95

Sandow also extended his brand to exercise products Sandowrsquos Spring Grip D um bshybells was one o f these These were shaped like regular dumbbells but with a spring in the middle The user was to squeeze the dumbbell throughout the exercise routine in order to

facilitate concentration on the particular task Included were illustrated instructions for

the user to follow96 He even endorsed a polishing cloth for the dumbbells that was touted as ldquosuperior to chamois leatherrdquo97 O ther exercise products included the Sandowrsquos Develshyoper and Sandows Symmetrion The Symmetrion was essentially a Sandowrsquos Developer for women Like the Developer it consisted o f ldquoa combination o f rubber cords and dumbshy

bell attachmentsrdquo and was meant to be a versatile in-home exercise machine98 Eventually

Sandow advertised a mail-order health and exercise system that promised relief for suffershy

ers o f constipation liver troubles insomnia indigestion loss o f vigor and inadequate physical development99

Sandow even attempted to target children with one o f his brand extensions In 1913

he devised an exercise contraption that was actually a childrens doll that resembled acheerful sailor The arms and legs o f the doll could be manipulated by the user but not w ithout a certain degree o f resistance provided by pulleys inside the machine Once the

arms and legs were maneuvered enough a piece o f candy was rewarded and transferred via the mouth o f the doll However possibly because o f the complexity o f the doll or the

contradiction o f providing candy as a reward for exercising Sandow was unable to secure funding for the product100

O ther miscellaneous health products also boasted the Sandow name For example Sandows equivalent o f the modern athletic rub known as Bengay was his Sandows Conshycentrated Embrocation This was a liniment promoted to ensure strong supple muscles

Advertisements for this product asserted that ldquoregular use o f this Embrocation [brought] and [kept] the muscles in perfect condition [relieved] muscular stiffness and [healed]

sprains strains bruises or injured jointsrdquo101 Another Sandow product was his Sandows Patent Health and Perfect Figure Corset Makers o f the corset claimed it allowed freedom and movement yet retained a hygienic design Though other health conscious corsets had

flooded the market by that time his carried the Sandow name Sandow also extended his brand to include Sandows Health and Strength Cocoa The drink was advertised as being pure and o f high food value However it proved more problematic than profitable due to connections with Germany during World War I and competition from rival firms It also caused him great financial stress when the company became insolvent102

No matter how many products Sandow created he understood that success could not be achieved if consumers purchased only one It was necessary for him to nurture the bonds with consumers in order to retain their business This is known as relationship

marketing Via his magazine institutes and touring Sandow attempted to cultivate furshyther his relationship with customers thereby increasing and demonstrating a cursory unshyderstanding o f brand loyalty103

O ne o f the major media Sandow utilized to maintain and strengthen relationships with his consumers was his Sandow Magazine Readersrsquo Club This club was a portion of Sandows magazine devoted to the testimonials o f readers Here readers would extol Sandow and his system The club also provided an arena where followers including women could publicize their achievements and seek praise from Sandow104 An explanation o f the club from Sandows M agazine follows

For the exchange of ideas personal experiences and photos for the encourageshyment of Club Members Readers are expected to act up to the Club Motto [T]he President will award to the sender of every published idea experience or photo the Club Fellowship Medal as a token that the rightful owner has earned the Fellowship of the Club105

However in some magazines a Club Fellowship Medal was awarded only to readers who submitted something worthy o f publication and provided the names and addresses o f fifty people the reader introduced to the magazine106

Sandow also titled a section o f his magazine H ints from Sandow Here it was advershy

tised that Sandow responded to questions from his readers concerning issues such as equipshyment night sweats and knock-knees Although responses were ldquofor the purpose o f comshy

ing into closer touch with [his] friends and readersrdquo space was limited and it was encouraged

to inquire about prescribed mail-order exercise courses107 This was another way Sandow

strengthened relations with his consumers and encouraged them to invest in his productsThese components of Sandows brand loyalty and publicity strategies apparently worked

as readers from Canada England India New Zealand Ireland Australia South Africa

Malta Hong Kong Japan Norway and Singapore wrote to him 108 In his book Strength and How to Obtain It Sandow even boasted that ldquoevery week many letters [reached him]

from the Coloniesmdash from India Canada Australia South Africamdash even from distant

Klondikerdquo109 W hen one interviewer inquired about the number o f pupils under his inshy

struction in 1904 Sandow replied that he had ldquoabout a millionrdquo110 Many o f these pupils became disciples and ldquospread the good newsrdquo regarding his products and exercise system

which aided in Sandows success1

Like savvy marketers in the twenty-first century Sandow also sought ways to involve

his customers personally in his efforts O ne means for this was his holding o f physical

culture competitions in his magazine These monthly competitions for both children and

adults required applicants to send one photograph o f himherself to the magazine Then

applicants were judged on their development and measurements and each months winshy

ner received a gold medal112 But these were not the only physical culture competitionspromoted by Sandow As mentioned in 1901 Sandowrsquos Great Competition was held to determine the United Kingdoms ldquoBest Developed M anrdquo The competition was the culmishy

nation o f a series o f local contests held in provinces throughout the UK during the three years before the final competition The top three place winners in each local contest were

eligible to compete in ldquoSandowrsquos Great Competitionrdquo The final contest held on Septemshyber 14 was a spectacle as 15000 people attended113 These competitions not only created

publicity they strengthened Sandows relationship with his consumers because o f the inshycreased interaction facilitated by them

Sandow attempted to increase his brand loyalty by touring the globe as well By the time he began his first tour in 1901 his brand was already established114 Thus he not

only increased his international presence by touring but actively participated in relationshy

ship marketing He strengthened relationships with his fans and followers by giving exhishybitions and lectures that were accessible to them and allowed for interaction on a personal level

Sandow toured internationally twice O n the North American continent he performed in Chicago San Francisco Boston New York St Louis Omaha Detroit Richmond and even select cities in Canada His tours also landed him in Australia New Zealand South Africa India Italy China Egypt and Japan115 At his exhibitions he would first pose and then perform his strength act After his performance he would promote physical

culture and health by lecturing on the importance of each He also discussed the anatomy of the human body using himself as a model6

His influence on the countries he visited attests to his success in increasing his brand loyalty and publicity For example a scrapbook clipping by Clarence Weber ascribes Sandow

the ldquocredit o f arousing deep interest in and demonstrating the possibilities o f scientific

exerciserdquo117 In New Zealand as historian Caroline Daley has shown people established Sandow schools physical culture contests were held and Sandows system was utilized in many ways after his tour118 O ne example o f his influence can be found in the fact that three years after Sandow visited New Zealand the All Black Rugby team had integrated his Sandows Developer in their exercise routine on their 1905 tour and some members were training with his dumbbell system119

India readily accepted Sandow as well His exhibitions drew thousands o f attendees

and interest in physical culture heightened after his visit120 Results o f his impact are demshyonstrated through individuals like Ram Murti Naidu who was also known as the Indian Sandow Murti was best known for supporting the weight o f a three-ton elephant on his stomach and being a vegetarian121 Professor KV Iyer was also inspired by Sandows presshyence in India He would go on to combine Indian and Western physical culture to create his own exercise system122

Other countries were impacted by Sandow as well albeit less than in New Zealand

Australia or England Evidence o f his influence is found in Egypt where a man named

Abd al-Halim al-Misri designated ldquoEgyptian Sandowrdquo by Wilson Chacko Jacob traveled to exhibit his body and his feats o f strength123 And outside Austin Texas the inhabitants o f the small town o f Freezeout voted to change its name to Sandow Texas to honor the great strongman124

Amongst the milieu o f general social movements and technological advancements of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries Eugen Sandow became a global pheshynomenon synonymous with exercise and health Sandow s legacy and impact on the world is impossible to deny O ne enthusiastic author from his era bloviated that Sandow was ldquothe

strongest man greatest physical culture authority and finest physical example o f the elecshytrical period who practically revived physical education which had become obscure after the fall o f the Roman Empirerdquo125 Although a strong assertion it nonetheless indicates the significance o f Sandows influence at the time That influence can still be felt today Acshycording to historian Jan Todd Sandow provided a lasting marketing and branding exshy

ample that a number o f physical culturists emulated in later years including Bernarr Macfadden Bob Hoffman Joe Weider and even Arnold Schwarzenegger126

Eugen Sandow was an extraordinary man His physique changed the way Victorian society viewed the body His propagation o f physical culture left lasting effects in scores of

countries including the United States Great Britain New Zealand and Australia His products and exercises helped ignite the iron game flame worldwide But Sandows legacy is not limited to these fields He muscled his way into the lives o f people who desired health youth and vigor through marketing techniques and strategies never before utilized

in physical culture and his example is emulated to this day Sandow was a self-made man with humble beginnings who became a physical culture mogul He was known for his incredible physique and gentlemanly standing He was an educator who enriched the lives o f others Perhaps then he actually was the perfect man

K e y w o r d s E u g e n Sa n d o w ph y sic a l c u l t u r e m a r k e t in g w e ig h t t r a in in g

T he story o f John L Sullivan is chronicled by Michael T Isenberg It provides evidence that Sullivan was the first American sport hero and sport celebrity Furthermore it provides evidence that he began branding himself in 1880 See Michael T Isenberg John L Sullivan a n d H is America (Urbana University

o f Illinois Press 1994) O ther sources that provide evidence for this assertion include Rick Knott ldquoJohn L Sullivan and the M yth o f the Self-Made M anrdquo paper presented at the annual meeting o f the North

American Society for Sport History London O ntario 2001 copy in possession o f author and Adam J Pollack JohnL Sullivan The Career o f the First Gloved Heavyweight Champion (Jefferson NC McFarland amp Company 2006)

2David L Chapm an Sandow the M agnificent Eugen Sandow and the Beginnings o f Bodybuilding 2nd

ed (Urbana University o f Illinois Press 2002)

3Kenneth D utton The Perfectible Body The Western Ideal o f M ale Physical Development (New York

C ontinuum International Publishing Group 1995) John F Kasson H oudini Tarzan and the Perfect M an The W hite M ale Body and the Challenge o f M odernity in America (New York Hill and Wang 2001)

Caroline Daley Leisure amp Pleasure Reshaping amp Revealing the N ew Zealand Body 1900-1960 (Auckland

Auckland University Press 2003) Ina Zweiniger-Bargielowska M anaging the Body Beauty Health and

Fitness in B ritain 1880-1939 (Oxford Oxford University Press 2010) David Waller The Perfect M an The M uscular L ife and Times o f Eugen Sandow Victorian Strongman (Brighton UK Victorian Secrets Limited 2011)

4Josh Buck ldquoSandow N o Folly with Ziegfeldrsquos First Glorificationrdquo Iron Game History The Journal o f Physical Culture 5 (1998) 29 -33 Caroline Daley ldquoThe Strongman o f Eugenics Eugen Sandowrdquo Australian H istorical Studies 33 (2002) 233-248 Scott Patrick ldquoBody-building and Empire-building George Douglas Brown the South African War and lsquoSandows Magazine o f Physical Culturersquordquo Victorian Periodicals Review 41 (2008) 78-94 Vike M artina Plock ldquoA Feat o f Strength in lsquoIthacarsquo Eugen Sandow and Physical Culture in Joyces Ulyssesrdquo Journal o f M odem Literature 30 (2006) 129-139 Ina Zweiniger- Bargielowska ldquoBuilding a British Superman Physical Culture in Interwar Britainrdquo Journal o f Contemposhy

rary History 41 (2006) 595-610 Jim Elledge ldquoEugen Sandowrsquos Gift to Gay M enrdquo Gay amp Lesbian Review Worldwide 18 (2011) 14-17 Ellery E Foutch ldquoArresting Beauty T he Perfectionist Impulse of Pealersquos Butterflies Headersquos Hummingbirds Blaschkas Flowers and Sandowrsquos Bodyrdquo (PhD diss Unishy

versity o f Pennsylvania 2011) Nicholas Turse ldquoPrometheus Unbound T he Technology o f Bodybuildshying in the Nervous Agerdquo Past Imperfect 8 (2008) lthttpejoumalslibraryualbertacaindexphppiar- ticleview l405gt [5 February 2013] Marianne Schultz ldquolsquoSons o f the Empirersquo Dance and the New

Zealand Malerdquo Dance Research 29 (2011) 19-42 David P Willoughby ldquoW hen Sandow Visited Califorshy

niardquo Pacific H istorian 15 (1971) 72-77 Carrie J Preston ldquoPosing Modernism Delsartism in Modern Dance and Silent Filmrdquo Theatre Joum al 6 1 (2009) 215-233 Kimberly Ayn Beckwith ldquoBuilding Strength Alan Calvert the Milo Bar-Bell Company and the Modernization o f American Weight Trainingrdquo (PhD diss University ofTexas at Austin 2006)

5lthttpw w w m arketingpow ercom C om m unity A R C PagesA dditionalH istory L iterature

Terminologyaspxgt [23 M arch 2011] Ralph Starr Butler Herbert Francis De Bower and John George

Jones M arketing M ethods a nd Salesmanship (New York Alexander Hamilton Institute 1914) Charles W ilson Hoyt Scientific Sales M anagement A Practical Application o f the Principles o f Scientific Manageshym ent to Selling (New Haven Conn GB Woolson amp Co 1918) Paul Terry Cherington Advertising As

a Business Force A Compilation o f Experience Records (New York Doubleday Page amp Co 1913) Chapman Sandow the M agnificent 12-14

6Foutch ldquoArresting Beautyrdquo 168

7Chapm an Sandow the M agnificent 1-32

Robert Ernst Weakness Is a Crime TheLifeofB em arrM acfadden (Syracuse NY Syracuse Univershysity Press 1991) Tom Peters ldquoThe Brand Called Yourdquo Fast Company 1997 lthttpwwwfestcompanycom

28905brand-called-yougt [3 March 2013] Ifan D H Shepherd ldquoFrom Cattle and Coke to Charlie

Accounts such as these also resulted because of Sandows intentional use o f eroticism

To display his nearly nude body at the height o f the Victorian era was brilliant marketing

on Sandow s pan and it differentiated him from other strongmen who merely lifted weights when on stage For example at the end of one o f his inaugural performances in Chicago at

the Trocadero Theater in 1893 Ziegfeld declared that any woman who would donate

$300 to charity would be allowed backstage to feel Sandows muscles Mrs Potter Palmer and Mrs George Pullman two women o f high society at the time pounced at the opporshy

tunity Amy Leslie drama critic for the Chicago Times wrote that after arriving backstage and upon stroking Sandows chest Mrs Potter claimed she was ldquothrilled to the spinerdquo

Leslie herself was reportedly stunned after Sandow ldquothrew out a stack o f corded muscles under the white smooth skin of his chest in a sort o f mechanical wayrdquo50 These backstage antics were not limited to Chicago or females however O ne male journalist o f the New

York Heralds 1893 stated ldquo [Sandow] took my hand while I was in his dressing room and rubbed it across his abdominal muscles and the feeling was just about the same as it would

be rubbing the hand over an old fashioned washboardrdquo51 Another story in the National Police Gazette from January 271894 reported that after Sandow took one womanrsquos hand

and ran it across his muscles at an exhibition in New York she stumbled back and fainted only to be brought back to consciousness with smelling salts52 These private exhibitions became part o f Sandow s after-show routine and were an im portant aspect o f his marketshying strategy

Finally accounts such as the following from the Australian newspaper Adelaide Regisshyter in 1902 excited and enlivened the female population while also increasing Sandows brand awareness through publicity

Every pose an d posture was a picture to be carried away in the memory H e

applied the pressure and his muscles becam e firm as s te e l Sandow was a

living H e rcu le s T h e muscles were show n first in a state o f repose and then

in a state o f tension T h e abdom inal muscles were contracted and produced

the w onderfu l checkerboard arrangem ent o f the fib re s Sandow [made] his

m uscles literally dance T here is no th ing gross o r coarse abou t Sandow he docs

n o t possess an ounce o f superfluous flesh he has a beautiful skin an d is in fact

all quality53

This account adequately highlights the erotic element o f Sandows performances This type o f publicity also helped solidify his feme as large numbers o f women bought tickets to his performances in order to satisfy their piqued curiosities54

The second aspect o f Sandows marketing strategy relied on what historian Daniel Boorstin called the Graphic Revolution According to Boorstin the Graphic Revolution

was the increased ability to capture and widely disseminate images in a myriad o f ways in the late nineteenth century It was aided by the advent o f the rotary press which allowed for increased printing speed at a decreased cost55 This revolution resulted in drastic inshycreases in souvenir photographs (which became a major industry during the nineteenth century) postcards cabinet cards cigarette cards and images in magazines These photoshygraphs also served as a basis for newspaper and magazine illustrations56

Sandow used this revolution to his advantage Prominent photographers such as Henry Van der Weyde Benjamin J Falk George Steckel Napoleon Sarony and his fether-in-law

Warwick Brookes captured his image multiple times The Rotary Photographic Comshy

pany even photographed him The images from these sessions were then printed on heavy

cardstock embellished with the photographers name and sold as ldquocabinet cardsrdquo These

types o f images were generally albumen print photographs measuring 425 x 65 inches It was customary in Sandows time to collect cabinet cards o f celebrities or royalty and place them in family albums These types o f photographs were prevalent as a plethora was proshyduced worldwide57 Images o f Sandow ldquowere sold at theaters hotels and photographersrsquo

studios and by mail in various sizesrdquo58 Sandow recognized the value o f photographs in his attempt to brand himself59 Furthermore his images could be found in a variety o f placesmdash

from womens private sitting rooms in their homes in the United States to the battlefields o f the Boer War in South Africa60 The camera allowed men and women to look upon his

image in private in ways that may not have been acceptable ir public It also goaded some o f those viewers to dream of their own self-improvement through physical culture61

Both o f his major biographers suggest that Sandow also a-tempted to brand himself as a gendeman W hen cff the stage Sandow dressed in clothing appropriate for an uppershyclass Englishman and affected the manners and habits o f the English aristocracy62 Bodyshy

building historian Kenneth D utton argues that the developed body is not merely an object to be viewed Rather he contends that social and cultural messages are transmitted through it63 Therefore since the body o f a man such as Sandow was considered perfect it was not too great a leap for the public to transpose the characteristics o f perfection from a physical

sense to a more intangible sense resulting in a ldquobuilt personardquo o f the seemingly perfect

man with high moral and intellectual qualities64 For example in the aforementioned article from the Camperdown Chronicle Sandows appearance was compared to the Gershyman emperorrsquos yet the paper reported he spoke English fluently with a ldquomelodious acshy

centrdquo65 The article also explained that Sandow devoted himself to spreading the message o f health and strength while turning down no class of individual who sought his guidance thereby providing his own type o f patronage

O ne pronounced attempt at branding himself as an English gentleman was demonshystrated during Sandows Great Competition in 1901 Although addressed later this conshytest was essentially a bodybuilding competition Competitors were judged by Sandow and

two other individuals Sir Charles Lawes sculptor and amateur athlete and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle author of the Sherlock Holmes stories Both were revered and admired in England Rubbing elbows with these prominent figures aided in Sandows effort to be considered a gentleman66

As any English gentleman knew it was also right to support king and country and Sandow did just that Due to interest in his techniques by LrCol G Malcom Fox who was ultimately appointed Inspector o f Physical Training for all public elementary schools Sandow gave a number of exhibitions in order to raise awareness o f physical culture in the British military67 Moreover prior to and during the Boer War many o f Great Britains men were denied the opportunity to join the military due to a lack o f fitness Thus Sandow took it upon himself to train 11000 members o f the British Army in London and offered cash prizes totaling pound1000 for those showing the best physical improvement68 Because of his assistance with the British Army Sandow was rewarded by being appointed honorary Professor o f Scientific and Physical Culture to His Majesty in 191169 This provided anshyother means for Sandow to associate himself with the uppercrust o f society

This was not the only instance o f Sandow promoting himself through royal associashy

tions As Chapman explains Sandow offered an accountmdash most likely embellishedmdash of his performance before Crown Prince Frederick o f Prussia and Crown Princess Victoria

daughter o f the queen o f the United Kingdom o f Great Britain According to Sandow

although the Crown Prince was sick he claimed he could match Sandow at one o f his feats and tore asunder a pack o f playing cards But Sandow not willing to be bested by even

royalty replicated the feat with two packs o f playing cards According to the account Frederick was so impressed that he bequeathed a ring to Sandow who was fond o f displayshy

ing it and even published a picture o f it in The Strand magazine Despite this association with European royalty Sandow continuously attempted to be considered an Englishman

especially as tensions heightened before and during World War I70The last facet o f Sandowrsquos branding strategy was a process called myth-making This

was an attem pt to elevate his status from a normal human to that o f a hero or mythic being This strategy also elevated him above the ranks o f other strongmen Sandow acshycomplished his myth-making through stories he propagated reports o f his public strength exhibitions and the continued discussion in the press o f his body as a site o f physical

perfectionA classic example o f Sandows attempt to increase his brand awareness can be found in

the often repeated story of how he first garnered public attention as a strongman After vainly searching for venues needing a strongman in Amsterdam in 1887 Sandow decided he needed publicity At that time in Europe weightlifting machines existed that tested the strength o f individuals with a lever arm similar to a slot machine So in the dead o f the night Sandow traversed the city pushing every machine he happened upon past its limit and broke them all After accomplishing this task twice more the city was wildly curious

to know the identity o f this enormously strong vandal Finally Sandow turned himself

over to the authorities who at first did not believe that he was the culpritmdash he simply did not look large enough After lifting an officer in the air with just one arm to prove his strength however Sandow was arrested By the time he was bailed out o f jail his exploits had spread throughout Amsterdam Thereafter he received free room and board at his hotel and the theater that once refused to hire him at ten guilders a week booked him at

1200 guilders per week Sandow not only garnered the publicity he sought in Amsterdam but in the years ahead the story was repeated in newspaper accounts in city after city as a testament to his mythic strength71

Another example o f Sandowrsquos attempt at glorification can be found in a tale told by

G Mercer Adam During one o f Sandowrsquos trips to Italy two thieves managed to steal some

o f Sandowrsquos more valuable belongings while he was on a train Upon arriving at his final destination he received bricks rather than his valuables from the railroad porter who probably played a role in the chicanery So Sandow returned to Nice Italy where he last

saw his possessions After identifying the thieves and without the aid o f police Adam

relays that Sandowpounced u pon them suddenly and caught each m an firm ly by the back o f the

neck W hen they recovered from their surprise an d began to struggle to get free

the s trongm an brough t their two heads repeatedly in contact until unconshy

sciousness rendered one m an lim p and fright quieted the other72

Then he dragged them to the police station ldquointo which he flung themrdquo Finally in an ending fit for a hero Sandow found the pawn-tickets o f his valuables and was able to

recover his stolen property73 O f course he also had another story he could use bolster his mythic persona

One o f the most notorious ways Sandow attempted to utilize the myth-making conshycept was through a wrestling match with a lion After a proposed fight between a bear and

a lion was halted by the Society for the Prevention o f Cruelty to Animals Ziegfeld Sandowrsquos manager at the time prompdy substituted Sandow for the bear However he also substishytuted an older more docile and possibly drugged lion for the original savage beast slated

to fight the bear The public was unaware of this change and the anticipation o f the bout was palpable Unfortunately for Sandow and the lion for that matter the match was one

sided To protect Sandow a muzzle and large gloves were secured to the supposedly savage beast before the fight During the first part o f the match the lion seemed dejected and the crowd began to sympathize with it Sensing this Sandow tried to antagonize it by dragshyging it and flinging it by the tail pulling its whiskers and even carrying it around the ring

on his back His efforts were to no avail Although Sandow later attempted to embellish

the tale to make his actions seem more admirable the bout held in San Francisco on May 2 2 1894 garnered negative reviews from newspapers and proved humiliating for Sandow74 This example o f glorification indicates that not all o f Sandowrsquos attempts were successful

Although discussed previously the use o f photographs glorified Sandow as well

Through lighting powder and different poses his muscularity could be accentuated

making him seem superhuman75 Furthermore his habit o f assuming poses reminiscent o f classical statuary such as the Farnese Hercules and the Dying Gaul provided direct links to the fin de sikles fascination with neo-classicism76 Sandow understood that pictures

ldquoverified [his] superhuman status and formed a crucial visual element o f [his] promoshytional campaignrdquo77

From a historical standpoint the significance o f Sandow branding himself cannot be overstated First Sancow shifted the primary focus of his performances from the strength o f his body to the look o f his body This was innovation in itself78 Second and more

importantly Sandow not only pushed the boundaries o f social acceptability but in the midst o f a conservative Victorian era he shifted social standards so that the body became a positive image79 Finally Sandowrsquos efforts at increasing his brand awareness resulted in his association with health strength fitness and perfection among tens o f thousands of readers80 These three elements caused him by 1903 to be the ldquohighest salaried vaudeville artist in the worldrdquomdash a fret that suggests Sandowrsquos branding campaign proved successshyful81

Exploiting the Built Brand

Having built his brand through his exhibitions and publicity Sandow next turned his attention to new forms o f marketing through brand extension Brand extensions are prodshyucts that vaunt an established brand name but in a different market category82 A modern example o f this is Sir Richard Bransonrsquos extension o f his brand ldquoVirginrdquomdash originally a record store and music labelmdash into the mobile phone and airline industries83 The first products Sandow sole were advice books on training and self-improvement He published

his first book Sandow on Physical Training A Study in the Perfect Type o f the H uman Form

in 1894 and followed with five more They include Strength and How to Obtain It (1897) The Gospel o f Strength According to Sandow (1902) Body-building or M an in the Making

How to Become Healthy and Strong (1904) The Construction and Reconstruction o f The

H uman Body A M anual o f the Therapeutics o f Exercise (1907) and Life Is Movement Or the Physical Reconstruction and Regeneration o f the People (1919)84 These books contain inforshy

mation about Sandowrsquos travels his honors and accomplishments how to exercise and train with resistance anatomy hygiene and even physical culture for women

As mentioned Sandow also started his own magazine in 1898 which was ultimately tided Sandows Magazinersquo This periodical aimed to satisfy the increasing interest in physical culture at the time and included articles such as ldquoHow to Keep in Condition in H ot

Weatherrdquo ldquoThe Strength and Symmetry o f M en Compared with Animalsrdquo ldquoSleeplessshy

nessrdquo and ldquoBacteria Germs N ot the Only Cause o f Diseaserdquo86 Although filled with physishycal culture information the magazine also covered topical events contained household

hints and had a ldquobreezy populist tonerdquo87 The magazine established Sandow as an ldquoexshypertrdquo on a variety o f matters A case could almost be made for including him as a pioneer

among lifestyle experts such as M artha Stewart who have successfully branded themshyselves88 Most importantly the books and magazines allowed him ldquofreerdquo advertising so that he could extend his brand to other products and entities bearing the Sandow name89

Included among these other extensions were Sandows Curative Institutes These inshy

stitutes were posited to be ldquoinvaluable to sufferers from Insomnia Neurotic Persons or those whose nervous system is run down all who desire a graceful carriage and symmetrishycal form those whose sedentary occupations have caused sluggish liver or constipation athletes in every branch o f Sportrdquo90 Catering to men and women Sandows schools proshyvided individual as well as group training sessions The equipment used consisted solely o f

dumbbells Sandow opened the first in this chain o f establishments at 32A St Jamesrsquos Street in London in 189791 As advertised by Sandow five more were establishedmdash one at each o f the following locations 115 A Ebury Street in London Brook House in Walbrook London EC 185 Tottenham Court Road London WC Oxford Street Manchester and 16 Colquitt Street Liverpool92 Finally he opened a more prestigious and luxurious College o f Physical Culture in Boston Massachusetts H e initially planned to establish

another in New York with Earle Liederman as a partner Those plans were not realized however due to Sandows death93 Despite the initial exponential growth o f membership in these Victorian equivalents o f health clubs none but his Institute on St James Street endured after World War I94 Nevertheless Sandowrsquos reputation and his club(s) were reshy

vered as their reputation o f achieving stellar results with exercise and dietary advice spread95

Sandow also extended his brand to exercise products Sandowrsquos Spring Grip D um bshybells was one o f these These were shaped like regular dumbbells but with a spring in the middle The user was to squeeze the dumbbell throughout the exercise routine in order to

facilitate concentration on the particular task Included were illustrated instructions for

the user to follow96 He even endorsed a polishing cloth for the dumbbells that was touted as ldquosuperior to chamois leatherrdquo97 O ther exercise products included the Sandowrsquos Develshyoper and Sandows Symmetrion The Symmetrion was essentially a Sandowrsquos Developer for women Like the Developer it consisted o f ldquoa combination o f rubber cords and dumbshy

bell attachmentsrdquo and was meant to be a versatile in-home exercise machine98 Eventually

Sandow advertised a mail-order health and exercise system that promised relief for suffershy

ers o f constipation liver troubles insomnia indigestion loss o f vigor and inadequate physical development99

Sandow even attempted to target children with one o f his brand extensions In 1913

he devised an exercise contraption that was actually a childrens doll that resembled acheerful sailor The arms and legs o f the doll could be manipulated by the user but not w ithout a certain degree o f resistance provided by pulleys inside the machine Once the

arms and legs were maneuvered enough a piece o f candy was rewarded and transferred via the mouth o f the doll However possibly because o f the complexity o f the doll or the

contradiction o f providing candy as a reward for exercising Sandow was unable to secure funding for the product100

O ther miscellaneous health products also boasted the Sandow name For example Sandows equivalent o f the modern athletic rub known as Bengay was his Sandows Conshycentrated Embrocation This was a liniment promoted to ensure strong supple muscles

Advertisements for this product asserted that ldquoregular use o f this Embrocation [brought] and [kept] the muscles in perfect condition [relieved] muscular stiffness and [healed]

sprains strains bruises or injured jointsrdquo101 Another Sandow product was his Sandows Patent Health and Perfect Figure Corset Makers o f the corset claimed it allowed freedom and movement yet retained a hygienic design Though other health conscious corsets had

flooded the market by that time his carried the Sandow name Sandow also extended his brand to include Sandows Health and Strength Cocoa The drink was advertised as being pure and o f high food value However it proved more problematic than profitable due to connections with Germany during World War I and competition from rival firms It also caused him great financial stress when the company became insolvent102

No matter how many products Sandow created he understood that success could not be achieved if consumers purchased only one It was necessary for him to nurture the bonds with consumers in order to retain their business This is known as relationship

marketing Via his magazine institutes and touring Sandow attempted to cultivate furshyther his relationship with customers thereby increasing and demonstrating a cursory unshyderstanding o f brand loyalty103

O ne o f the major media Sandow utilized to maintain and strengthen relationships with his consumers was his Sandow Magazine Readersrsquo Club This club was a portion of Sandows magazine devoted to the testimonials o f readers Here readers would extol Sandow and his system The club also provided an arena where followers including women could publicize their achievements and seek praise from Sandow104 An explanation o f the club from Sandows M agazine follows

For the exchange of ideas personal experiences and photos for the encourageshyment of Club Members Readers are expected to act up to the Club Motto [T]he President will award to the sender of every published idea experience or photo the Club Fellowship Medal as a token that the rightful owner has earned the Fellowship of the Club105

However in some magazines a Club Fellowship Medal was awarded only to readers who submitted something worthy o f publication and provided the names and addresses o f fifty people the reader introduced to the magazine106

Sandow also titled a section o f his magazine H ints from Sandow Here it was advershy

tised that Sandow responded to questions from his readers concerning issues such as equipshyment night sweats and knock-knees Although responses were ldquofor the purpose o f comshy

ing into closer touch with [his] friends and readersrdquo space was limited and it was encouraged

to inquire about prescribed mail-order exercise courses107 This was another way Sandow

strengthened relations with his consumers and encouraged them to invest in his productsThese components of Sandows brand loyalty and publicity strategies apparently worked

as readers from Canada England India New Zealand Ireland Australia South Africa

Malta Hong Kong Japan Norway and Singapore wrote to him 108 In his book Strength and How to Obtain It Sandow even boasted that ldquoevery week many letters [reached him]

from the Coloniesmdash from India Canada Australia South Africamdash even from distant

Klondikerdquo109 W hen one interviewer inquired about the number o f pupils under his inshy

struction in 1904 Sandow replied that he had ldquoabout a millionrdquo110 Many o f these pupils became disciples and ldquospread the good newsrdquo regarding his products and exercise system

which aided in Sandows success1

Like savvy marketers in the twenty-first century Sandow also sought ways to involve

his customers personally in his efforts O ne means for this was his holding o f physical

culture competitions in his magazine These monthly competitions for both children and

adults required applicants to send one photograph o f himherself to the magazine Then

applicants were judged on their development and measurements and each months winshy

ner received a gold medal112 But these were not the only physical culture competitionspromoted by Sandow As mentioned in 1901 Sandowrsquos Great Competition was held to determine the United Kingdoms ldquoBest Developed M anrdquo The competition was the culmishy

nation o f a series o f local contests held in provinces throughout the UK during the three years before the final competition The top three place winners in each local contest were

eligible to compete in ldquoSandowrsquos Great Competitionrdquo The final contest held on Septemshyber 14 was a spectacle as 15000 people attended113 These competitions not only created

publicity they strengthened Sandows relationship with his consumers because o f the inshycreased interaction facilitated by them

Sandow attempted to increase his brand loyalty by touring the globe as well By the time he began his first tour in 1901 his brand was already established114 Thus he not

only increased his international presence by touring but actively participated in relationshy

ship marketing He strengthened relationships with his fans and followers by giving exhishybitions and lectures that were accessible to them and allowed for interaction on a personal level

Sandow toured internationally twice O n the North American continent he performed in Chicago San Francisco Boston New York St Louis Omaha Detroit Richmond and even select cities in Canada His tours also landed him in Australia New Zealand South Africa India Italy China Egypt and Japan115 At his exhibitions he would first pose and then perform his strength act After his performance he would promote physical

culture and health by lecturing on the importance of each He also discussed the anatomy of the human body using himself as a model6

His influence on the countries he visited attests to his success in increasing his brand loyalty and publicity For example a scrapbook clipping by Clarence Weber ascribes Sandow

the ldquocredit o f arousing deep interest in and demonstrating the possibilities o f scientific

exerciserdquo117 In New Zealand as historian Caroline Daley has shown people established Sandow schools physical culture contests were held and Sandows system was utilized in many ways after his tour118 O ne example o f his influence can be found in the fact that three years after Sandow visited New Zealand the All Black Rugby team had integrated his Sandows Developer in their exercise routine on their 1905 tour and some members were training with his dumbbell system119

India readily accepted Sandow as well His exhibitions drew thousands o f attendees

and interest in physical culture heightened after his visit120 Results o f his impact are demshyonstrated through individuals like Ram Murti Naidu who was also known as the Indian Sandow Murti was best known for supporting the weight o f a three-ton elephant on his stomach and being a vegetarian121 Professor KV Iyer was also inspired by Sandows presshyence in India He would go on to combine Indian and Western physical culture to create his own exercise system122

Other countries were impacted by Sandow as well albeit less than in New Zealand

Australia or England Evidence o f his influence is found in Egypt where a man named

Abd al-Halim al-Misri designated ldquoEgyptian Sandowrdquo by Wilson Chacko Jacob traveled to exhibit his body and his feats o f strength123 And outside Austin Texas the inhabitants o f the small town o f Freezeout voted to change its name to Sandow Texas to honor the great strongman124

Amongst the milieu o f general social movements and technological advancements of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries Eugen Sandow became a global pheshynomenon synonymous with exercise and health Sandow s legacy and impact on the world is impossible to deny O ne enthusiastic author from his era bloviated that Sandow was ldquothe

strongest man greatest physical culture authority and finest physical example o f the elecshytrical period who practically revived physical education which had become obscure after the fall o f the Roman Empirerdquo125 Although a strong assertion it nonetheless indicates the significance o f Sandows influence at the time That influence can still be felt today Acshycording to historian Jan Todd Sandow provided a lasting marketing and branding exshy

ample that a number o f physical culturists emulated in later years including Bernarr Macfadden Bob Hoffman Joe Weider and even Arnold Schwarzenegger126

Eugen Sandow was an extraordinary man His physique changed the way Victorian society viewed the body His propagation o f physical culture left lasting effects in scores of

countries including the United States Great Britain New Zealand and Australia His products and exercises helped ignite the iron game flame worldwide But Sandows legacy is not limited to these fields He muscled his way into the lives o f people who desired health youth and vigor through marketing techniques and strategies never before utilized

in physical culture and his example is emulated to this day Sandow was a self-made man with humble beginnings who became a physical culture mogul He was known for his incredible physique and gentlemanly standing He was an educator who enriched the lives o f others Perhaps then he actually was the perfect man

K e y w o r d s E u g e n Sa n d o w ph y sic a l c u l t u r e m a r k e t in g w e ig h t t r a in in g

T he story o f John L Sullivan is chronicled by Michael T Isenberg It provides evidence that Sullivan was the first American sport hero and sport celebrity Furthermore it provides evidence that he began branding himself in 1880 See Michael T Isenberg John L Sullivan a n d H is America (Urbana University

o f Illinois Press 1994) O ther sources that provide evidence for this assertion include Rick Knott ldquoJohn L Sullivan and the M yth o f the Self-Made M anrdquo paper presented at the annual meeting o f the North

American Society for Sport History London O ntario 2001 copy in possession o f author and Adam J Pollack JohnL Sullivan The Career o f the First Gloved Heavyweight Champion (Jefferson NC McFarland amp Company 2006)

2David L Chapm an Sandow the M agnificent Eugen Sandow and the Beginnings o f Bodybuilding 2nd

ed (Urbana University o f Illinois Press 2002)

3Kenneth D utton The Perfectible Body The Western Ideal o f M ale Physical Development (New York

C ontinuum International Publishing Group 1995) John F Kasson H oudini Tarzan and the Perfect M an The W hite M ale Body and the Challenge o f M odernity in America (New York Hill and Wang 2001)

Caroline Daley Leisure amp Pleasure Reshaping amp Revealing the N ew Zealand Body 1900-1960 (Auckland

Auckland University Press 2003) Ina Zweiniger-Bargielowska M anaging the Body Beauty Health and

Fitness in B ritain 1880-1939 (Oxford Oxford University Press 2010) David Waller The Perfect M an The M uscular L ife and Times o f Eugen Sandow Victorian Strongman (Brighton UK Victorian Secrets Limited 2011)

4Josh Buck ldquoSandow N o Folly with Ziegfeldrsquos First Glorificationrdquo Iron Game History The Journal o f Physical Culture 5 (1998) 29 -33 Caroline Daley ldquoThe Strongman o f Eugenics Eugen Sandowrdquo Australian H istorical Studies 33 (2002) 233-248 Scott Patrick ldquoBody-building and Empire-building George Douglas Brown the South African War and lsquoSandows Magazine o f Physical Culturersquordquo Victorian Periodicals Review 41 (2008) 78-94 Vike M artina Plock ldquoA Feat o f Strength in lsquoIthacarsquo Eugen Sandow and Physical Culture in Joyces Ulyssesrdquo Journal o f M odem Literature 30 (2006) 129-139 Ina Zweiniger- Bargielowska ldquoBuilding a British Superman Physical Culture in Interwar Britainrdquo Journal o f Contemposhy

rary History 41 (2006) 595-610 Jim Elledge ldquoEugen Sandowrsquos Gift to Gay M enrdquo Gay amp Lesbian Review Worldwide 18 (2011) 14-17 Ellery E Foutch ldquoArresting Beauty T he Perfectionist Impulse of Pealersquos Butterflies Headersquos Hummingbirds Blaschkas Flowers and Sandowrsquos Bodyrdquo (PhD diss Unishy

versity o f Pennsylvania 2011) Nicholas Turse ldquoPrometheus Unbound T he Technology o f Bodybuildshying in the Nervous Agerdquo Past Imperfect 8 (2008) lthttpejoumalslibraryualbertacaindexphppiar- ticleview l405gt [5 February 2013] Marianne Schultz ldquolsquoSons o f the Empirersquo Dance and the New

Zealand Malerdquo Dance Research 29 (2011) 19-42 David P Willoughby ldquoW hen Sandow Visited Califorshy

niardquo Pacific H istorian 15 (1971) 72-77 Carrie J Preston ldquoPosing Modernism Delsartism in Modern Dance and Silent Filmrdquo Theatre Joum al 6 1 (2009) 215-233 Kimberly Ayn Beckwith ldquoBuilding Strength Alan Calvert the Milo Bar-Bell Company and the Modernization o f American Weight Trainingrdquo (PhD diss University ofTexas at Austin 2006)

5lthttpw w w m arketingpow ercom C om m unity A R C PagesA dditionalH istory L iterature

Terminologyaspxgt [23 M arch 2011] Ralph Starr Butler Herbert Francis De Bower and John George

Jones M arketing M ethods a nd Salesmanship (New York Alexander Hamilton Institute 1914) Charles W ilson Hoyt Scientific Sales M anagement A Practical Application o f the Principles o f Scientific Manageshym ent to Selling (New Haven Conn GB Woolson amp Co 1918) Paul Terry Cherington Advertising As

a Business Force A Compilation o f Experience Records (New York Doubleday Page amp Co 1913) Chapman Sandow the M agnificent 12-14

6Foutch ldquoArresting Beautyrdquo 168

7Chapm an Sandow the M agnificent 1-32

Robert Ernst Weakness Is a Crime TheLifeofB em arrM acfadden (Syracuse NY Syracuse Univershysity Press 1991) Tom Peters ldquoThe Brand Called Yourdquo Fast Company 1997 lthttpwwwfestcompanycom

28905brand-called-yougt [3 March 2013] Ifan D H Shepherd ldquoFrom Cattle and Coke to Charlie

pany even photographed him The images from these sessions were then printed on heavy

cardstock embellished with the photographers name and sold as ldquocabinet cardsrdquo These

types o f images were generally albumen print photographs measuring 425 x 65 inches It was customary in Sandows time to collect cabinet cards o f celebrities or royalty and place them in family albums These types o f photographs were prevalent as a plethora was proshyduced worldwide57 Images o f Sandow ldquowere sold at theaters hotels and photographersrsquo

studios and by mail in various sizesrdquo58 Sandow recognized the value o f photographs in his attempt to brand himself59 Furthermore his images could be found in a variety o f placesmdash

from womens private sitting rooms in their homes in the United States to the battlefields o f the Boer War in South Africa60 The camera allowed men and women to look upon his

image in private in ways that may not have been acceptable ir public It also goaded some o f those viewers to dream of their own self-improvement through physical culture61

Both o f his major biographers suggest that Sandow also a-tempted to brand himself as a gendeman W hen cff the stage Sandow dressed in clothing appropriate for an uppershyclass Englishman and affected the manners and habits o f the English aristocracy62 Bodyshy

building historian Kenneth D utton argues that the developed body is not merely an object to be viewed Rather he contends that social and cultural messages are transmitted through it63 Therefore since the body o f a man such as Sandow was considered perfect it was not too great a leap for the public to transpose the characteristics o f perfection from a physical

sense to a more intangible sense resulting in a ldquobuilt personardquo o f the seemingly perfect

man with high moral and intellectual qualities64 For example in the aforementioned article from the Camperdown Chronicle Sandows appearance was compared to the Gershyman emperorrsquos yet the paper reported he spoke English fluently with a ldquomelodious acshy

centrdquo65 The article also explained that Sandow devoted himself to spreading the message o f health and strength while turning down no class of individual who sought his guidance thereby providing his own type o f patronage

O ne pronounced attempt at branding himself as an English gentleman was demonshystrated during Sandows Great Competition in 1901 Although addressed later this conshytest was essentially a bodybuilding competition Competitors were judged by Sandow and

two other individuals Sir Charles Lawes sculptor and amateur athlete and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle author of the Sherlock Holmes stories Both were revered and admired in England Rubbing elbows with these prominent figures aided in Sandows effort to be considered a gentleman66

As any English gentleman knew it was also right to support king and country and Sandow did just that Due to interest in his techniques by LrCol G Malcom Fox who was ultimately appointed Inspector o f Physical Training for all public elementary schools Sandow gave a number of exhibitions in order to raise awareness o f physical culture in the British military67 Moreover prior to and during the Boer War many o f Great Britains men were denied the opportunity to join the military due to a lack o f fitness Thus Sandow took it upon himself to train 11000 members o f the British Army in London and offered cash prizes totaling pound1000 for those showing the best physical improvement68 Because of his assistance with the British Army Sandow was rewarded by being appointed honorary Professor o f Scientific and Physical Culture to His Majesty in 191169 This provided anshyother means for Sandow to associate himself with the uppercrust o f society

This was not the only instance o f Sandow promoting himself through royal associashy

tions As Chapman explains Sandow offered an accountmdash most likely embellishedmdash of his performance before Crown Prince Frederick o f Prussia and Crown Princess Victoria

daughter o f the queen o f the United Kingdom o f Great Britain According to Sandow

although the Crown Prince was sick he claimed he could match Sandow at one o f his feats and tore asunder a pack o f playing cards But Sandow not willing to be bested by even

royalty replicated the feat with two packs o f playing cards According to the account Frederick was so impressed that he bequeathed a ring to Sandow who was fond o f displayshy

ing it and even published a picture o f it in The Strand magazine Despite this association with European royalty Sandow continuously attempted to be considered an Englishman

especially as tensions heightened before and during World War I70The last facet o f Sandowrsquos branding strategy was a process called myth-making This

was an attem pt to elevate his status from a normal human to that o f a hero or mythic being This strategy also elevated him above the ranks o f other strongmen Sandow acshycomplished his myth-making through stories he propagated reports o f his public strength exhibitions and the continued discussion in the press o f his body as a site o f physical

perfectionA classic example o f Sandows attempt to increase his brand awareness can be found in

the often repeated story of how he first garnered public attention as a strongman After vainly searching for venues needing a strongman in Amsterdam in 1887 Sandow decided he needed publicity At that time in Europe weightlifting machines existed that tested the strength o f individuals with a lever arm similar to a slot machine So in the dead o f the night Sandow traversed the city pushing every machine he happened upon past its limit and broke them all After accomplishing this task twice more the city was wildly curious

to know the identity o f this enormously strong vandal Finally Sandow turned himself

over to the authorities who at first did not believe that he was the culpritmdash he simply did not look large enough After lifting an officer in the air with just one arm to prove his strength however Sandow was arrested By the time he was bailed out o f jail his exploits had spread throughout Amsterdam Thereafter he received free room and board at his hotel and the theater that once refused to hire him at ten guilders a week booked him at

1200 guilders per week Sandow not only garnered the publicity he sought in Amsterdam but in the years ahead the story was repeated in newspaper accounts in city after city as a testament to his mythic strength71

Another example o f Sandowrsquos attempt at glorification can be found in a tale told by

G Mercer Adam During one o f Sandowrsquos trips to Italy two thieves managed to steal some

o f Sandowrsquos more valuable belongings while he was on a train Upon arriving at his final destination he received bricks rather than his valuables from the railroad porter who probably played a role in the chicanery So Sandow returned to Nice Italy where he last

saw his possessions After identifying the thieves and without the aid o f police Adam

relays that Sandowpounced u pon them suddenly and caught each m an firm ly by the back o f the

neck W hen they recovered from their surprise an d began to struggle to get free

the s trongm an brough t their two heads repeatedly in contact until unconshy

sciousness rendered one m an lim p and fright quieted the other72

Then he dragged them to the police station ldquointo which he flung themrdquo Finally in an ending fit for a hero Sandow found the pawn-tickets o f his valuables and was able to

recover his stolen property73 O f course he also had another story he could use bolster his mythic persona

One o f the most notorious ways Sandow attempted to utilize the myth-making conshycept was through a wrestling match with a lion After a proposed fight between a bear and

a lion was halted by the Society for the Prevention o f Cruelty to Animals Ziegfeld Sandowrsquos manager at the time prompdy substituted Sandow for the bear However he also substishytuted an older more docile and possibly drugged lion for the original savage beast slated

to fight the bear The public was unaware of this change and the anticipation o f the bout was palpable Unfortunately for Sandow and the lion for that matter the match was one

sided To protect Sandow a muzzle and large gloves were secured to the supposedly savage beast before the fight During the first part o f the match the lion seemed dejected and the crowd began to sympathize with it Sensing this Sandow tried to antagonize it by dragshyging it and flinging it by the tail pulling its whiskers and even carrying it around the ring

on his back His efforts were to no avail Although Sandow later attempted to embellish

the tale to make his actions seem more admirable the bout held in San Francisco on May 2 2 1894 garnered negative reviews from newspapers and proved humiliating for Sandow74 This example o f glorification indicates that not all o f Sandowrsquos attempts were successful

Although discussed previously the use o f photographs glorified Sandow as well

Through lighting powder and different poses his muscularity could be accentuated

making him seem superhuman75 Furthermore his habit o f assuming poses reminiscent o f classical statuary such as the Farnese Hercules and the Dying Gaul provided direct links to the fin de sikles fascination with neo-classicism76 Sandow understood that pictures

ldquoverified [his] superhuman status and formed a crucial visual element o f [his] promoshytional campaignrdquo77

From a historical standpoint the significance o f Sandow branding himself cannot be overstated First Sancow shifted the primary focus of his performances from the strength o f his body to the look o f his body This was innovation in itself78 Second and more

importantly Sandow not only pushed the boundaries o f social acceptability but in the midst o f a conservative Victorian era he shifted social standards so that the body became a positive image79 Finally Sandowrsquos efforts at increasing his brand awareness resulted in his association with health strength fitness and perfection among tens o f thousands of readers80 These three elements caused him by 1903 to be the ldquohighest salaried vaudeville artist in the worldrdquomdash a fret that suggests Sandowrsquos branding campaign proved successshyful81

Exploiting the Built Brand

Having built his brand through his exhibitions and publicity Sandow next turned his attention to new forms o f marketing through brand extension Brand extensions are prodshyucts that vaunt an established brand name but in a different market category82 A modern example o f this is Sir Richard Bransonrsquos extension o f his brand ldquoVirginrdquomdash originally a record store and music labelmdash into the mobile phone and airline industries83 The first products Sandow sole were advice books on training and self-improvement He published

his first book Sandow on Physical Training A Study in the Perfect Type o f the H uman Form

in 1894 and followed with five more They include Strength and How to Obtain It (1897) The Gospel o f Strength According to Sandow (1902) Body-building or M an in the Making

How to Become Healthy and Strong (1904) The Construction and Reconstruction o f The

H uman Body A M anual o f the Therapeutics o f Exercise (1907) and Life Is Movement Or the Physical Reconstruction and Regeneration o f the People (1919)84 These books contain inforshy

mation about Sandowrsquos travels his honors and accomplishments how to exercise and train with resistance anatomy hygiene and even physical culture for women

As mentioned Sandow also started his own magazine in 1898 which was ultimately tided Sandows Magazinersquo This periodical aimed to satisfy the increasing interest in physical culture at the time and included articles such as ldquoHow to Keep in Condition in H ot

Weatherrdquo ldquoThe Strength and Symmetry o f M en Compared with Animalsrdquo ldquoSleeplessshy

nessrdquo and ldquoBacteria Germs N ot the Only Cause o f Diseaserdquo86 Although filled with physishycal culture information the magazine also covered topical events contained household

hints and had a ldquobreezy populist tonerdquo87 The magazine established Sandow as an ldquoexshypertrdquo on a variety o f matters A case could almost be made for including him as a pioneer

among lifestyle experts such as M artha Stewart who have successfully branded themshyselves88 Most importantly the books and magazines allowed him ldquofreerdquo advertising so that he could extend his brand to other products and entities bearing the Sandow name89

Included among these other extensions were Sandows Curative Institutes These inshy

stitutes were posited to be ldquoinvaluable to sufferers from Insomnia Neurotic Persons or those whose nervous system is run down all who desire a graceful carriage and symmetrishycal form those whose sedentary occupations have caused sluggish liver or constipation athletes in every branch o f Sportrdquo90 Catering to men and women Sandows schools proshyvided individual as well as group training sessions The equipment used consisted solely o f

dumbbells Sandow opened the first in this chain o f establishments at 32A St Jamesrsquos Street in London in 189791 As advertised by Sandow five more were establishedmdash one at each o f the following locations 115 A Ebury Street in London Brook House in Walbrook London EC 185 Tottenham Court Road London WC Oxford Street Manchester and 16 Colquitt Street Liverpool92 Finally he opened a more prestigious and luxurious College o f Physical Culture in Boston Massachusetts H e initially planned to establish

another in New York with Earle Liederman as a partner Those plans were not realized however due to Sandows death93 Despite the initial exponential growth o f membership in these Victorian equivalents o f health clubs none but his Institute on St James Street endured after World War I94 Nevertheless Sandowrsquos reputation and his club(s) were reshy

vered as their reputation o f achieving stellar results with exercise and dietary advice spread95

Sandow also extended his brand to exercise products Sandowrsquos Spring Grip D um bshybells was one o f these These were shaped like regular dumbbells but with a spring in the middle The user was to squeeze the dumbbell throughout the exercise routine in order to

facilitate concentration on the particular task Included were illustrated instructions for

the user to follow96 He even endorsed a polishing cloth for the dumbbells that was touted as ldquosuperior to chamois leatherrdquo97 O ther exercise products included the Sandowrsquos Develshyoper and Sandows Symmetrion The Symmetrion was essentially a Sandowrsquos Developer for women Like the Developer it consisted o f ldquoa combination o f rubber cords and dumbshy

bell attachmentsrdquo and was meant to be a versatile in-home exercise machine98 Eventually

Sandow advertised a mail-order health and exercise system that promised relief for suffershy

ers o f constipation liver troubles insomnia indigestion loss o f vigor and inadequate physical development99

Sandow even attempted to target children with one o f his brand extensions In 1913

he devised an exercise contraption that was actually a childrens doll that resembled acheerful sailor The arms and legs o f the doll could be manipulated by the user but not w ithout a certain degree o f resistance provided by pulleys inside the machine Once the

arms and legs were maneuvered enough a piece o f candy was rewarded and transferred via the mouth o f the doll However possibly because o f the complexity o f the doll or the

contradiction o f providing candy as a reward for exercising Sandow was unable to secure funding for the product100

O ther miscellaneous health products also boasted the Sandow name For example Sandows equivalent o f the modern athletic rub known as Bengay was his Sandows Conshycentrated Embrocation This was a liniment promoted to ensure strong supple muscles

Advertisements for this product asserted that ldquoregular use o f this Embrocation [brought] and [kept] the muscles in perfect condition [relieved] muscular stiffness and [healed]

sprains strains bruises or injured jointsrdquo101 Another Sandow product was his Sandows Patent Health and Perfect Figure Corset Makers o f the corset claimed it allowed freedom and movement yet retained a hygienic design Though other health conscious corsets had

flooded the market by that time his carried the Sandow name Sandow also extended his brand to include Sandows Health and Strength Cocoa The drink was advertised as being pure and o f high food value However it proved more problematic than profitable due to connections with Germany during World War I and competition from rival firms It also caused him great financial stress when the company became insolvent102

No matter how many products Sandow created he understood that success could not be achieved if consumers purchased only one It was necessary for him to nurture the bonds with consumers in order to retain their business This is known as relationship

marketing Via his magazine institutes and touring Sandow attempted to cultivate furshyther his relationship with customers thereby increasing and demonstrating a cursory unshyderstanding o f brand loyalty103

O ne o f the major media Sandow utilized to maintain and strengthen relationships with his consumers was his Sandow Magazine Readersrsquo Club This club was a portion of Sandows magazine devoted to the testimonials o f readers Here readers would extol Sandow and his system The club also provided an arena where followers including women could publicize their achievements and seek praise from Sandow104 An explanation o f the club from Sandows M agazine follows

For the exchange of ideas personal experiences and photos for the encourageshyment of Club Members Readers are expected to act up to the Club Motto [T]he President will award to the sender of every published idea experience or photo the Club Fellowship Medal as a token that the rightful owner has earned the Fellowship of the Club105

However in some magazines a Club Fellowship Medal was awarded only to readers who submitted something worthy o f publication and provided the names and addresses o f fifty people the reader introduced to the magazine106

Sandow also titled a section o f his magazine H ints from Sandow Here it was advershy

tised that Sandow responded to questions from his readers concerning issues such as equipshyment night sweats and knock-knees Although responses were ldquofor the purpose o f comshy

ing into closer touch with [his] friends and readersrdquo space was limited and it was encouraged

to inquire about prescribed mail-order exercise courses107 This was another way Sandow

strengthened relations with his consumers and encouraged them to invest in his productsThese components of Sandows brand loyalty and publicity strategies apparently worked

as readers from Canada England India New Zealand Ireland Australia South Africa

Malta Hong Kong Japan Norway and Singapore wrote to him 108 In his book Strength and How to Obtain It Sandow even boasted that ldquoevery week many letters [reached him]

from the Coloniesmdash from India Canada Australia South Africamdash even from distant

Klondikerdquo109 W hen one interviewer inquired about the number o f pupils under his inshy

struction in 1904 Sandow replied that he had ldquoabout a millionrdquo110 Many o f these pupils became disciples and ldquospread the good newsrdquo regarding his products and exercise system

which aided in Sandows success1

Like savvy marketers in the twenty-first century Sandow also sought ways to involve

his customers personally in his efforts O ne means for this was his holding o f physical

culture competitions in his magazine These monthly competitions for both children and

adults required applicants to send one photograph o f himherself to the magazine Then

applicants were judged on their development and measurements and each months winshy

ner received a gold medal112 But these were not the only physical culture competitionspromoted by Sandow As mentioned in 1901 Sandowrsquos Great Competition was held to determine the United Kingdoms ldquoBest Developed M anrdquo The competition was the culmishy

nation o f a series o f local contests held in provinces throughout the UK during the three years before the final competition The top three place winners in each local contest were

eligible to compete in ldquoSandowrsquos Great Competitionrdquo The final contest held on Septemshyber 14 was a spectacle as 15000 people attended113 These competitions not only created

publicity they strengthened Sandows relationship with his consumers because o f the inshycreased interaction facilitated by them

Sandow attempted to increase his brand loyalty by touring the globe as well By the time he began his first tour in 1901 his brand was already established114 Thus he not

only increased his international presence by touring but actively participated in relationshy

ship marketing He strengthened relationships with his fans and followers by giving exhishybitions and lectures that were accessible to them and allowed for interaction on a personal level

Sandow toured internationally twice O n the North American continent he performed in Chicago San Francisco Boston New York St Louis Omaha Detroit Richmond and even select cities in Canada His tours also landed him in Australia New Zealand South Africa India Italy China Egypt and Japan115 At his exhibitions he would first pose and then perform his strength act After his performance he would promote physical

culture and health by lecturing on the importance of each He also discussed the anatomy of the human body using himself as a model6

His influence on the countries he visited attests to his success in increasing his brand loyalty and publicity For example a scrapbook clipping by Clarence Weber ascribes Sandow

the ldquocredit o f arousing deep interest in and demonstrating the possibilities o f scientific

exerciserdquo117 In New Zealand as historian Caroline Daley has shown people established Sandow schools physical culture contests were held and Sandows system was utilized in many ways after his tour118 O ne example o f his influence can be found in the fact that three years after Sandow visited New Zealand the All Black Rugby team had integrated his Sandows Developer in their exercise routine on their 1905 tour and some members were training with his dumbbell system119

India readily accepted Sandow as well His exhibitions drew thousands o f attendees

and interest in physical culture heightened after his visit120 Results o f his impact are demshyonstrated through individuals like Ram Murti Naidu who was also known as the Indian Sandow Murti was best known for supporting the weight o f a three-ton elephant on his stomach and being a vegetarian121 Professor KV Iyer was also inspired by Sandows presshyence in India He would go on to combine Indian and Western physical culture to create his own exercise system122

Other countries were impacted by Sandow as well albeit less than in New Zealand

Australia or England Evidence o f his influence is found in Egypt where a man named

Abd al-Halim al-Misri designated ldquoEgyptian Sandowrdquo by Wilson Chacko Jacob traveled to exhibit his body and his feats o f strength123 And outside Austin Texas the inhabitants o f the small town o f Freezeout voted to change its name to Sandow Texas to honor the great strongman124

Amongst the milieu o f general social movements and technological advancements of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries Eugen Sandow became a global pheshynomenon synonymous with exercise and health Sandow s legacy and impact on the world is impossible to deny O ne enthusiastic author from his era bloviated that Sandow was ldquothe

strongest man greatest physical culture authority and finest physical example o f the elecshytrical period who practically revived physical education which had become obscure after the fall o f the Roman Empirerdquo125 Although a strong assertion it nonetheless indicates the significance o f Sandows influence at the time That influence can still be felt today Acshycording to historian Jan Todd Sandow provided a lasting marketing and branding exshy

ample that a number o f physical culturists emulated in later years including Bernarr Macfadden Bob Hoffman Joe Weider and even Arnold Schwarzenegger126

Eugen Sandow was an extraordinary man His physique changed the way Victorian society viewed the body His propagation o f physical culture left lasting effects in scores of

countries including the United States Great Britain New Zealand and Australia His products and exercises helped ignite the iron game flame worldwide But Sandows legacy is not limited to these fields He muscled his way into the lives o f people who desired health youth and vigor through marketing techniques and strategies never before utilized

in physical culture and his example is emulated to this day Sandow was a self-made man with humble beginnings who became a physical culture mogul He was known for his incredible physique and gentlemanly standing He was an educator who enriched the lives o f others Perhaps then he actually was the perfect man

K e y w o r d s E u g e n Sa n d o w ph y sic a l c u l t u r e m a r k e t in g w e ig h t t r a in in g

T he story o f John L Sullivan is chronicled by Michael T Isenberg It provides evidence that Sullivan was the first American sport hero and sport celebrity Furthermore it provides evidence that he began branding himself in 1880 See Michael T Isenberg John L Sullivan a n d H is America (Urbana University

o f Illinois Press 1994) O ther sources that provide evidence for this assertion include Rick Knott ldquoJohn L Sullivan and the M yth o f the Self-Made M anrdquo paper presented at the annual meeting o f the North

American Society for Sport History London O ntario 2001 copy in possession o f author and Adam J Pollack JohnL Sullivan The Career o f the First Gloved Heavyweight Champion (Jefferson NC McFarland amp Company 2006)

2David L Chapm an Sandow the M agnificent Eugen Sandow and the Beginnings o f Bodybuilding 2nd

ed (Urbana University o f Illinois Press 2002)

3Kenneth D utton The Perfectible Body The Western Ideal o f M ale Physical Development (New York

C ontinuum International Publishing Group 1995) John F Kasson H oudini Tarzan and the Perfect M an The W hite M ale Body and the Challenge o f M odernity in America (New York Hill and Wang 2001)

Caroline Daley Leisure amp Pleasure Reshaping amp Revealing the N ew Zealand Body 1900-1960 (Auckland

Auckland University Press 2003) Ina Zweiniger-Bargielowska M anaging the Body Beauty Health and

Fitness in B ritain 1880-1939 (Oxford Oxford University Press 2010) David Waller The Perfect M an The M uscular L ife and Times o f Eugen Sandow Victorian Strongman (Brighton UK Victorian Secrets Limited 2011)

4Josh Buck ldquoSandow N o Folly with Ziegfeldrsquos First Glorificationrdquo Iron Game History The Journal o f Physical Culture 5 (1998) 29 -33 Caroline Daley ldquoThe Strongman o f Eugenics Eugen Sandowrdquo Australian H istorical Studies 33 (2002) 233-248 Scott Patrick ldquoBody-building and Empire-building George Douglas Brown the South African War and lsquoSandows Magazine o f Physical Culturersquordquo Victorian Periodicals Review 41 (2008) 78-94 Vike M artina Plock ldquoA Feat o f Strength in lsquoIthacarsquo Eugen Sandow and Physical Culture in Joyces Ulyssesrdquo Journal o f M odem Literature 30 (2006) 129-139 Ina Zweiniger- Bargielowska ldquoBuilding a British Superman Physical Culture in Interwar Britainrdquo Journal o f Contemposhy

rary History 41 (2006) 595-610 Jim Elledge ldquoEugen Sandowrsquos Gift to Gay M enrdquo Gay amp Lesbian Review Worldwide 18 (2011) 14-17 Ellery E Foutch ldquoArresting Beauty T he Perfectionist Impulse of Pealersquos Butterflies Headersquos Hummingbirds Blaschkas Flowers and Sandowrsquos Bodyrdquo (PhD diss Unishy

versity o f Pennsylvania 2011) Nicholas Turse ldquoPrometheus Unbound T he Technology o f Bodybuildshying in the Nervous Agerdquo Past Imperfect 8 (2008) lthttpejoumalslibraryualbertacaindexphppiar- ticleview l405gt [5 February 2013] Marianne Schultz ldquolsquoSons o f the Empirersquo Dance and the New

Zealand Malerdquo Dance Research 29 (2011) 19-42 David P Willoughby ldquoW hen Sandow Visited Califorshy

niardquo Pacific H istorian 15 (1971) 72-77 Carrie J Preston ldquoPosing Modernism Delsartism in Modern Dance and Silent Filmrdquo Theatre Joum al 6 1 (2009) 215-233 Kimberly Ayn Beckwith ldquoBuilding Strength Alan Calvert the Milo Bar-Bell Company and the Modernization o f American Weight Trainingrdquo (PhD diss University ofTexas at Austin 2006)

5lthttpw w w m arketingpow ercom C om m unity A R C PagesA dditionalH istory L iterature

Terminologyaspxgt [23 M arch 2011] Ralph Starr Butler Herbert Francis De Bower and John George

Jones M arketing M ethods a nd Salesmanship (New York Alexander Hamilton Institute 1914) Charles W ilson Hoyt Scientific Sales M anagement A Practical Application o f the Principles o f Scientific Manageshym ent to Selling (New Haven Conn GB Woolson amp Co 1918) Paul Terry Cherington Advertising As

a Business Force A Compilation o f Experience Records (New York Doubleday Page amp Co 1913) Chapman Sandow the M agnificent 12-14

6Foutch ldquoArresting Beautyrdquo 168

7Chapm an Sandow the M agnificent 1-32

Robert Ernst Weakness Is a Crime TheLifeofB em arrM acfadden (Syracuse NY Syracuse Univershysity Press 1991) Tom Peters ldquoThe Brand Called Yourdquo Fast Company 1997 lthttpwwwfestcompanycom

28905brand-called-yougt [3 March 2013] Ifan D H Shepherd ldquoFrom Cattle and Coke to Charlie

This was not the only instance o f Sandow promoting himself through royal associashy

tions As Chapman explains Sandow offered an accountmdash most likely embellishedmdash of his performance before Crown Prince Frederick o f Prussia and Crown Princess Victoria

daughter o f the queen o f the United Kingdom o f Great Britain According to Sandow

although the Crown Prince was sick he claimed he could match Sandow at one o f his feats and tore asunder a pack o f playing cards But Sandow not willing to be bested by even

royalty replicated the feat with two packs o f playing cards According to the account Frederick was so impressed that he bequeathed a ring to Sandow who was fond o f displayshy

ing it and even published a picture o f it in The Strand magazine Despite this association with European royalty Sandow continuously attempted to be considered an Englishman

especially as tensions heightened before and during World War I70The last facet o f Sandowrsquos branding strategy was a process called myth-making This

was an attem pt to elevate his status from a normal human to that o f a hero or mythic being This strategy also elevated him above the ranks o f other strongmen Sandow acshycomplished his myth-making through stories he propagated reports o f his public strength exhibitions and the continued discussion in the press o f his body as a site o f physical

perfectionA classic example o f Sandows attempt to increase his brand awareness can be found in

the often repeated story of how he first garnered public attention as a strongman After vainly searching for venues needing a strongman in Amsterdam in 1887 Sandow decided he needed publicity At that time in Europe weightlifting machines existed that tested the strength o f individuals with a lever arm similar to a slot machine So in the dead o f the night Sandow traversed the city pushing every machine he happened upon past its limit and broke them all After accomplishing this task twice more the city was wildly curious

to know the identity o f this enormously strong vandal Finally Sandow turned himself

over to the authorities who at first did not believe that he was the culpritmdash he simply did not look large enough After lifting an officer in the air with just one arm to prove his strength however Sandow was arrested By the time he was bailed out o f jail his exploits had spread throughout Amsterdam Thereafter he received free room and board at his hotel and the theater that once refused to hire him at ten guilders a week booked him at

1200 guilders per week Sandow not only garnered the publicity he sought in Amsterdam but in the years ahead the story was repeated in newspaper accounts in city after city as a testament to his mythic strength71

Another example o f Sandowrsquos attempt at glorification can be found in a tale told by

G Mercer Adam During one o f Sandowrsquos trips to Italy two thieves managed to steal some

o f Sandowrsquos more valuable belongings while he was on a train Upon arriving at his final destination he received bricks rather than his valuables from the railroad porter who probably played a role in the chicanery So Sandow returned to Nice Italy where he last

saw his possessions After identifying the thieves and without the aid o f police Adam

relays that Sandowpounced u pon them suddenly and caught each m an firm ly by the back o f the

neck W hen they recovered from their surprise an d began to struggle to get free

the s trongm an brough t their two heads repeatedly in contact until unconshy

sciousness rendered one m an lim p and fright quieted the other72

Then he dragged them to the police station ldquointo which he flung themrdquo Finally in an ending fit for a hero Sandow found the pawn-tickets o f his valuables and was able to

recover his stolen property73 O f course he also had another story he could use bolster his mythic persona

One o f the most notorious ways Sandow attempted to utilize the myth-making conshycept was through a wrestling match with a lion After a proposed fight between a bear and

a lion was halted by the Society for the Prevention o f Cruelty to Animals Ziegfeld Sandowrsquos manager at the time prompdy substituted Sandow for the bear However he also substishytuted an older more docile and possibly drugged lion for the original savage beast slated

to fight the bear The public was unaware of this change and the anticipation o f the bout was palpable Unfortunately for Sandow and the lion for that matter the match was one

sided To protect Sandow a muzzle and large gloves were secured to the supposedly savage beast before the fight During the first part o f the match the lion seemed dejected and the crowd began to sympathize with it Sensing this Sandow tried to antagonize it by dragshyging it and flinging it by the tail pulling its whiskers and even carrying it around the ring

on his back His efforts were to no avail Although Sandow later attempted to embellish

the tale to make his actions seem more admirable the bout held in San Francisco on May 2 2 1894 garnered negative reviews from newspapers and proved humiliating for Sandow74 This example o f glorification indicates that not all o f Sandowrsquos attempts were successful

Although discussed previously the use o f photographs glorified Sandow as well

Through lighting powder and different poses his muscularity could be accentuated

making him seem superhuman75 Furthermore his habit o f assuming poses reminiscent o f classical statuary such as the Farnese Hercules and the Dying Gaul provided direct links to the fin de sikles fascination with neo-classicism76 Sandow understood that pictures

ldquoverified [his] superhuman status and formed a crucial visual element o f [his] promoshytional campaignrdquo77

From a historical standpoint the significance o f Sandow branding himself cannot be overstated First Sancow shifted the primary focus of his performances from the strength o f his body to the look o f his body This was innovation in itself78 Second and more

importantly Sandow not only pushed the boundaries o f social acceptability but in the midst o f a conservative Victorian era he shifted social standards so that the body became a positive image79 Finally Sandowrsquos efforts at increasing his brand awareness resulted in his association with health strength fitness and perfection among tens o f thousands of readers80 These three elements caused him by 1903 to be the ldquohighest salaried vaudeville artist in the worldrdquomdash a fret that suggests Sandowrsquos branding campaign proved successshyful81

Exploiting the Built Brand

Having built his brand through his exhibitions and publicity Sandow next turned his attention to new forms o f marketing through brand extension Brand extensions are prodshyucts that vaunt an established brand name but in a different market category82 A modern example o f this is Sir Richard Bransonrsquos extension o f his brand ldquoVirginrdquomdash originally a record store and music labelmdash into the mobile phone and airline industries83 The first products Sandow sole were advice books on training and self-improvement He published

his first book Sandow on Physical Training A Study in the Perfect Type o f the H uman Form

in 1894 and followed with five more They include Strength and How to Obtain It (1897) The Gospel o f Strength According to Sandow (1902) Body-building or M an in the Making

How to Become Healthy and Strong (1904) The Construction and Reconstruction o f The

H uman Body A M anual o f the Therapeutics o f Exercise (1907) and Life Is Movement Or the Physical Reconstruction and Regeneration o f the People (1919)84 These books contain inforshy

mation about Sandowrsquos travels his honors and accomplishments how to exercise and train with resistance anatomy hygiene and even physical culture for women

As mentioned Sandow also started his own magazine in 1898 which was ultimately tided Sandows Magazinersquo This periodical aimed to satisfy the increasing interest in physical culture at the time and included articles such as ldquoHow to Keep in Condition in H ot

Weatherrdquo ldquoThe Strength and Symmetry o f M en Compared with Animalsrdquo ldquoSleeplessshy

nessrdquo and ldquoBacteria Germs N ot the Only Cause o f Diseaserdquo86 Although filled with physishycal culture information the magazine also covered topical events contained household

hints and had a ldquobreezy populist tonerdquo87 The magazine established Sandow as an ldquoexshypertrdquo on a variety o f matters A case could almost be made for including him as a pioneer

among lifestyle experts such as M artha Stewart who have successfully branded themshyselves88 Most importantly the books and magazines allowed him ldquofreerdquo advertising so that he could extend his brand to other products and entities bearing the Sandow name89

Included among these other extensions were Sandows Curative Institutes These inshy

stitutes were posited to be ldquoinvaluable to sufferers from Insomnia Neurotic Persons or those whose nervous system is run down all who desire a graceful carriage and symmetrishycal form those whose sedentary occupations have caused sluggish liver or constipation athletes in every branch o f Sportrdquo90 Catering to men and women Sandows schools proshyvided individual as well as group training sessions The equipment used consisted solely o f

dumbbells Sandow opened the first in this chain o f establishments at 32A St Jamesrsquos Street in London in 189791 As advertised by Sandow five more were establishedmdash one at each o f the following locations 115 A Ebury Street in London Brook House in Walbrook London EC 185 Tottenham Court Road London WC Oxford Street Manchester and 16 Colquitt Street Liverpool92 Finally he opened a more prestigious and luxurious College o f Physical Culture in Boston Massachusetts H e initially planned to establish

another in New York with Earle Liederman as a partner Those plans were not realized however due to Sandows death93 Despite the initial exponential growth o f membership in these Victorian equivalents o f health clubs none but his Institute on St James Street endured after World War I94 Nevertheless Sandowrsquos reputation and his club(s) were reshy

vered as their reputation o f achieving stellar results with exercise and dietary advice spread95

Sandow also extended his brand to exercise products Sandowrsquos Spring Grip D um bshybells was one o f these These were shaped like regular dumbbells but with a spring in the middle The user was to squeeze the dumbbell throughout the exercise routine in order to

facilitate concentration on the particular task Included were illustrated instructions for

the user to follow96 He even endorsed a polishing cloth for the dumbbells that was touted as ldquosuperior to chamois leatherrdquo97 O ther exercise products included the Sandowrsquos Develshyoper and Sandows Symmetrion The Symmetrion was essentially a Sandowrsquos Developer for women Like the Developer it consisted o f ldquoa combination o f rubber cords and dumbshy

bell attachmentsrdquo and was meant to be a versatile in-home exercise machine98 Eventually

Sandow advertised a mail-order health and exercise system that promised relief for suffershy

ers o f constipation liver troubles insomnia indigestion loss o f vigor and inadequate physical development99

Sandow even attempted to target children with one o f his brand extensions In 1913

he devised an exercise contraption that was actually a childrens doll that resembled acheerful sailor The arms and legs o f the doll could be manipulated by the user but not w ithout a certain degree o f resistance provided by pulleys inside the machine Once the

arms and legs were maneuvered enough a piece o f candy was rewarded and transferred via the mouth o f the doll However possibly because o f the complexity o f the doll or the

contradiction o f providing candy as a reward for exercising Sandow was unable to secure funding for the product100

O ther miscellaneous health products also boasted the Sandow name For example Sandows equivalent o f the modern athletic rub known as Bengay was his Sandows Conshycentrated Embrocation This was a liniment promoted to ensure strong supple muscles

Advertisements for this product asserted that ldquoregular use o f this Embrocation [brought] and [kept] the muscles in perfect condition [relieved] muscular stiffness and [healed]

sprains strains bruises or injured jointsrdquo101 Another Sandow product was his Sandows Patent Health and Perfect Figure Corset Makers o f the corset claimed it allowed freedom and movement yet retained a hygienic design Though other health conscious corsets had

flooded the market by that time his carried the Sandow name Sandow also extended his brand to include Sandows Health and Strength Cocoa The drink was advertised as being pure and o f high food value However it proved more problematic than profitable due to connections with Germany during World War I and competition from rival firms It also caused him great financial stress when the company became insolvent102

No matter how many products Sandow created he understood that success could not be achieved if consumers purchased only one It was necessary for him to nurture the bonds with consumers in order to retain their business This is known as relationship

marketing Via his magazine institutes and touring Sandow attempted to cultivate furshyther his relationship with customers thereby increasing and demonstrating a cursory unshyderstanding o f brand loyalty103

O ne o f the major media Sandow utilized to maintain and strengthen relationships with his consumers was his Sandow Magazine Readersrsquo Club This club was a portion of Sandows magazine devoted to the testimonials o f readers Here readers would extol Sandow and his system The club also provided an arena where followers including women could publicize their achievements and seek praise from Sandow104 An explanation o f the club from Sandows M agazine follows

For the exchange of ideas personal experiences and photos for the encourageshyment of Club Members Readers are expected to act up to the Club Motto [T]he President will award to the sender of every published idea experience or photo the Club Fellowship Medal as a token that the rightful owner has earned the Fellowship of the Club105

However in some magazines a Club Fellowship Medal was awarded only to readers who submitted something worthy o f publication and provided the names and addresses o f fifty people the reader introduced to the magazine106

Sandow also titled a section o f his magazine H ints from Sandow Here it was advershy

tised that Sandow responded to questions from his readers concerning issues such as equipshyment night sweats and knock-knees Although responses were ldquofor the purpose o f comshy

ing into closer touch with [his] friends and readersrdquo space was limited and it was encouraged

to inquire about prescribed mail-order exercise courses107 This was another way Sandow

strengthened relations with his consumers and encouraged them to invest in his productsThese components of Sandows brand loyalty and publicity strategies apparently worked

as readers from Canada England India New Zealand Ireland Australia South Africa

Malta Hong Kong Japan Norway and Singapore wrote to him 108 In his book Strength and How to Obtain It Sandow even boasted that ldquoevery week many letters [reached him]

from the Coloniesmdash from India Canada Australia South Africamdash even from distant

Klondikerdquo109 W hen one interviewer inquired about the number o f pupils under his inshy

struction in 1904 Sandow replied that he had ldquoabout a millionrdquo110 Many o f these pupils became disciples and ldquospread the good newsrdquo regarding his products and exercise system

which aided in Sandows success1

Like savvy marketers in the twenty-first century Sandow also sought ways to involve

his customers personally in his efforts O ne means for this was his holding o f physical

culture competitions in his magazine These monthly competitions for both children and

adults required applicants to send one photograph o f himherself to the magazine Then

applicants were judged on their development and measurements and each months winshy

ner received a gold medal112 But these were not the only physical culture competitionspromoted by Sandow As mentioned in 1901 Sandowrsquos Great Competition was held to determine the United Kingdoms ldquoBest Developed M anrdquo The competition was the culmishy

nation o f a series o f local contests held in provinces throughout the UK during the three years before the final competition The top three place winners in each local contest were

eligible to compete in ldquoSandowrsquos Great Competitionrdquo The final contest held on Septemshyber 14 was a spectacle as 15000 people attended113 These competitions not only created

publicity they strengthened Sandows relationship with his consumers because o f the inshycreased interaction facilitated by them

Sandow attempted to increase his brand loyalty by touring the globe as well By the time he began his first tour in 1901 his brand was already established114 Thus he not

only increased his international presence by touring but actively participated in relationshy

ship marketing He strengthened relationships with his fans and followers by giving exhishybitions and lectures that were accessible to them and allowed for interaction on a personal level

Sandow toured internationally twice O n the North American continent he performed in Chicago San Francisco Boston New York St Louis Omaha Detroit Richmond and even select cities in Canada His tours also landed him in Australia New Zealand South Africa India Italy China Egypt and Japan115 At his exhibitions he would first pose and then perform his strength act After his performance he would promote physical

culture and health by lecturing on the importance of each He also discussed the anatomy of the human body using himself as a model6

His influence on the countries he visited attests to his success in increasing his brand loyalty and publicity For example a scrapbook clipping by Clarence Weber ascribes Sandow

the ldquocredit o f arousing deep interest in and demonstrating the possibilities o f scientific

exerciserdquo117 In New Zealand as historian Caroline Daley has shown people established Sandow schools physical culture contests were held and Sandows system was utilized in many ways after his tour118 O ne example o f his influence can be found in the fact that three years after Sandow visited New Zealand the All Black Rugby team had integrated his Sandows Developer in their exercise routine on their 1905 tour and some members were training with his dumbbell system119

India readily accepted Sandow as well His exhibitions drew thousands o f attendees

and interest in physical culture heightened after his visit120 Results o f his impact are demshyonstrated through individuals like Ram Murti Naidu who was also known as the Indian Sandow Murti was best known for supporting the weight o f a three-ton elephant on his stomach and being a vegetarian121 Professor KV Iyer was also inspired by Sandows presshyence in India He would go on to combine Indian and Western physical culture to create his own exercise system122

Other countries were impacted by Sandow as well albeit less than in New Zealand

Australia or England Evidence o f his influence is found in Egypt where a man named

Abd al-Halim al-Misri designated ldquoEgyptian Sandowrdquo by Wilson Chacko Jacob traveled to exhibit his body and his feats o f strength123 And outside Austin Texas the inhabitants o f the small town o f Freezeout voted to change its name to Sandow Texas to honor the great strongman124

Amongst the milieu o f general social movements and technological advancements of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries Eugen Sandow became a global pheshynomenon synonymous with exercise and health Sandow s legacy and impact on the world is impossible to deny O ne enthusiastic author from his era bloviated that Sandow was ldquothe

strongest man greatest physical culture authority and finest physical example o f the elecshytrical period who practically revived physical education which had become obscure after the fall o f the Roman Empirerdquo125 Although a strong assertion it nonetheless indicates the significance o f Sandows influence at the time That influence can still be felt today Acshycording to historian Jan Todd Sandow provided a lasting marketing and branding exshy

ample that a number o f physical culturists emulated in later years including Bernarr Macfadden Bob Hoffman Joe Weider and even Arnold Schwarzenegger126

Eugen Sandow was an extraordinary man His physique changed the way Victorian society viewed the body His propagation o f physical culture left lasting effects in scores of

countries including the United States Great Britain New Zealand and Australia His products and exercises helped ignite the iron game flame worldwide But Sandows legacy is not limited to these fields He muscled his way into the lives o f people who desired health youth and vigor through marketing techniques and strategies never before utilized

in physical culture and his example is emulated to this day Sandow was a self-made man with humble beginnings who became a physical culture mogul He was known for his incredible physique and gentlemanly standing He was an educator who enriched the lives o f others Perhaps then he actually was the perfect man

K e y w o r d s E u g e n Sa n d o w ph y sic a l c u l t u r e m a r k e t in g w e ig h t t r a in in g

T he story o f John L Sullivan is chronicled by Michael T Isenberg It provides evidence that Sullivan was the first American sport hero and sport celebrity Furthermore it provides evidence that he began branding himself in 1880 See Michael T Isenberg John L Sullivan a n d H is America (Urbana University

o f Illinois Press 1994) O ther sources that provide evidence for this assertion include Rick Knott ldquoJohn L Sullivan and the M yth o f the Self-Made M anrdquo paper presented at the annual meeting o f the North

American Society for Sport History London O ntario 2001 copy in possession o f author and Adam J Pollack JohnL Sullivan The Career o f the First Gloved Heavyweight Champion (Jefferson NC McFarland amp Company 2006)

2David L Chapm an Sandow the M agnificent Eugen Sandow and the Beginnings o f Bodybuilding 2nd

ed (Urbana University o f Illinois Press 2002)

3Kenneth D utton The Perfectible Body The Western Ideal o f M ale Physical Development (New York

C ontinuum International Publishing Group 1995) John F Kasson H oudini Tarzan and the Perfect M an The W hite M ale Body and the Challenge o f M odernity in America (New York Hill and Wang 2001)

Caroline Daley Leisure amp Pleasure Reshaping amp Revealing the N ew Zealand Body 1900-1960 (Auckland

Auckland University Press 2003) Ina Zweiniger-Bargielowska M anaging the Body Beauty Health and

Fitness in B ritain 1880-1939 (Oxford Oxford University Press 2010) David Waller The Perfect M an The M uscular L ife and Times o f Eugen Sandow Victorian Strongman (Brighton UK Victorian Secrets Limited 2011)

4Josh Buck ldquoSandow N o Folly with Ziegfeldrsquos First Glorificationrdquo Iron Game History The Journal o f Physical Culture 5 (1998) 29 -33 Caroline Daley ldquoThe Strongman o f Eugenics Eugen Sandowrdquo Australian H istorical Studies 33 (2002) 233-248 Scott Patrick ldquoBody-building and Empire-building George Douglas Brown the South African War and lsquoSandows Magazine o f Physical Culturersquordquo Victorian Periodicals Review 41 (2008) 78-94 Vike M artina Plock ldquoA Feat o f Strength in lsquoIthacarsquo Eugen Sandow and Physical Culture in Joyces Ulyssesrdquo Journal o f M odem Literature 30 (2006) 129-139 Ina Zweiniger- Bargielowska ldquoBuilding a British Superman Physical Culture in Interwar Britainrdquo Journal o f Contemposhy

rary History 41 (2006) 595-610 Jim Elledge ldquoEugen Sandowrsquos Gift to Gay M enrdquo Gay amp Lesbian Review Worldwide 18 (2011) 14-17 Ellery E Foutch ldquoArresting Beauty T he Perfectionist Impulse of Pealersquos Butterflies Headersquos Hummingbirds Blaschkas Flowers and Sandowrsquos Bodyrdquo (PhD diss Unishy

versity o f Pennsylvania 2011) Nicholas Turse ldquoPrometheus Unbound T he Technology o f Bodybuildshying in the Nervous Agerdquo Past Imperfect 8 (2008) lthttpejoumalslibraryualbertacaindexphppiar- ticleview l405gt [5 February 2013] Marianne Schultz ldquolsquoSons o f the Empirersquo Dance and the New

Zealand Malerdquo Dance Research 29 (2011) 19-42 David P Willoughby ldquoW hen Sandow Visited Califorshy

niardquo Pacific H istorian 15 (1971) 72-77 Carrie J Preston ldquoPosing Modernism Delsartism in Modern Dance and Silent Filmrdquo Theatre Joum al 6 1 (2009) 215-233 Kimberly Ayn Beckwith ldquoBuilding Strength Alan Calvert the Milo Bar-Bell Company and the Modernization o f American Weight Trainingrdquo (PhD diss University ofTexas at Austin 2006)

5lthttpw w w m arketingpow ercom C om m unity A R C PagesA dditionalH istory L iterature

Terminologyaspxgt [23 M arch 2011] Ralph Starr Butler Herbert Francis De Bower and John George

Jones M arketing M ethods a nd Salesmanship (New York Alexander Hamilton Institute 1914) Charles W ilson Hoyt Scientific Sales M anagement A Practical Application o f the Principles o f Scientific Manageshym ent to Selling (New Haven Conn GB Woolson amp Co 1918) Paul Terry Cherington Advertising As

a Business Force A Compilation o f Experience Records (New York Doubleday Page amp Co 1913) Chapman Sandow the M agnificent 12-14

6Foutch ldquoArresting Beautyrdquo 168

7Chapm an Sandow the M agnificent 1-32

Robert Ernst Weakness Is a Crime TheLifeofB em arrM acfadden (Syracuse NY Syracuse Univershysity Press 1991) Tom Peters ldquoThe Brand Called Yourdquo Fast Company 1997 lthttpwwwfestcompanycom

28905brand-called-yougt [3 March 2013] Ifan D H Shepherd ldquoFrom Cattle and Coke to Charlie

Then he dragged them to the police station ldquointo which he flung themrdquo Finally in an ending fit for a hero Sandow found the pawn-tickets o f his valuables and was able to

recover his stolen property73 O f course he also had another story he could use bolster his mythic persona

One o f the most notorious ways Sandow attempted to utilize the myth-making conshycept was through a wrestling match with a lion After a proposed fight between a bear and

a lion was halted by the Society for the Prevention o f Cruelty to Animals Ziegfeld Sandowrsquos manager at the time prompdy substituted Sandow for the bear However he also substishytuted an older more docile and possibly drugged lion for the original savage beast slated

to fight the bear The public was unaware of this change and the anticipation o f the bout was palpable Unfortunately for Sandow and the lion for that matter the match was one

sided To protect Sandow a muzzle and large gloves were secured to the supposedly savage beast before the fight During the first part o f the match the lion seemed dejected and the crowd began to sympathize with it Sensing this Sandow tried to antagonize it by dragshyging it and flinging it by the tail pulling its whiskers and even carrying it around the ring

on his back His efforts were to no avail Although Sandow later attempted to embellish

the tale to make his actions seem more admirable the bout held in San Francisco on May 2 2 1894 garnered negative reviews from newspapers and proved humiliating for Sandow74 This example o f glorification indicates that not all o f Sandowrsquos attempts were successful

Although discussed previously the use o f photographs glorified Sandow as well

Through lighting powder and different poses his muscularity could be accentuated

making him seem superhuman75 Furthermore his habit o f assuming poses reminiscent o f classical statuary such as the Farnese Hercules and the Dying Gaul provided direct links to the fin de sikles fascination with neo-classicism76 Sandow understood that pictures

ldquoverified [his] superhuman status and formed a crucial visual element o f [his] promoshytional campaignrdquo77

From a historical standpoint the significance o f Sandow branding himself cannot be overstated First Sancow shifted the primary focus of his performances from the strength o f his body to the look o f his body This was innovation in itself78 Second and more

importantly Sandow not only pushed the boundaries o f social acceptability but in the midst o f a conservative Victorian era he shifted social standards so that the body became a positive image79 Finally Sandowrsquos efforts at increasing his brand awareness resulted in his association with health strength fitness and perfection among tens o f thousands of readers80 These three elements caused him by 1903 to be the ldquohighest salaried vaudeville artist in the worldrdquomdash a fret that suggests Sandowrsquos branding campaign proved successshyful81

Exploiting the Built Brand

Having built his brand through his exhibitions and publicity Sandow next turned his attention to new forms o f marketing through brand extension Brand extensions are prodshyucts that vaunt an established brand name but in a different market category82 A modern example o f this is Sir Richard Bransonrsquos extension o f his brand ldquoVirginrdquomdash originally a record store and music labelmdash into the mobile phone and airline industries83 The first products Sandow sole were advice books on training and self-improvement He published

his first book Sandow on Physical Training A Study in the Perfect Type o f the H uman Form

in 1894 and followed with five more They include Strength and How to Obtain It (1897) The Gospel o f Strength According to Sandow (1902) Body-building or M an in the Making

How to Become Healthy and Strong (1904) The Construction and Reconstruction o f The

H uman Body A M anual o f the Therapeutics o f Exercise (1907) and Life Is Movement Or the Physical Reconstruction and Regeneration o f the People (1919)84 These books contain inforshy

mation about Sandowrsquos travels his honors and accomplishments how to exercise and train with resistance anatomy hygiene and even physical culture for women

As mentioned Sandow also started his own magazine in 1898 which was ultimately tided Sandows Magazinersquo This periodical aimed to satisfy the increasing interest in physical culture at the time and included articles such as ldquoHow to Keep in Condition in H ot

Weatherrdquo ldquoThe Strength and Symmetry o f M en Compared with Animalsrdquo ldquoSleeplessshy

nessrdquo and ldquoBacteria Germs N ot the Only Cause o f Diseaserdquo86 Although filled with physishycal culture information the magazine also covered topical events contained household

hints and had a ldquobreezy populist tonerdquo87 The magazine established Sandow as an ldquoexshypertrdquo on a variety o f matters A case could almost be made for including him as a pioneer

among lifestyle experts such as M artha Stewart who have successfully branded themshyselves88 Most importantly the books and magazines allowed him ldquofreerdquo advertising so that he could extend his brand to other products and entities bearing the Sandow name89

Included among these other extensions were Sandows Curative Institutes These inshy

stitutes were posited to be ldquoinvaluable to sufferers from Insomnia Neurotic Persons or those whose nervous system is run down all who desire a graceful carriage and symmetrishycal form those whose sedentary occupations have caused sluggish liver or constipation athletes in every branch o f Sportrdquo90 Catering to men and women Sandows schools proshyvided individual as well as group training sessions The equipment used consisted solely o f

dumbbells Sandow opened the first in this chain o f establishments at 32A St Jamesrsquos Street in London in 189791 As advertised by Sandow five more were establishedmdash one at each o f the following locations 115 A Ebury Street in London Brook House in Walbrook London EC 185 Tottenham Court Road London WC Oxford Street Manchester and 16 Colquitt Street Liverpool92 Finally he opened a more prestigious and luxurious College o f Physical Culture in Boston Massachusetts H e initially planned to establish

another in New York with Earle Liederman as a partner Those plans were not realized however due to Sandows death93 Despite the initial exponential growth o f membership in these Victorian equivalents o f health clubs none but his Institute on St James Street endured after World War I94 Nevertheless Sandowrsquos reputation and his club(s) were reshy

vered as their reputation o f achieving stellar results with exercise and dietary advice spread95

Sandow also extended his brand to exercise products Sandowrsquos Spring Grip D um bshybells was one o f these These were shaped like regular dumbbells but with a spring in the middle The user was to squeeze the dumbbell throughout the exercise routine in order to

facilitate concentration on the particular task Included were illustrated instructions for

the user to follow96 He even endorsed a polishing cloth for the dumbbells that was touted as ldquosuperior to chamois leatherrdquo97 O ther exercise products included the Sandowrsquos Develshyoper and Sandows Symmetrion The Symmetrion was essentially a Sandowrsquos Developer for women Like the Developer it consisted o f ldquoa combination o f rubber cords and dumbshy

bell attachmentsrdquo and was meant to be a versatile in-home exercise machine98 Eventually

Sandow advertised a mail-order health and exercise system that promised relief for suffershy

ers o f constipation liver troubles insomnia indigestion loss o f vigor and inadequate physical development99

Sandow even attempted to target children with one o f his brand extensions In 1913

he devised an exercise contraption that was actually a childrens doll that resembled acheerful sailor The arms and legs o f the doll could be manipulated by the user but not w ithout a certain degree o f resistance provided by pulleys inside the machine Once the

arms and legs were maneuvered enough a piece o f candy was rewarded and transferred via the mouth o f the doll However possibly because o f the complexity o f the doll or the

contradiction o f providing candy as a reward for exercising Sandow was unable to secure funding for the product100

O ther miscellaneous health products also boasted the Sandow name For example Sandows equivalent o f the modern athletic rub known as Bengay was his Sandows Conshycentrated Embrocation This was a liniment promoted to ensure strong supple muscles

Advertisements for this product asserted that ldquoregular use o f this Embrocation [brought] and [kept] the muscles in perfect condition [relieved] muscular stiffness and [healed]

sprains strains bruises or injured jointsrdquo101 Another Sandow product was his Sandows Patent Health and Perfect Figure Corset Makers o f the corset claimed it allowed freedom and movement yet retained a hygienic design Though other health conscious corsets had

flooded the market by that time his carried the Sandow name Sandow also extended his brand to include Sandows Health and Strength Cocoa The drink was advertised as being pure and o f high food value However it proved more problematic than profitable due to connections with Germany during World War I and competition from rival firms It also caused him great financial stress when the company became insolvent102

No matter how many products Sandow created he understood that success could not be achieved if consumers purchased only one It was necessary for him to nurture the bonds with consumers in order to retain their business This is known as relationship

marketing Via his magazine institutes and touring Sandow attempted to cultivate furshyther his relationship with customers thereby increasing and demonstrating a cursory unshyderstanding o f brand loyalty103

O ne o f the major media Sandow utilized to maintain and strengthen relationships with his consumers was his Sandow Magazine Readersrsquo Club This club was a portion of Sandows magazine devoted to the testimonials o f readers Here readers would extol Sandow and his system The club also provided an arena where followers including women could publicize their achievements and seek praise from Sandow104 An explanation o f the club from Sandows M agazine follows

For the exchange of ideas personal experiences and photos for the encourageshyment of Club Members Readers are expected to act up to the Club Motto [T]he President will award to the sender of every published idea experience or photo the Club Fellowship Medal as a token that the rightful owner has earned the Fellowship of the Club105

However in some magazines a Club Fellowship Medal was awarded only to readers who submitted something worthy o f publication and provided the names and addresses o f fifty people the reader introduced to the magazine106

Sandow also titled a section o f his magazine H ints from Sandow Here it was advershy

tised that Sandow responded to questions from his readers concerning issues such as equipshyment night sweats and knock-knees Although responses were ldquofor the purpose o f comshy

ing into closer touch with [his] friends and readersrdquo space was limited and it was encouraged

to inquire about prescribed mail-order exercise courses107 This was another way Sandow

strengthened relations with his consumers and encouraged them to invest in his productsThese components of Sandows brand loyalty and publicity strategies apparently worked

as readers from Canada England India New Zealand Ireland Australia South Africa

Malta Hong Kong Japan Norway and Singapore wrote to him 108 In his book Strength and How to Obtain It Sandow even boasted that ldquoevery week many letters [reached him]

from the Coloniesmdash from India Canada Australia South Africamdash even from distant

Klondikerdquo109 W hen one interviewer inquired about the number o f pupils under his inshy

struction in 1904 Sandow replied that he had ldquoabout a millionrdquo110 Many o f these pupils became disciples and ldquospread the good newsrdquo regarding his products and exercise system

which aided in Sandows success1

Like savvy marketers in the twenty-first century Sandow also sought ways to involve

his customers personally in his efforts O ne means for this was his holding o f physical

culture competitions in his magazine These monthly competitions for both children and

adults required applicants to send one photograph o f himherself to the magazine Then

applicants were judged on their development and measurements and each months winshy

ner received a gold medal112 But these were not the only physical culture competitionspromoted by Sandow As mentioned in 1901 Sandowrsquos Great Competition was held to determine the United Kingdoms ldquoBest Developed M anrdquo The competition was the culmishy

nation o f a series o f local contests held in provinces throughout the UK during the three years before the final competition The top three place winners in each local contest were

eligible to compete in ldquoSandowrsquos Great Competitionrdquo The final contest held on Septemshyber 14 was a spectacle as 15000 people attended113 These competitions not only created

publicity they strengthened Sandows relationship with his consumers because o f the inshycreased interaction facilitated by them

Sandow attempted to increase his brand loyalty by touring the globe as well By the time he began his first tour in 1901 his brand was already established114 Thus he not

only increased his international presence by touring but actively participated in relationshy

ship marketing He strengthened relationships with his fans and followers by giving exhishybitions and lectures that were accessible to them and allowed for interaction on a personal level

Sandow toured internationally twice O n the North American continent he performed in Chicago San Francisco Boston New York St Louis Omaha Detroit Richmond and even select cities in Canada His tours also landed him in Australia New Zealand South Africa India Italy China Egypt and Japan115 At his exhibitions he would first pose and then perform his strength act After his performance he would promote physical

culture and health by lecturing on the importance of each He also discussed the anatomy of the human body using himself as a model6

His influence on the countries he visited attests to his success in increasing his brand loyalty and publicity For example a scrapbook clipping by Clarence Weber ascribes Sandow

the ldquocredit o f arousing deep interest in and demonstrating the possibilities o f scientific

exerciserdquo117 In New Zealand as historian Caroline Daley has shown people established Sandow schools physical culture contests were held and Sandows system was utilized in many ways after his tour118 O ne example o f his influence can be found in the fact that three years after Sandow visited New Zealand the All Black Rugby team had integrated his Sandows Developer in their exercise routine on their 1905 tour and some members were training with his dumbbell system119

India readily accepted Sandow as well His exhibitions drew thousands o f attendees

and interest in physical culture heightened after his visit120 Results o f his impact are demshyonstrated through individuals like Ram Murti Naidu who was also known as the Indian Sandow Murti was best known for supporting the weight o f a three-ton elephant on his stomach and being a vegetarian121 Professor KV Iyer was also inspired by Sandows presshyence in India He would go on to combine Indian and Western physical culture to create his own exercise system122

Other countries were impacted by Sandow as well albeit less than in New Zealand

Australia or England Evidence o f his influence is found in Egypt where a man named

Abd al-Halim al-Misri designated ldquoEgyptian Sandowrdquo by Wilson Chacko Jacob traveled to exhibit his body and his feats o f strength123 And outside Austin Texas the inhabitants o f the small town o f Freezeout voted to change its name to Sandow Texas to honor the great strongman124

Amongst the milieu o f general social movements and technological advancements of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries Eugen Sandow became a global pheshynomenon synonymous with exercise and health Sandow s legacy and impact on the world is impossible to deny O ne enthusiastic author from his era bloviated that Sandow was ldquothe

strongest man greatest physical culture authority and finest physical example o f the elecshytrical period who practically revived physical education which had become obscure after the fall o f the Roman Empirerdquo125 Although a strong assertion it nonetheless indicates the significance o f Sandows influence at the time That influence can still be felt today Acshycording to historian Jan Todd Sandow provided a lasting marketing and branding exshy

ample that a number o f physical culturists emulated in later years including Bernarr Macfadden Bob Hoffman Joe Weider and even Arnold Schwarzenegger126

Eugen Sandow was an extraordinary man His physique changed the way Victorian society viewed the body His propagation o f physical culture left lasting effects in scores of

countries including the United States Great Britain New Zealand and Australia His products and exercises helped ignite the iron game flame worldwide But Sandows legacy is not limited to these fields He muscled his way into the lives o f people who desired health youth and vigor through marketing techniques and strategies never before utilized

in physical culture and his example is emulated to this day Sandow was a self-made man with humble beginnings who became a physical culture mogul He was known for his incredible physique and gentlemanly standing He was an educator who enriched the lives o f others Perhaps then he actually was the perfect man

K e y w o r d s E u g e n Sa n d o w ph y sic a l c u l t u r e m a r k e t in g w e ig h t t r a in in g

T he story o f John L Sullivan is chronicled by Michael T Isenberg It provides evidence that Sullivan was the first American sport hero and sport celebrity Furthermore it provides evidence that he began branding himself in 1880 See Michael T Isenberg John L Sullivan a n d H is America (Urbana University

o f Illinois Press 1994) O ther sources that provide evidence for this assertion include Rick Knott ldquoJohn L Sullivan and the M yth o f the Self-Made M anrdquo paper presented at the annual meeting o f the North

American Society for Sport History London O ntario 2001 copy in possession o f author and Adam J Pollack JohnL Sullivan The Career o f the First Gloved Heavyweight Champion (Jefferson NC McFarland amp Company 2006)

2David L Chapm an Sandow the M agnificent Eugen Sandow and the Beginnings o f Bodybuilding 2nd

ed (Urbana University o f Illinois Press 2002)

3Kenneth D utton The Perfectible Body The Western Ideal o f M ale Physical Development (New York

C ontinuum International Publishing Group 1995) John F Kasson H oudini Tarzan and the Perfect M an The W hite M ale Body and the Challenge o f M odernity in America (New York Hill and Wang 2001)

Caroline Daley Leisure amp Pleasure Reshaping amp Revealing the N ew Zealand Body 1900-1960 (Auckland

Auckland University Press 2003) Ina Zweiniger-Bargielowska M anaging the Body Beauty Health and

Fitness in B ritain 1880-1939 (Oxford Oxford University Press 2010) David Waller The Perfect M an The M uscular L ife and Times o f Eugen Sandow Victorian Strongman (Brighton UK Victorian Secrets Limited 2011)

4Josh Buck ldquoSandow N o Folly with Ziegfeldrsquos First Glorificationrdquo Iron Game History The Journal o f Physical Culture 5 (1998) 29 -33 Caroline Daley ldquoThe Strongman o f Eugenics Eugen Sandowrdquo Australian H istorical Studies 33 (2002) 233-248 Scott Patrick ldquoBody-building and Empire-building George Douglas Brown the South African War and lsquoSandows Magazine o f Physical Culturersquordquo Victorian Periodicals Review 41 (2008) 78-94 Vike M artina Plock ldquoA Feat o f Strength in lsquoIthacarsquo Eugen Sandow and Physical Culture in Joyces Ulyssesrdquo Journal o f M odem Literature 30 (2006) 129-139 Ina Zweiniger- Bargielowska ldquoBuilding a British Superman Physical Culture in Interwar Britainrdquo Journal o f Contemposhy

rary History 41 (2006) 595-610 Jim Elledge ldquoEugen Sandowrsquos Gift to Gay M enrdquo Gay amp Lesbian Review Worldwide 18 (2011) 14-17 Ellery E Foutch ldquoArresting Beauty T he Perfectionist Impulse of Pealersquos Butterflies Headersquos Hummingbirds Blaschkas Flowers and Sandowrsquos Bodyrdquo (PhD diss Unishy

versity o f Pennsylvania 2011) Nicholas Turse ldquoPrometheus Unbound T he Technology o f Bodybuildshying in the Nervous Agerdquo Past Imperfect 8 (2008) lthttpejoumalslibraryualbertacaindexphppiar- ticleview l405gt [5 February 2013] Marianne Schultz ldquolsquoSons o f the Empirersquo Dance and the New

Zealand Malerdquo Dance Research 29 (2011) 19-42 David P Willoughby ldquoW hen Sandow Visited Califorshy

niardquo Pacific H istorian 15 (1971) 72-77 Carrie J Preston ldquoPosing Modernism Delsartism in Modern Dance and Silent Filmrdquo Theatre Joum al 6 1 (2009) 215-233 Kimberly Ayn Beckwith ldquoBuilding Strength Alan Calvert the Milo Bar-Bell Company and the Modernization o f American Weight Trainingrdquo (PhD diss University ofTexas at Austin 2006)

5lthttpw w w m arketingpow ercom C om m unity A R C PagesA dditionalH istory L iterature

Terminologyaspxgt [23 M arch 2011] Ralph Starr Butler Herbert Francis De Bower and John George

Jones M arketing M ethods a nd Salesmanship (New York Alexander Hamilton Institute 1914) Charles W ilson Hoyt Scientific Sales M anagement A Practical Application o f the Principles o f Scientific Manageshym ent to Selling (New Haven Conn GB Woolson amp Co 1918) Paul Terry Cherington Advertising As

a Business Force A Compilation o f Experience Records (New York Doubleday Page amp Co 1913) Chapman Sandow the M agnificent 12-14

6Foutch ldquoArresting Beautyrdquo 168

7Chapm an Sandow the M agnificent 1-32

Robert Ernst Weakness Is a Crime TheLifeofB em arrM acfadden (Syracuse NY Syracuse Univershysity Press 1991) Tom Peters ldquoThe Brand Called Yourdquo Fast Company 1997 lthttpwwwfestcompanycom

28905brand-called-yougt [3 March 2013] Ifan D H Shepherd ldquoFrom Cattle and Coke to Charlie

his first book Sandow on Physical Training A Study in the Perfect Type o f the H uman Form

in 1894 and followed with five more They include Strength and How to Obtain It (1897) The Gospel o f Strength According to Sandow (1902) Body-building or M an in the Making

How to Become Healthy and Strong (1904) The Construction and Reconstruction o f The

H uman Body A M anual o f the Therapeutics o f Exercise (1907) and Life Is Movement Or the Physical Reconstruction and Regeneration o f the People (1919)84 These books contain inforshy

mation about Sandowrsquos travels his honors and accomplishments how to exercise and train with resistance anatomy hygiene and even physical culture for women

As mentioned Sandow also started his own magazine in 1898 which was ultimately tided Sandows Magazinersquo This periodical aimed to satisfy the increasing interest in physical culture at the time and included articles such as ldquoHow to Keep in Condition in H ot

Weatherrdquo ldquoThe Strength and Symmetry o f M en Compared with Animalsrdquo ldquoSleeplessshy

nessrdquo and ldquoBacteria Germs N ot the Only Cause o f Diseaserdquo86 Although filled with physishycal culture information the magazine also covered topical events contained household

hints and had a ldquobreezy populist tonerdquo87 The magazine established Sandow as an ldquoexshypertrdquo on a variety o f matters A case could almost be made for including him as a pioneer

among lifestyle experts such as M artha Stewart who have successfully branded themshyselves88 Most importantly the books and magazines allowed him ldquofreerdquo advertising so that he could extend his brand to other products and entities bearing the Sandow name89

Included among these other extensions were Sandows Curative Institutes These inshy

stitutes were posited to be ldquoinvaluable to sufferers from Insomnia Neurotic Persons or those whose nervous system is run down all who desire a graceful carriage and symmetrishycal form those whose sedentary occupations have caused sluggish liver or constipation athletes in every branch o f Sportrdquo90 Catering to men and women Sandows schools proshyvided individual as well as group training sessions The equipment used consisted solely o f

dumbbells Sandow opened the first in this chain o f establishments at 32A St Jamesrsquos Street in London in 189791 As advertised by Sandow five more were establishedmdash one at each o f the following locations 115 A Ebury Street in London Brook House in Walbrook London EC 185 Tottenham Court Road London WC Oxford Street Manchester and 16 Colquitt Street Liverpool92 Finally he opened a more prestigious and luxurious College o f Physical Culture in Boston Massachusetts H e initially planned to establish

another in New York with Earle Liederman as a partner Those plans were not realized however due to Sandows death93 Despite the initial exponential growth o f membership in these Victorian equivalents o f health clubs none but his Institute on St James Street endured after World War I94 Nevertheless Sandowrsquos reputation and his club(s) were reshy

vered as their reputation o f achieving stellar results with exercise and dietary advice spread95

Sandow also extended his brand to exercise products Sandowrsquos Spring Grip D um bshybells was one o f these These were shaped like regular dumbbells but with a spring in the middle The user was to squeeze the dumbbell throughout the exercise routine in order to

facilitate concentration on the particular task Included were illustrated instructions for

the user to follow96 He even endorsed a polishing cloth for the dumbbells that was touted as ldquosuperior to chamois leatherrdquo97 O ther exercise products included the Sandowrsquos Develshyoper and Sandows Symmetrion The Symmetrion was essentially a Sandowrsquos Developer for women Like the Developer it consisted o f ldquoa combination o f rubber cords and dumbshy

bell attachmentsrdquo and was meant to be a versatile in-home exercise machine98 Eventually

Sandow advertised a mail-order health and exercise system that promised relief for suffershy

ers o f constipation liver troubles insomnia indigestion loss o f vigor and inadequate physical development99

Sandow even attempted to target children with one o f his brand extensions In 1913

he devised an exercise contraption that was actually a childrens doll that resembled acheerful sailor The arms and legs o f the doll could be manipulated by the user but not w ithout a certain degree o f resistance provided by pulleys inside the machine Once the

arms and legs were maneuvered enough a piece o f candy was rewarded and transferred via the mouth o f the doll However possibly because o f the complexity o f the doll or the

contradiction o f providing candy as a reward for exercising Sandow was unable to secure funding for the product100

O ther miscellaneous health products also boasted the Sandow name For example Sandows equivalent o f the modern athletic rub known as Bengay was his Sandows Conshycentrated Embrocation This was a liniment promoted to ensure strong supple muscles

Advertisements for this product asserted that ldquoregular use o f this Embrocation [brought] and [kept] the muscles in perfect condition [relieved] muscular stiffness and [healed]

sprains strains bruises or injured jointsrdquo101 Another Sandow product was his Sandows Patent Health and Perfect Figure Corset Makers o f the corset claimed it allowed freedom and movement yet retained a hygienic design Though other health conscious corsets had

flooded the market by that time his carried the Sandow name Sandow also extended his brand to include Sandows Health and Strength Cocoa The drink was advertised as being pure and o f high food value However it proved more problematic than profitable due to connections with Germany during World War I and competition from rival firms It also caused him great financial stress when the company became insolvent102

No matter how many products Sandow created he understood that success could not be achieved if consumers purchased only one It was necessary for him to nurture the bonds with consumers in order to retain their business This is known as relationship

marketing Via his magazine institutes and touring Sandow attempted to cultivate furshyther his relationship with customers thereby increasing and demonstrating a cursory unshyderstanding o f brand loyalty103

O ne o f the major media Sandow utilized to maintain and strengthen relationships with his consumers was his Sandow Magazine Readersrsquo Club This club was a portion of Sandows magazine devoted to the testimonials o f readers Here readers would extol Sandow and his system The club also provided an arena where followers including women could publicize their achievements and seek praise from Sandow104 An explanation o f the club from Sandows M agazine follows

For the exchange of ideas personal experiences and photos for the encourageshyment of Club Members Readers are expected to act up to the Club Motto [T]he President will award to the sender of every published idea experience or photo the Club Fellowship Medal as a token that the rightful owner has earned the Fellowship of the Club105

However in some magazines a Club Fellowship Medal was awarded only to readers who submitted something worthy o f publication and provided the names and addresses o f fifty people the reader introduced to the magazine106

Sandow also titled a section o f his magazine H ints from Sandow Here it was advershy

tised that Sandow responded to questions from his readers concerning issues such as equipshyment night sweats and knock-knees Although responses were ldquofor the purpose o f comshy

ing into closer touch with [his] friends and readersrdquo space was limited and it was encouraged

to inquire about prescribed mail-order exercise courses107 This was another way Sandow

strengthened relations with his consumers and encouraged them to invest in his productsThese components of Sandows brand loyalty and publicity strategies apparently worked

as readers from Canada England India New Zealand Ireland Australia South Africa

Malta Hong Kong Japan Norway and Singapore wrote to him 108 In his book Strength and How to Obtain It Sandow even boasted that ldquoevery week many letters [reached him]

from the Coloniesmdash from India Canada Australia South Africamdash even from distant

Klondikerdquo109 W hen one interviewer inquired about the number o f pupils under his inshy

struction in 1904 Sandow replied that he had ldquoabout a millionrdquo110 Many o f these pupils became disciples and ldquospread the good newsrdquo regarding his products and exercise system

which aided in Sandows success1

Like savvy marketers in the twenty-first century Sandow also sought ways to involve

his customers personally in his efforts O ne means for this was his holding o f physical

culture competitions in his magazine These monthly competitions for both children and

adults required applicants to send one photograph o f himherself to the magazine Then

applicants were judged on their development and measurements and each months winshy

ner received a gold medal112 But these were not the only physical culture competitionspromoted by Sandow As mentioned in 1901 Sandowrsquos Great Competition was held to determine the United Kingdoms ldquoBest Developed M anrdquo The competition was the culmishy

nation o f a series o f local contests held in provinces throughout the UK during the three years before the final competition The top three place winners in each local contest were

eligible to compete in ldquoSandowrsquos Great Competitionrdquo The final contest held on Septemshyber 14 was a spectacle as 15000 people attended113 These competitions not only created

publicity they strengthened Sandows relationship with his consumers because o f the inshycreased interaction facilitated by them

Sandow attempted to increase his brand loyalty by touring the globe as well By the time he began his first tour in 1901 his brand was already established114 Thus he not

only increased his international presence by touring but actively participated in relationshy

ship marketing He strengthened relationships with his fans and followers by giving exhishybitions and lectures that were accessible to them and allowed for interaction on a personal level

Sandow toured internationally twice O n the North American continent he performed in Chicago San Francisco Boston New York St Louis Omaha Detroit Richmond and even select cities in Canada His tours also landed him in Australia New Zealand South Africa India Italy China Egypt and Japan115 At his exhibitions he would first pose and then perform his strength act After his performance he would promote physical

culture and health by lecturing on the importance of each He also discussed the anatomy of the human body using himself as a model6

His influence on the countries he visited attests to his success in increasing his brand loyalty and publicity For example a scrapbook clipping by Clarence Weber ascribes Sandow

the ldquocredit o f arousing deep interest in and demonstrating the possibilities o f scientific

exerciserdquo117 In New Zealand as historian Caroline Daley has shown people established Sandow schools physical culture contests were held and Sandows system was utilized in many ways after his tour118 O ne example o f his influence can be found in the fact that three years after Sandow visited New Zealand the All Black Rugby team had integrated his Sandows Developer in their exercise routine on their 1905 tour and some members were training with his dumbbell system119

India readily accepted Sandow as well His exhibitions drew thousands o f attendees

and interest in physical culture heightened after his visit120 Results o f his impact are demshyonstrated through individuals like Ram Murti Naidu who was also known as the Indian Sandow Murti was best known for supporting the weight o f a three-ton elephant on his stomach and being a vegetarian121 Professor KV Iyer was also inspired by Sandows presshyence in India He would go on to combine Indian and Western physical culture to create his own exercise system122

Other countries were impacted by Sandow as well albeit less than in New Zealand

Australia or England Evidence o f his influence is found in Egypt where a man named

Abd al-Halim al-Misri designated ldquoEgyptian Sandowrdquo by Wilson Chacko Jacob traveled to exhibit his body and his feats o f strength123 And outside Austin Texas the inhabitants o f the small town o f Freezeout voted to change its name to Sandow Texas to honor the great strongman124

Amongst the milieu o f general social movements and technological advancements of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries Eugen Sandow became a global pheshynomenon synonymous with exercise and health Sandow s legacy and impact on the world is impossible to deny O ne enthusiastic author from his era bloviated that Sandow was ldquothe

strongest man greatest physical culture authority and finest physical example o f the elecshytrical period who practically revived physical education which had become obscure after the fall o f the Roman Empirerdquo125 Although a strong assertion it nonetheless indicates the significance o f Sandows influence at the time That influence can still be felt today Acshycording to historian Jan Todd Sandow provided a lasting marketing and branding exshy

ample that a number o f physical culturists emulated in later years including Bernarr Macfadden Bob Hoffman Joe Weider and even Arnold Schwarzenegger126

Eugen Sandow was an extraordinary man His physique changed the way Victorian society viewed the body His propagation o f physical culture left lasting effects in scores of

countries including the United States Great Britain New Zealand and Australia His products and exercises helped ignite the iron game flame worldwide But Sandows legacy is not limited to these fields He muscled his way into the lives o f people who desired health youth and vigor through marketing techniques and strategies never before utilized

in physical culture and his example is emulated to this day Sandow was a self-made man with humble beginnings who became a physical culture mogul He was known for his incredible physique and gentlemanly standing He was an educator who enriched the lives o f others Perhaps then he actually was the perfect man

K e y w o r d s E u g e n Sa n d o w ph y sic a l c u l t u r e m a r k e t in g w e ig h t t r a in in g

T he story o f John L Sullivan is chronicled by Michael T Isenberg It provides evidence that Sullivan was the first American sport hero and sport celebrity Furthermore it provides evidence that he began branding himself in 1880 See Michael T Isenberg John L Sullivan a n d H is America (Urbana University

o f Illinois Press 1994) O ther sources that provide evidence for this assertion include Rick Knott ldquoJohn L Sullivan and the M yth o f the Self-Made M anrdquo paper presented at the annual meeting o f the North

American Society for Sport History London O ntario 2001 copy in possession o f author and Adam J Pollack JohnL Sullivan The Career o f the First Gloved Heavyweight Champion (Jefferson NC McFarland amp Company 2006)

2David L Chapm an Sandow the M agnificent Eugen Sandow and the Beginnings o f Bodybuilding 2nd

ed (Urbana University o f Illinois Press 2002)

3Kenneth D utton The Perfectible Body The Western Ideal o f M ale Physical Development (New York

C ontinuum International Publishing Group 1995) John F Kasson H oudini Tarzan and the Perfect M an The W hite M ale Body and the Challenge o f M odernity in America (New York Hill and Wang 2001)

Caroline Daley Leisure amp Pleasure Reshaping amp Revealing the N ew Zealand Body 1900-1960 (Auckland

Auckland University Press 2003) Ina Zweiniger-Bargielowska M anaging the Body Beauty Health and

Fitness in B ritain 1880-1939 (Oxford Oxford University Press 2010) David Waller The Perfect M an The M uscular L ife and Times o f Eugen Sandow Victorian Strongman (Brighton UK Victorian Secrets Limited 2011)

4Josh Buck ldquoSandow N o Folly with Ziegfeldrsquos First Glorificationrdquo Iron Game History The Journal o f Physical Culture 5 (1998) 29 -33 Caroline Daley ldquoThe Strongman o f Eugenics Eugen Sandowrdquo Australian H istorical Studies 33 (2002) 233-248 Scott Patrick ldquoBody-building and Empire-building George Douglas Brown the South African War and lsquoSandows Magazine o f Physical Culturersquordquo Victorian Periodicals Review 41 (2008) 78-94 Vike M artina Plock ldquoA Feat o f Strength in lsquoIthacarsquo Eugen Sandow and Physical Culture in Joyces Ulyssesrdquo Journal o f M odem Literature 30 (2006) 129-139 Ina Zweiniger- Bargielowska ldquoBuilding a British Superman Physical Culture in Interwar Britainrdquo Journal o f Contemposhy

rary History 41 (2006) 595-610 Jim Elledge ldquoEugen Sandowrsquos Gift to Gay M enrdquo Gay amp Lesbian Review Worldwide 18 (2011) 14-17 Ellery E Foutch ldquoArresting Beauty T he Perfectionist Impulse of Pealersquos Butterflies Headersquos Hummingbirds Blaschkas Flowers and Sandowrsquos Bodyrdquo (PhD diss Unishy

versity o f Pennsylvania 2011) Nicholas Turse ldquoPrometheus Unbound T he Technology o f Bodybuildshying in the Nervous Agerdquo Past Imperfect 8 (2008) lthttpejoumalslibraryualbertacaindexphppiar- ticleview l405gt [5 February 2013] Marianne Schultz ldquolsquoSons o f the Empirersquo Dance and the New

Zealand Malerdquo Dance Research 29 (2011) 19-42 David P Willoughby ldquoW hen Sandow Visited Califorshy

niardquo Pacific H istorian 15 (1971) 72-77 Carrie J Preston ldquoPosing Modernism Delsartism in Modern Dance and Silent Filmrdquo Theatre Joum al 6 1 (2009) 215-233 Kimberly Ayn Beckwith ldquoBuilding Strength Alan Calvert the Milo Bar-Bell Company and the Modernization o f American Weight Trainingrdquo (PhD diss University ofTexas at Austin 2006)

5lthttpw w w m arketingpow ercom C om m unity A R C PagesA dditionalH istory L iterature

Terminologyaspxgt [23 M arch 2011] Ralph Starr Butler Herbert Francis De Bower and John George

Jones M arketing M ethods a nd Salesmanship (New York Alexander Hamilton Institute 1914) Charles W ilson Hoyt Scientific Sales M anagement A Practical Application o f the Principles o f Scientific Manageshym ent to Selling (New Haven Conn GB Woolson amp Co 1918) Paul Terry Cherington Advertising As

a Business Force A Compilation o f Experience Records (New York Doubleday Page amp Co 1913) Chapman Sandow the M agnificent 12-14

6Foutch ldquoArresting Beautyrdquo 168

7Chapm an Sandow the M agnificent 1-32

Robert Ernst Weakness Is a Crime TheLifeofB em arrM acfadden (Syracuse NY Syracuse Univershysity Press 1991) Tom Peters ldquoThe Brand Called Yourdquo Fast Company 1997 lthttpwwwfestcompanycom

28905brand-called-yougt [3 March 2013] Ifan D H Shepherd ldquoFrom Cattle and Coke to Charlie

bell attachmentsrdquo and was meant to be a versatile in-home exercise machine98 Eventually

Sandow advertised a mail-order health and exercise system that promised relief for suffershy

ers o f constipation liver troubles insomnia indigestion loss o f vigor and inadequate physical development99

Sandow even attempted to target children with one o f his brand extensions In 1913

he devised an exercise contraption that was actually a childrens doll that resembled acheerful sailor The arms and legs o f the doll could be manipulated by the user but not w ithout a certain degree o f resistance provided by pulleys inside the machine Once the

arms and legs were maneuvered enough a piece o f candy was rewarded and transferred via the mouth o f the doll However possibly because o f the complexity o f the doll or the

contradiction o f providing candy as a reward for exercising Sandow was unable to secure funding for the product100

O ther miscellaneous health products also boasted the Sandow name For example Sandows equivalent o f the modern athletic rub known as Bengay was his Sandows Conshycentrated Embrocation This was a liniment promoted to ensure strong supple muscles

Advertisements for this product asserted that ldquoregular use o f this Embrocation [brought] and [kept] the muscles in perfect condition [relieved] muscular stiffness and [healed]

sprains strains bruises or injured jointsrdquo101 Another Sandow product was his Sandows Patent Health and Perfect Figure Corset Makers o f the corset claimed it allowed freedom and movement yet retained a hygienic design Though other health conscious corsets had

flooded the market by that time his carried the Sandow name Sandow also extended his brand to include Sandows Health and Strength Cocoa The drink was advertised as being pure and o f high food value However it proved more problematic than profitable due to connections with Germany during World War I and competition from rival firms It also caused him great financial stress when the company became insolvent102

No matter how many products Sandow created he understood that success could not be achieved if consumers purchased only one It was necessary for him to nurture the bonds with consumers in order to retain their business This is known as relationship

marketing Via his magazine institutes and touring Sandow attempted to cultivate furshyther his relationship with customers thereby increasing and demonstrating a cursory unshyderstanding o f brand loyalty103

O ne o f the major media Sandow utilized to maintain and strengthen relationships with his consumers was his Sandow Magazine Readersrsquo Club This club was a portion of Sandows magazine devoted to the testimonials o f readers Here readers would extol Sandow and his system The club also provided an arena where followers including women could publicize their achievements and seek praise from Sandow104 An explanation o f the club from Sandows M agazine follows

For the exchange of ideas personal experiences and photos for the encourageshyment of Club Members Readers are expected to act up to the Club Motto [T]he President will award to the sender of every published idea experience or photo the Club Fellowship Medal as a token that the rightful owner has earned the Fellowship of the Club105

However in some magazines a Club Fellowship Medal was awarded only to readers who submitted something worthy o f publication and provided the names and addresses o f fifty people the reader introduced to the magazine106

Sandow also titled a section o f his magazine H ints from Sandow Here it was advershy

tised that Sandow responded to questions from his readers concerning issues such as equipshyment night sweats and knock-knees Although responses were ldquofor the purpose o f comshy

ing into closer touch with [his] friends and readersrdquo space was limited and it was encouraged

to inquire about prescribed mail-order exercise courses107 This was another way Sandow

strengthened relations with his consumers and encouraged them to invest in his productsThese components of Sandows brand loyalty and publicity strategies apparently worked

as readers from Canada England India New Zealand Ireland Australia South Africa

Malta Hong Kong Japan Norway and Singapore wrote to him 108 In his book Strength and How to Obtain It Sandow even boasted that ldquoevery week many letters [reached him]

from the Coloniesmdash from India Canada Australia South Africamdash even from distant

Klondikerdquo109 W hen one interviewer inquired about the number o f pupils under his inshy

struction in 1904 Sandow replied that he had ldquoabout a millionrdquo110 Many o f these pupils became disciples and ldquospread the good newsrdquo regarding his products and exercise system

which aided in Sandows success1

Like savvy marketers in the twenty-first century Sandow also sought ways to involve

his customers personally in his efforts O ne means for this was his holding o f physical

culture competitions in his magazine These monthly competitions for both children and

adults required applicants to send one photograph o f himherself to the magazine Then

applicants were judged on their development and measurements and each months winshy

ner received a gold medal112 But these were not the only physical culture competitionspromoted by Sandow As mentioned in 1901 Sandowrsquos Great Competition was held to determine the United Kingdoms ldquoBest Developed M anrdquo The competition was the culmishy

nation o f a series o f local contests held in provinces throughout the UK during the three years before the final competition The top three place winners in each local contest were

eligible to compete in ldquoSandowrsquos Great Competitionrdquo The final contest held on Septemshyber 14 was a spectacle as 15000 people attended113 These competitions not only created

publicity they strengthened Sandows relationship with his consumers because o f the inshycreased interaction facilitated by them

Sandow attempted to increase his brand loyalty by touring the globe as well By the time he began his first tour in 1901 his brand was already established114 Thus he not

only increased his international presence by touring but actively participated in relationshy

ship marketing He strengthened relationships with his fans and followers by giving exhishybitions and lectures that were accessible to them and allowed for interaction on a personal level

Sandow toured internationally twice O n the North American continent he performed in Chicago San Francisco Boston New York St Louis Omaha Detroit Richmond and even select cities in Canada His tours also landed him in Australia New Zealand South Africa India Italy China Egypt and Japan115 At his exhibitions he would first pose and then perform his strength act After his performance he would promote physical

culture and health by lecturing on the importance of each He also discussed the anatomy of the human body using himself as a model6

His influence on the countries he visited attests to his success in increasing his brand loyalty and publicity For example a scrapbook clipping by Clarence Weber ascribes Sandow

the ldquocredit o f arousing deep interest in and demonstrating the possibilities o f scientific

exerciserdquo117 In New Zealand as historian Caroline Daley has shown people established Sandow schools physical culture contests were held and Sandows system was utilized in many ways after his tour118 O ne example o f his influence can be found in the fact that three years after Sandow visited New Zealand the All Black Rugby team had integrated his Sandows Developer in their exercise routine on their 1905 tour and some members were training with his dumbbell system119

India readily accepted Sandow as well His exhibitions drew thousands o f attendees

and interest in physical culture heightened after his visit120 Results o f his impact are demshyonstrated through individuals like Ram Murti Naidu who was also known as the Indian Sandow Murti was best known for supporting the weight o f a three-ton elephant on his stomach and being a vegetarian121 Professor KV Iyer was also inspired by Sandows presshyence in India He would go on to combine Indian and Western physical culture to create his own exercise system122

Other countries were impacted by Sandow as well albeit less than in New Zealand

Australia or England Evidence o f his influence is found in Egypt where a man named

Abd al-Halim al-Misri designated ldquoEgyptian Sandowrdquo by Wilson Chacko Jacob traveled to exhibit his body and his feats o f strength123 And outside Austin Texas the inhabitants o f the small town o f Freezeout voted to change its name to Sandow Texas to honor the great strongman124

Amongst the milieu o f general social movements and technological advancements of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries Eugen Sandow became a global pheshynomenon synonymous with exercise and health Sandow s legacy and impact on the world is impossible to deny O ne enthusiastic author from his era bloviated that Sandow was ldquothe

strongest man greatest physical culture authority and finest physical example o f the elecshytrical period who practically revived physical education which had become obscure after the fall o f the Roman Empirerdquo125 Although a strong assertion it nonetheless indicates the significance o f Sandows influence at the time That influence can still be felt today Acshycording to historian Jan Todd Sandow provided a lasting marketing and branding exshy

ample that a number o f physical culturists emulated in later years including Bernarr Macfadden Bob Hoffman Joe Weider and even Arnold Schwarzenegger126

Eugen Sandow was an extraordinary man His physique changed the way Victorian society viewed the body His propagation o f physical culture left lasting effects in scores of

countries including the United States Great Britain New Zealand and Australia His products and exercises helped ignite the iron game flame worldwide But Sandows legacy is not limited to these fields He muscled his way into the lives o f people who desired health youth and vigor through marketing techniques and strategies never before utilized

in physical culture and his example is emulated to this day Sandow was a self-made man with humble beginnings who became a physical culture mogul He was known for his incredible physique and gentlemanly standing He was an educator who enriched the lives o f others Perhaps then he actually was the perfect man

K e y w o r d s E u g e n Sa n d o w ph y sic a l c u l t u r e m a r k e t in g w e ig h t t r a in in g

T he story o f John L Sullivan is chronicled by Michael T Isenberg It provides evidence that Sullivan was the first American sport hero and sport celebrity Furthermore it provides evidence that he began branding himself in 1880 See Michael T Isenberg John L Sullivan a n d H is America (Urbana University

o f Illinois Press 1994) O ther sources that provide evidence for this assertion include Rick Knott ldquoJohn L Sullivan and the M yth o f the Self-Made M anrdquo paper presented at the annual meeting o f the North

American Society for Sport History London O ntario 2001 copy in possession o f author and Adam J Pollack JohnL Sullivan The Career o f the First Gloved Heavyweight Champion (Jefferson NC McFarland amp Company 2006)

2David L Chapm an Sandow the M agnificent Eugen Sandow and the Beginnings o f Bodybuilding 2nd

ed (Urbana University o f Illinois Press 2002)

3Kenneth D utton The Perfectible Body The Western Ideal o f M ale Physical Development (New York

C ontinuum International Publishing Group 1995) John F Kasson H oudini Tarzan and the Perfect M an The W hite M ale Body and the Challenge o f M odernity in America (New York Hill and Wang 2001)

Caroline Daley Leisure amp Pleasure Reshaping amp Revealing the N ew Zealand Body 1900-1960 (Auckland

Auckland University Press 2003) Ina Zweiniger-Bargielowska M anaging the Body Beauty Health and

Fitness in B ritain 1880-1939 (Oxford Oxford University Press 2010) David Waller The Perfect M an The M uscular L ife and Times o f Eugen Sandow Victorian Strongman (Brighton UK Victorian Secrets Limited 2011)

4Josh Buck ldquoSandow N o Folly with Ziegfeldrsquos First Glorificationrdquo Iron Game History The Journal o f Physical Culture 5 (1998) 29 -33 Caroline Daley ldquoThe Strongman o f Eugenics Eugen Sandowrdquo Australian H istorical Studies 33 (2002) 233-248 Scott Patrick ldquoBody-building and Empire-building George Douglas Brown the South African War and lsquoSandows Magazine o f Physical Culturersquordquo Victorian Periodicals Review 41 (2008) 78-94 Vike M artina Plock ldquoA Feat o f Strength in lsquoIthacarsquo Eugen Sandow and Physical Culture in Joyces Ulyssesrdquo Journal o f M odem Literature 30 (2006) 129-139 Ina Zweiniger- Bargielowska ldquoBuilding a British Superman Physical Culture in Interwar Britainrdquo Journal o f Contemposhy

rary History 41 (2006) 595-610 Jim Elledge ldquoEugen Sandowrsquos Gift to Gay M enrdquo Gay amp Lesbian Review Worldwide 18 (2011) 14-17 Ellery E Foutch ldquoArresting Beauty T he Perfectionist Impulse of Pealersquos Butterflies Headersquos Hummingbirds Blaschkas Flowers and Sandowrsquos Bodyrdquo (PhD diss Unishy

versity o f Pennsylvania 2011) Nicholas Turse ldquoPrometheus Unbound T he Technology o f Bodybuildshying in the Nervous Agerdquo Past Imperfect 8 (2008) lthttpejoumalslibraryualbertacaindexphppiar- ticleview l405gt [5 February 2013] Marianne Schultz ldquolsquoSons o f the Empirersquo Dance and the New

Zealand Malerdquo Dance Research 29 (2011) 19-42 David P Willoughby ldquoW hen Sandow Visited Califorshy

niardquo Pacific H istorian 15 (1971) 72-77 Carrie J Preston ldquoPosing Modernism Delsartism in Modern Dance and Silent Filmrdquo Theatre Joum al 6 1 (2009) 215-233 Kimberly Ayn Beckwith ldquoBuilding Strength Alan Calvert the Milo Bar-Bell Company and the Modernization o f American Weight Trainingrdquo (PhD diss University ofTexas at Austin 2006)

5lthttpw w w m arketingpow ercom C om m unity A R C PagesA dditionalH istory L iterature

Terminologyaspxgt [23 M arch 2011] Ralph Starr Butler Herbert Francis De Bower and John George

Jones M arketing M ethods a nd Salesmanship (New York Alexander Hamilton Institute 1914) Charles W ilson Hoyt Scientific Sales M anagement A Practical Application o f the Principles o f Scientific Manageshym ent to Selling (New Haven Conn GB Woolson amp Co 1918) Paul Terry Cherington Advertising As

a Business Force A Compilation o f Experience Records (New York Doubleday Page amp Co 1913) Chapman Sandow the M agnificent 12-14

6Foutch ldquoArresting Beautyrdquo 168

7Chapm an Sandow the M agnificent 1-32

Robert Ernst Weakness Is a Crime TheLifeofB em arrM acfadden (Syracuse NY Syracuse Univershysity Press 1991) Tom Peters ldquoThe Brand Called Yourdquo Fast Company 1997 lthttpwwwfestcompanycom

28905brand-called-yougt [3 March 2013] Ifan D H Shepherd ldquoFrom Cattle and Coke to Charlie

Sandow also titled a section o f his magazine H ints from Sandow Here it was advershy

tised that Sandow responded to questions from his readers concerning issues such as equipshyment night sweats and knock-knees Although responses were ldquofor the purpose o f comshy

ing into closer touch with [his] friends and readersrdquo space was limited and it was encouraged

to inquire about prescribed mail-order exercise courses107 This was another way Sandow

strengthened relations with his consumers and encouraged them to invest in his productsThese components of Sandows brand loyalty and publicity strategies apparently worked

as readers from Canada England India New Zealand Ireland Australia South Africa

Malta Hong Kong Japan Norway and Singapore wrote to him 108 In his book Strength and How to Obtain It Sandow even boasted that ldquoevery week many letters [reached him]

from the Coloniesmdash from India Canada Australia South Africamdash even from distant

Klondikerdquo109 W hen one interviewer inquired about the number o f pupils under his inshy

struction in 1904 Sandow replied that he had ldquoabout a millionrdquo110 Many o f these pupils became disciples and ldquospread the good newsrdquo regarding his products and exercise system

which aided in Sandows success1

Like savvy marketers in the twenty-first century Sandow also sought ways to involve

his customers personally in his efforts O ne means for this was his holding o f physical

culture competitions in his magazine These monthly competitions for both children and

adults required applicants to send one photograph o f himherself to the magazine Then

applicants were judged on their development and measurements and each months winshy

ner received a gold medal112 But these were not the only physical culture competitionspromoted by Sandow As mentioned in 1901 Sandowrsquos Great Competition was held to determine the United Kingdoms ldquoBest Developed M anrdquo The competition was the culmishy

nation o f a series o f local contests held in provinces throughout the UK during the three years before the final competition The top three place winners in each local contest were

eligible to compete in ldquoSandowrsquos Great Competitionrdquo The final contest held on Septemshyber 14 was a spectacle as 15000 people attended113 These competitions not only created

publicity they strengthened Sandows relationship with his consumers because o f the inshycreased interaction facilitated by them

Sandow attempted to increase his brand loyalty by touring the globe as well By the time he began his first tour in 1901 his brand was already established114 Thus he not

only increased his international presence by touring but actively participated in relationshy

ship marketing He strengthened relationships with his fans and followers by giving exhishybitions and lectures that were accessible to them and allowed for interaction on a personal level

Sandow toured internationally twice O n the North American continent he performed in Chicago San Francisco Boston New York St Louis Omaha Detroit Richmond and even select cities in Canada His tours also landed him in Australia New Zealand South Africa India Italy China Egypt and Japan115 At his exhibitions he would first pose and then perform his strength act After his performance he would promote physical

culture and health by lecturing on the importance of each He also discussed the anatomy of the human body using himself as a model6

His influence on the countries he visited attests to his success in increasing his brand loyalty and publicity For example a scrapbook clipping by Clarence Weber ascribes Sandow

the ldquocredit o f arousing deep interest in and demonstrating the possibilities o f scientific

exerciserdquo117 In New Zealand as historian Caroline Daley has shown people established Sandow schools physical culture contests were held and Sandows system was utilized in many ways after his tour118 O ne example o f his influence can be found in the fact that three years after Sandow visited New Zealand the All Black Rugby team had integrated his Sandows Developer in their exercise routine on their 1905 tour and some members were training with his dumbbell system119

India readily accepted Sandow as well His exhibitions drew thousands o f attendees

and interest in physical culture heightened after his visit120 Results o f his impact are demshyonstrated through individuals like Ram Murti Naidu who was also known as the Indian Sandow Murti was best known for supporting the weight o f a three-ton elephant on his stomach and being a vegetarian121 Professor KV Iyer was also inspired by Sandows presshyence in India He would go on to combine Indian and Western physical culture to create his own exercise system122

Other countries were impacted by Sandow as well albeit less than in New Zealand

Australia or England Evidence o f his influence is found in Egypt where a man named

Abd al-Halim al-Misri designated ldquoEgyptian Sandowrdquo by Wilson Chacko Jacob traveled to exhibit his body and his feats o f strength123 And outside Austin Texas the inhabitants o f the small town o f Freezeout voted to change its name to Sandow Texas to honor the great strongman124

Amongst the milieu o f general social movements and technological advancements of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries Eugen Sandow became a global pheshynomenon synonymous with exercise and health Sandow s legacy and impact on the world is impossible to deny O ne enthusiastic author from his era bloviated that Sandow was ldquothe

strongest man greatest physical culture authority and finest physical example o f the elecshytrical period who practically revived physical education which had become obscure after the fall o f the Roman Empirerdquo125 Although a strong assertion it nonetheless indicates the significance o f Sandows influence at the time That influence can still be felt today Acshycording to historian Jan Todd Sandow provided a lasting marketing and branding exshy

ample that a number o f physical culturists emulated in later years including Bernarr Macfadden Bob Hoffman Joe Weider and even Arnold Schwarzenegger126

Eugen Sandow was an extraordinary man His physique changed the way Victorian society viewed the body His propagation o f physical culture left lasting effects in scores of

countries including the United States Great Britain New Zealand and Australia His products and exercises helped ignite the iron game flame worldwide But Sandows legacy is not limited to these fields He muscled his way into the lives o f people who desired health youth and vigor through marketing techniques and strategies never before utilized

in physical culture and his example is emulated to this day Sandow was a self-made man with humble beginnings who became a physical culture mogul He was known for his incredible physique and gentlemanly standing He was an educator who enriched the lives o f others Perhaps then he actually was the perfect man

K e y w o r d s E u g e n Sa n d o w ph y sic a l c u l t u r e m a r k e t in g w e ig h t t r a in in g

T he story o f John L Sullivan is chronicled by Michael T Isenberg It provides evidence that Sullivan was the first American sport hero and sport celebrity Furthermore it provides evidence that he began branding himself in 1880 See Michael T Isenberg John L Sullivan a n d H is America (Urbana University

o f Illinois Press 1994) O ther sources that provide evidence for this assertion include Rick Knott ldquoJohn L Sullivan and the M yth o f the Self-Made M anrdquo paper presented at the annual meeting o f the North

American Society for Sport History London O ntario 2001 copy in possession o f author and Adam J Pollack JohnL Sullivan The Career o f the First Gloved Heavyweight Champion (Jefferson NC McFarland amp Company 2006)

2David L Chapm an Sandow the M agnificent Eugen Sandow and the Beginnings o f Bodybuilding 2nd

ed (Urbana University o f Illinois Press 2002)

3Kenneth D utton The Perfectible Body The Western Ideal o f M ale Physical Development (New York

C ontinuum International Publishing Group 1995) John F Kasson H oudini Tarzan and the Perfect M an The W hite M ale Body and the Challenge o f M odernity in America (New York Hill and Wang 2001)

Caroline Daley Leisure amp Pleasure Reshaping amp Revealing the N ew Zealand Body 1900-1960 (Auckland

Auckland University Press 2003) Ina Zweiniger-Bargielowska M anaging the Body Beauty Health and

Fitness in B ritain 1880-1939 (Oxford Oxford University Press 2010) David Waller The Perfect M an The M uscular L ife and Times o f Eugen Sandow Victorian Strongman (Brighton UK Victorian Secrets Limited 2011)

4Josh Buck ldquoSandow N o Folly with Ziegfeldrsquos First Glorificationrdquo Iron Game History The Journal o f Physical Culture 5 (1998) 29 -33 Caroline Daley ldquoThe Strongman o f Eugenics Eugen Sandowrdquo Australian H istorical Studies 33 (2002) 233-248 Scott Patrick ldquoBody-building and Empire-building George Douglas Brown the South African War and lsquoSandows Magazine o f Physical Culturersquordquo Victorian Periodicals Review 41 (2008) 78-94 Vike M artina Plock ldquoA Feat o f Strength in lsquoIthacarsquo Eugen Sandow and Physical Culture in Joyces Ulyssesrdquo Journal o f M odem Literature 30 (2006) 129-139 Ina Zweiniger- Bargielowska ldquoBuilding a British Superman Physical Culture in Interwar Britainrdquo Journal o f Contemposhy

rary History 41 (2006) 595-610 Jim Elledge ldquoEugen Sandowrsquos Gift to Gay M enrdquo Gay amp Lesbian Review Worldwide 18 (2011) 14-17 Ellery E Foutch ldquoArresting Beauty T he Perfectionist Impulse of Pealersquos Butterflies Headersquos Hummingbirds Blaschkas Flowers and Sandowrsquos Bodyrdquo (PhD diss Unishy

versity o f Pennsylvania 2011) Nicholas Turse ldquoPrometheus Unbound T he Technology o f Bodybuildshying in the Nervous Agerdquo Past Imperfect 8 (2008) lthttpejoumalslibraryualbertacaindexphppiar- ticleview l405gt [5 February 2013] Marianne Schultz ldquolsquoSons o f the Empirersquo Dance and the New

Zealand Malerdquo Dance Research 29 (2011) 19-42 David P Willoughby ldquoW hen Sandow Visited Califorshy

niardquo Pacific H istorian 15 (1971) 72-77 Carrie J Preston ldquoPosing Modernism Delsartism in Modern Dance and Silent Filmrdquo Theatre Joum al 6 1 (2009) 215-233 Kimberly Ayn Beckwith ldquoBuilding Strength Alan Calvert the Milo Bar-Bell Company and the Modernization o f American Weight Trainingrdquo (PhD diss University ofTexas at Austin 2006)

5lthttpw w w m arketingpow ercom C om m unity A R C PagesA dditionalH istory L iterature

Terminologyaspxgt [23 M arch 2011] Ralph Starr Butler Herbert Francis De Bower and John George

Jones M arketing M ethods a nd Salesmanship (New York Alexander Hamilton Institute 1914) Charles W ilson Hoyt Scientific Sales M anagement A Practical Application o f the Principles o f Scientific Manageshym ent to Selling (New Haven Conn GB Woolson amp Co 1918) Paul Terry Cherington Advertising As

a Business Force A Compilation o f Experience Records (New York Doubleday Page amp Co 1913) Chapman Sandow the M agnificent 12-14

6Foutch ldquoArresting Beautyrdquo 168

7Chapm an Sandow the M agnificent 1-32

Robert Ernst Weakness Is a Crime TheLifeofB em arrM acfadden (Syracuse NY Syracuse Univershysity Press 1991) Tom Peters ldquoThe Brand Called Yourdquo Fast Company 1997 lthttpwwwfestcompanycom

28905brand-called-yougt [3 March 2013] Ifan D H Shepherd ldquoFrom Cattle and Coke to Charlie

the ldquocredit o f arousing deep interest in and demonstrating the possibilities o f scientific

exerciserdquo117 In New Zealand as historian Caroline Daley has shown people established Sandow schools physical culture contests were held and Sandows system was utilized in many ways after his tour118 O ne example o f his influence can be found in the fact that three years after Sandow visited New Zealand the All Black Rugby team had integrated his Sandows Developer in their exercise routine on their 1905 tour and some members were training with his dumbbell system119

India readily accepted Sandow as well His exhibitions drew thousands o f attendees

and interest in physical culture heightened after his visit120 Results o f his impact are demshyonstrated through individuals like Ram Murti Naidu who was also known as the Indian Sandow Murti was best known for supporting the weight o f a three-ton elephant on his stomach and being a vegetarian121 Professor KV Iyer was also inspired by Sandows presshyence in India He would go on to combine Indian and Western physical culture to create his own exercise system122

Other countries were impacted by Sandow as well albeit less than in New Zealand

Australia or England Evidence o f his influence is found in Egypt where a man named

Abd al-Halim al-Misri designated ldquoEgyptian Sandowrdquo by Wilson Chacko Jacob traveled to exhibit his body and his feats o f strength123 And outside Austin Texas the inhabitants o f the small town o f Freezeout voted to change its name to Sandow Texas to honor the great strongman124

Amongst the milieu o f general social movements and technological advancements of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries Eugen Sandow became a global pheshynomenon synonymous with exercise and health Sandow s legacy and impact on the world is impossible to deny O ne enthusiastic author from his era bloviated that Sandow was ldquothe

strongest man greatest physical culture authority and finest physical example o f the elecshytrical period who practically revived physical education which had become obscure after the fall o f the Roman Empirerdquo125 Although a strong assertion it nonetheless indicates the significance o f Sandows influence at the time That influence can still be felt today Acshycording to historian Jan Todd Sandow provided a lasting marketing and branding exshy

ample that a number o f physical culturists emulated in later years including Bernarr Macfadden Bob Hoffman Joe Weider and even Arnold Schwarzenegger126

Eugen Sandow was an extraordinary man His physique changed the way Victorian society viewed the body His propagation o f physical culture left lasting effects in scores of

countries including the United States Great Britain New Zealand and Australia His products and exercises helped ignite the iron game flame worldwide But Sandows legacy is not limited to these fields He muscled his way into the lives o f people who desired health youth and vigor through marketing techniques and strategies never before utilized

in physical culture and his example is emulated to this day Sandow was a self-made man with humble beginnings who became a physical culture mogul He was known for his incredible physique and gentlemanly standing He was an educator who enriched the lives o f others Perhaps then he actually was the perfect man

K e y w o r d s E u g e n Sa n d o w ph y sic a l c u l t u r e m a r k e t in g w e ig h t t r a in in g

T he story o f John L Sullivan is chronicled by Michael T Isenberg It provides evidence that Sullivan was the first American sport hero and sport celebrity Furthermore it provides evidence that he began branding himself in 1880 See Michael T Isenberg John L Sullivan a n d H is America (Urbana University

o f Illinois Press 1994) O ther sources that provide evidence for this assertion include Rick Knott ldquoJohn L Sullivan and the M yth o f the Self-Made M anrdquo paper presented at the annual meeting o f the North

American Society for Sport History London O ntario 2001 copy in possession o f author and Adam J Pollack JohnL Sullivan The Career o f the First Gloved Heavyweight Champion (Jefferson NC McFarland amp Company 2006)

2David L Chapm an Sandow the M agnificent Eugen Sandow and the Beginnings o f Bodybuilding 2nd

ed (Urbana University o f Illinois Press 2002)

3Kenneth D utton The Perfectible Body The Western Ideal o f M ale Physical Development (New York

C ontinuum International Publishing Group 1995) John F Kasson H oudini Tarzan and the Perfect M an The W hite M ale Body and the Challenge o f M odernity in America (New York Hill and Wang 2001)

Caroline Daley Leisure amp Pleasure Reshaping amp Revealing the N ew Zealand Body 1900-1960 (Auckland

Auckland University Press 2003) Ina Zweiniger-Bargielowska M anaging the Body Beauty Health and

Fitness in B ritain 1880-1939 (Oxford Oxford University Press 2010) David Waller The Perfect M an The M uscular L ife and Times o f Eugen Sandow Victorian Strongman (Brighton UK Victorian Secrets Limited 2011)

4Josh Buck ldquoSandow N o Folly with Ziegfeldrsquos First Glorificationrdquo Iron Game History The Journal o f Physical Culture 5 (1998) 29 -33 Caroline Daley ldquoThe Strongman o f Eugenics Eugen Sandowrdquo Australian H istorical Studies 33 (2002) 233-248 Scott Patrick ldquoBody-building and Empire-building George Douglas Brown the South African War and lsquoSandows Magazine o f Physical Culturersquordquo Victorian Periodicals Review 41 (2008) 78-94 Vike M artina Plock ldquoA Feat o f Strength in lsquoIthacarsquo Eugen Sandow and Physical Culture in Joyces Ulyssesrdquo Journal o f M odem Literature 30 (2006) 129-139 Ina Zweiniger- Bargielowska ldquoBuilding a British Superman Physical Culture in Interwar Britainrdquo Journal o f Contemposhy

rary History 41 (2006) 595-610 Jim Elledge ldquoEugen Sandowrsquos Gift to Gay M enrdquo Gay amp Lesbian Review Worldwide 18 (2011) 14-17 Ellery E Foutch ldquoArresting Beauty T he Perfectionist Impulse of Pealersquos Butterflies Headersquos Hummingbirds Blaschkas Flowers and Sandowrsquos Bodyrdquo (PhD diss Unishy

versity o f Pennsylvania 2011) Nicholas Turse ldquoPrometheus Unbound T he Technology o f Bodybuildshying in the Nervous Agerdquo Past Imperfect 8 (2008) lthttpejoumalslibraryualbertacaindexphppiar- ticleview l405gt [5 February 2013] Marianne Schultz ldquolsquoSons o f the Empirersquo Dance and the New

Zealand Malerdquo Dance Research 29 (2011) 19-42 David P Willoughby ldquoW hen Sandow Visited Califorshy

niardquo Pacific H istorian 15 (1971) 72-77 Carrie J Preston ldquoPosing Modernism Delsartism in Modern Dance and Silent Filmrdquo Theatre Joum al 6 1 (2009) 215-233 Kimberly Ayn Beckwith ldquoBuilding Strength Alan Calvert the Milo Bar-Bell Company and the Modernization o f American Weight Trainingrdquo (PhD diss University ofTexas at Austin 2006)

5lthttpw w w m arketingpow ercom C om m unity A R C PagesA dditionalH istory L iterature

Terminologyaspxgt [23 M arch 2011] Ralph Starr Butler Herbert Francis De Bower and John George

Jones M arketing M ethods a nd Salesmanship (New York Alexander Hamilton Institute 1914) Charles W ilson Hoyt Scientific Sales M anagement A Practical Application o f the Principles o f Scientific Manageshym ent to Selling (New Haven Conn GB Woolson amp Co 1918) Paul Terry Cherington Advertising As

a Business Force A Compilation o f Experience Records (New York Doubleday Page amp Co 1913) Chapman Sandow the M agnificent 12-14

6Foutch ldquoArresting Beautyrdquo 168

7Chapm an Sandow the M agnificent 1-32

Robert Ernst Weakness Is a Crime TheLifeofB em arrM acfadden (Syracuse NY Syracuse Univershysity Press 1991) Tom Peters ldquoThe Brand Called Yourdquo Fast Company 1997 lthttpwwwfestcompanycom

28905brand-called-yougt [3 March 2013] Ifan D H Shepherd ldquoFrom Cattle and Coke to Charlie

K e y w o r d s E u g e n Sa n d o w ph y sic a l c u l t u r e m a r k e t in g w e ig h t t r a in in g

T he story o f John L Sullivan is chronicled by Michael T Isenberg It provides evidence that Sullivan was the first American sport hero and sport celebrity Furthermore it provides evidence that he began branding himself in 1880 See Michael T Isenberg John L Sullivan a n d H is America (Urbana University

o f Illinois Press 1994) O ther sources that provide evidence for this assertion include Rick Knott ldquoJohn L Sullivan and the M yth o f the Self-Made M anrdquo paper presented at the annual meeting o f the North

American Society for Sport History London O ntario 2001 copy in possession o f author and Adam J Pollack JohnL Sullivan The Career o f the First Gloved Heavyweight Champion (Jefferson NC McFarland amp Company 2006)

2David L Chapm an Sandow the M agnificent Eugen Sandow and the Beginnings o f Bodybuilding 2nd

ed (Urbana University o f Illinois Press 2002)

3Kenneth D utton The Perfectible Body The Western Ideal o f M ale Physical Development (New York

C ontinuum International Publishing Group 1995) John F Kasson H oudini Tarzan and the Perfect M an The W hite M ale Body and the Challenge o f M odernity in America (New York Hill and Wang 2001)

Caroline Daley Leisure amp Pleasure Reshaping amp Revealing the N ew Zealand Body 1900-1960 (Auckland

Auckland University Press 2003) Ina Zweiniger-Bargielowska M anaging the Body Beauty Health and

Fitness in B ritain 1880-1939 (Oxford Oxford University Press 2010) David Waller The Perfect M an The M uscular L ife and Times o f Eugen Sandow Victorian Strongman (Brighton UK Victorian Secrets Limited 2011)

4Josh Buck ldquoSandow N o Folly with Ziegfeldrsquos First Glorificationrdquo Iron Game History The Journal o f Physical Culture 5 (1998) 29 -33 Caroline Daley ldquoThe Strongman o f Eugenics Eugen Sandowrdquo Australian H istorical Studies 33 (2002) 233-248 Scott Patrick ldquoBody-building and Empire-building George Douglas Brown the South African War and lsquoSandows Magazine o f Physical Culturersquordquo Victorian Periodicals Review 41 (2008) 78-94 Vike M artina Plock ldquoA Feat o f Strength in lsquoIthacarsquo Eugen Sandow and Physical Culture in Joyces Ulyssesrdquo Journal o f M odem Literature 30 (2006) 129-139 Ina Zweiniger- Bargielowska ldquoBuilding a British Superman Physical Culture in Interwar Britainrdquo Journal o f Contemposhy

rary History 41 (2006) 595-610 Jim Elledge ldquoEugen Sandowrsquos Gift to Gay M enrdquo Gay amp Lesbian Review Worldwide 18 (2011) 14-17 Ellery E Foutch ldquoArresting Beauty T he Perfectionist Impulse of Pealersquos Butterflies Headersquos Hummingbirds Blaschkas Flowers and Sandowrsquos Bodyrdquo (PhD diss Unishy

versity o f Pennsylvania 2011) Nicholas Turse ldquoPrometheus Unbound T he Technology o f Bodybuildshying in the Nervous Agerdquo Past Imperfect 8 (2008) lthttpejoumalslibraryualbertacaindexphppiar- ticleview l405gt [5 February 2013] Marianne Schultz ldquolsquoSons o f the Empirersquo Dance and the New

Zealand Malerdquo Dance Research 29 (2011) 19-42 David P Willoughby ldquoW hen Sandow Visited Califorshy

niardquo Pacific H istorian 15 (1971) 72-77 Carrie J Preston ldquoPosing Modernism Delsartism in Modern Dance and Silent Filmrdquo Theatre Joum al 6 1 (2009) 215-233 Kimberly Ayn Beckwith ldquoBuilding Strength Alan Calvert the Milo Bar-Bell Company and the Modernization o f American Weight Trainingrdquo (PhD diss University ofTexas at Austin 2006)

5lthttpw w w m arketingpow ercom C om m unity A R C PagesA dditionalH istory L iterature

Terminologyaspxgt [23 M arch 2011] Ralph Starr Butler Herbert Francis De Bower and John George

Jones M arketing M ethods a nd Salesmanship (New York Alexander Hamilton Institute 1914) Charles W ilson Hoyt Scientific Sales M anagement A Practical Application o f the Principles o f Scientific Manageshym ent to Selling (New Haven Conn GB Woolson amp Co 1918) Paul Terry Cherington Advertising As

a Business Force A Compilation o f Experience Records (New York Doubleday Page amp Co 1913) Chapman Sandow the M agnificent 12-14

6Foutch ldquoArresting Beautyrdquo 168

7Chapm an Sandow the M agnificent 1-32

Robert Ernst Weakness Is a Crime TheLifeofB em arrM acfadden (Syracuse NY Syracuse Univershysity Press 1991) Tom Peters ldquoThe Brand Called Yourdquo Fast Company 1997 lthttpwwwfestcompanycom

28905brand-called-yougt [3 March 2013] Ifan D H Shepherd ldquoFrom Cattle and Coke to Charlie

Meeting the Challenge o f Self Marketing and Personal Branding rdquo Journal o f M arketing M anagement 21

(2005) 589-606 Harvey Green F it fo r America Health Fitness Sport and American Society (Baltimore Md The Johns Hopkins University Press 1988) James C W horton Crusaders fo r Fitness The History o f American H ealth Reformers (Princeton NJ Princeton University Press 1984)

9Kevin Lane Keller Strategic Brand M anagement Building M easuring and M anaging Brand Equity 2 nd ed (Upper Saddle River NJ Prentice Hall 2003) xv 3 -4

l0Shepherd ldquoFrom Cattle and Coke to Charlierdquo 594

rsquorsquoFor a history o f the turner movement see Annette R H ofm ann Tumen and Sport Transatlantic Transfers (Muenster Ger W axmann Verlag 2004) idem The American Turner M ovement A History

from Its Beginnings to 2 000 (Indianapolis Ind M ax Kade German-American Center amp Indiana German

Heritage Society Incorporated 2010)

12G Mercer Adam Sandow on Physical Training A Study in the Perfect Type o f the H um an Form (New York J Selwin Tait amp Sons 1894)

l3Jan Todd Joe Roark and Terry Todd ldquoA Briefly Annotated Bibliography o f English Language Serial Publications in the Field o f Physical Culturerdquo Iron Game History The Journal o f Physical Culture 1(1991) 27

4Eugen Sandow ldquoHints from Sandowrdquo Sandows M agazine o f Physical Culture 8 M arch 1906 p

318 advertisement Sandows M agazine o f Physical Culture 15 November 1906 p be advertisement Sandows M agazine o f Physical Culture 30 M ay 1907 p ii advertisement Sandows M agazine o f Physical

Culture February 1905 p 157 advertisement Sandows M agazine o f Physical Culture 15 M arch 1906 p vi advertisement Sandows M agazine o f Physical Culture 8 M arch 1906 p iv Chapm an Sandow the M agnificent 116 167 169 224 Eugen Sandow ldquoHealth by Postrdquo Quiver 18 February 1911 p 29

15T he best description o f Sandows travels can be found in Chapm an Sandow the M agnificent 129mdash

163 Sandow toured the U nited States and some o f Canada starting late in 1901 H e returned to England in M ay o f 1902 and then quickly departed for the Antipodes Along the way Sandow stopped in Italy Egypt and Sri Lanka H e arrived in Australia in July and toured until early November H e then traveled to New Zealand toured and departed for the United States in January o f 1903 H e eventually returned to England in M ay o f 1903 only to begin another tour one year later H e stopped first in South Africa

Then he traveled to China Japan Java Burma and India H e finally returned to England in September

o f 1905

l6For popular references see Jesse Rhodes ldquoBodybuilders through the Agesrdquo Sm ithsoniancom 20 July 2009 lth ttp w w w sm ithsonianm agcom history-archaeologyB odybuilders-T hrough-the-

Ageshtmlgt [12 February 2012] David Robson ldquoA History Lesson in Bodybuildingrdquo Bodybuildingcom

21 M arch 2005 lthttpww w bodybuildingcom fundrobson6lhtm gt [12 February 2012] and ldquoHisshytory O f Bodybuildingrdquo HistoryOJBodyBuildingorg lthttphistoryofbodybuildingorggt [12 February 2012] For academic references see Chapm an Sandow the M agnificent x 191 193 Waller ThePerfoct M an 11 and Caroline Daley ldquoT he Body Builder and Beauty Contestsrdquo Journal o f Australian Studies 11

(2001) 55

17Steven J Diner A Very D ifferent Age Americans o f the Progressive Em (New York Macmillan 1998) Zweiniger-Bargieiowska M anagingthe Body 20 -27 Steven L Piott D aily L ife in the Progressive Era (Santa Barbara C alif Greenwood Press 2011) Sally Mitchell D aily L ife in Victorian England Santa Barbara Calif Greenwood Press 2009) Thom as Richards The Commodity Culture o f Victorian E nshygland Advertising and Spectacle 1851-1914 (Stanford Calif Stanford University Press 1991) Lewis Charles Bernard Seaman Victorian England Aspects o f English a nd Im perial History 1837-1901 (New Ycrk Psychology Press 1990)

18Zweiniger-Bargielowska ldquoBuilding a British Supermanrdquo 17-18 Clifford Putney M uscular Chrisshy

tianity M anhood and Sports in Protestant America 1880-1920 (Cambridge Mass Harvard University Press 2003) 33 -34 47 Bruce Haley The Healthy Body and Victorian Culture (Cambridge Mass Harvard University Press 1978) 3-22

l9Zweiniger-Bargielowska M anagingthe Body 18

ldquo Waller The Perfect M an 69

2Chapm an Sandow the M agnificent 35

22Lois W Banner American Beauty (Chicago 10 University o f Chicago Press 1984) 112-113

Chapm an Sandow the M agnificent 2 -3 35 Edm ond Desbonnet Les Rois De Im Force (Paris Librairie Berger-Levrault 1911)

23D utton The Perfectible Body 119 Friedrich Wilhelm M uller was Sandowrsquos birth name

24Ethan M ordden Ziegfeld The M an Who Invented Show Business (New York St M artins Press 2008) 22 [quotation]

ldquo Zweiniger-Bargielowska M anaging the Body 37

ldquo Green F it fo r America 182-183 Haley The Healthy Body and Victorian Culture 93 Putney M uscular Christianity

27Eugen Sandow The Construction and Reconstruction o f the H um an Body A M anual o f the Thera- peutics o f Exercise (London Bale Sons and Danielsson 1907) 25

ldquo Eugen Sandow Strength and H ow to O btain It 3rd ed (London Gale amp Polden 1905) B 5

ldquo Haley The Healthy Body and Victorian Culture 124-140 Roberta J Park ldquoPhysiologists Physishycians and Physical Educators Nineteenth Century Biology and Exercise lsquoHygienicrsquo and lsquoEducativersquordquo

Journal o f Sport H istory 14 (1987) 28 -60 Jack W Berryman ldquoExercise and the Medical Tradition from

Hippocrates through Antebellum America A Review Essayrdquo in Sports and Exercise Science Essays in the History o f Sports M edicine eds Jack Berryman and Roberta J Park (Chicago University o f Illinois Press 1992) 1-56 Doug Bryant ldquoWilliam Blaikie and Physical Fitness in Late Nineteenth Century Americardquo Iron Game History The Journal o f Physical C ulture2 (1992) 3 -6 Green F it fo r America 202 Zweiniger- Bargielowska M anaging the Body 62-104

ldquo Dagmar Kift The Victorian M usic Hall Culture Class and Conflict (New York Cambridge Unishyversity Press 1996) 2 Waller The Perfect M an 40 Chapm an Sandow the M agnificent 71

31 Adam Sandow on Physical Training A Study in the Perfect Type o f the Human Form 103-104 ldquoCreator o f lsquoFolliesrsquo Deviser o f Moral Nudity Artist o f H um an Flesh Makes His Cinema D ebutrdquo

Dallas M orning News 15 December 1929 p 4 Dwayne Roy Winseck Communication and Empire M edia M arkets and Globalization 1860-1930 (Durham N C Duke University Press 2007) 2

32Winseck Communication and Empire 3

33AG Spalding toured the world with a group o f M ajor League Baseball players in 1888-1889 in order to spread the popularity o f baseball and Spalding sporting goods internationally Thom as W Zeiler Ambassadors in Pinstripes The Spalding World Baseball Tour and the Birth o f the American Empire (Lanham Md Rowman amp Littlefield Publishers 2006) 39-44 63-66 Wolfgang Schivelbusch The Railway Journey The Industrialization o fT im e and Space in the 19th Century (Berkeley Calif University o f Calishy

fornia Press 1986) 10-11 Chapm an Sandow the M agnificent 7 0 -99 129-163

MSandow brought many accused offenders to court H e prosecuted a woman in order to keep her from revealing his secret to beating rival strongman Sampson sought an injunction to bar a man from using the name ldquoSandowerdquo and another for pretending to be H err Sandow charged Arthur Saxon with

criminal libel for claiming he bested him in a strength competition and sued a printer for misuse o f his

image and a man for libel after he claimed Sandows cocoa was manufactured in Germany Chapm an Sandow the M agnificent 54 80-83 108 Waller The Perfect M an 123-124234

ldquo Keller Strategic Brand Management 67

36ldquoA Perfectly Developed M anrdquo Adelaide Register 12 August 1902 p 6 D utton The Perfectible Body 121-122

37Adam Sandow on Physical Training 92-93

ldquo Scrapbooks entitled ldquoBritishrdquo and ldquoSandowrdquo in the Ottley Coulter Collection found in the HJ Lutcher Stark Center University ofTexas Austin Texas often did not survive with dates and publication information They are cited as Coulter Collection British or Sandow ldquoSandow Is the Physical Marvel of the Agerdquo July 1920 C oulter Collection Sandow

39ldquo Muscle Makes the M anrdquo nd Coulter Collection Sandow

40A detailed biography o f Ziegfeld and his achievements can be found in M ordden Ziegfeld

4lIbid 54 Kasson H oudini Tarzan an d the Perfect M an 53-57 ldquoZiegfelds F irstlsquoGlorificationrsquo of Physique Eugene Sandowrdquo 6 August 1932 Coulter Collection Sandow

42Chapm an Sandow the M agnificent 59 ldquoTrocadero Programrdquo 25 July 1893 Chicago Historical Society Chicago Illinois found in Chapm an Sandow the M agnificent 86-87

43Untitled scrapbook clipping nd Coulter Collection Sandow

^ ldquoA Notable Athlete Eugen Sandow Camperdown Chronicle 25 March 1902 p 5

45ldquoSampson and Sandowrdquo Cedar Rapids Evening Gazette 13 December 1889 p 2

46Foutch ldquoArresting Beautyrdquo 182

47Adam Sandow on Physical Training 111-113

48ldquoSandow at the Opera H ouserdquo M elbourne Age 8 September 1902 p 8

49Adam Sandow on Physical Training 22 [quotation] 113-114 118 131 139

50Chapm an Sandow the M agnificent 70 Amy Leslie ldquoT he Muscles o f Sandowrdquo Chicago Daily News 2 August 1893 p 4 found in Kasson H oudini Tarzan and the Perfect M an 56

lsquorsquoN ew York Herald 18 June 1893 found in Kasson H oudini Tarzan an d the Perfect M an 54

52Chapm an Sandow the M agnificent 75

53Adelaide Register 13 August 1902 p 3 found in Daley ldquoT he Body Builder and Beauty Contestsrdquo59

Ibid

rdquo DanielJ Boorstin The Image Or W hat Happened to the American Dream (New York Atheneum

1962) 13 Richard L W atson The Development o f N ational Power The U nited States 1900-1919 (Bosshyton H oughton Mifflin 1976) 62 Anna Pegler-Gordon In Sight o f America Photography an d the Develshyopment o f US Im migration Policy (Berkeley University o f California Press 2009) 10 John Hannavy Victorian Photographers a t Work (Buckinghamshire UK Shire Publications Ltd 1997) 111-129-

ldquo Images Sandows M agazine o f Physical Culture 17 M ay 1906 images Sanaows M agazine ofPhysishy

cal Culture 15 March 1906 ldquoSandows Magazine Physical Culture C om pedtion rsquo Sandows M agazine o f Physical Culture 2d April 1905 p 434b Kasson H oudini Tarzan an d the Perfect M an 60 67 Michael Anton Budd The Sculpture M achine Physical Culture and Body Politics in the Age o f Empire (London MacMillan 1997) 42 Bryan E Burns ldquoClassicizing Bodies in the Male Photographic Traditionrdquo in A Companion to Classical Receptions eds Lorna Hardwick and Christopher Stray (Malden Mass Oxford University Press 2008) 443 William A Ewing The Body Photographs o f the H um an Form (London Thames and H udson Ltd 1994) 168

57Budd The Sculpture M achine 43 Kasson H oudini Tarzan and the Perfect M an 67- Chapm an

Sandow the M agnificent 33 Waller The Perfect M an 105 Encyclopedia o f Nineteenth-century Photography (New York Taylor amp Francis Group 2008) sv ldquoCabinet Cardsrdquo by W iliam B Becker

58Kasson H oudini Tarzan and the Perfect M an 67

59Chapm an Sandow the M agnificent 33 Bums ldquoClassicizing Bodies in the Male Photographic Traditionrdquo 442-445

ldquo Budd The Sculpture M achine 84 Waller The Perfect M an 166

6lKasson H oudini Tarzan and the Perfect M an 61-63

ldquo C hapm an Sandow the M agnificent 11 17 104 Waller The Perfect M an 31 Budd TheSculpture

M achine 43-44

C3D utton The Perfectible Body 191

ldquo lsquoBaroness Orczy ldquoIf 1 Were a M anrdquo East African Standard 28 February 1914 p 29

65ldquoA Notable Athlete Eugen Sandowrdquo 5

ldquo Chapm an Sandow the M agnificent 132-133 Oxford D ictionary o f N ational Biography (Oxford Oxford University Press 2004) sv ldquoW ittewrong Sir Charles Bennet Lawes Second Baronet (1843-

1911)rdquo by BS Long lthttpwwwoxforddnbcomviewarticle34430gt [27 February 2012] John

Dickson Carr The L ife o f S ir A rthur Conan Doyle (New York Carroll amp Graf 2003) Waller The Perfect

M an 173-176 Budd The Sculpture M achine 43-44

67Chapm an Sandow the M agnificent 46

ldquo ldquoPhysical Culture and the Territorial Armyrdquo Health amp Strength 13 February 1909 p 2 Waller

The Perfect M an 163-164 Chapm an Sandow the M agnificent 111 126-128

69ldquoSandow to Train King George Fifthrdquo nd Coulter Collection Sandow A Wallace Jones ldquoThe

Kingrsquos Professor o f Scientific Physical Culturerdquo nd Coulter Collection Sandow Chapm an Sandow the M agnificent 176

7nChapm an Sandow the M agnificent 17 222-223 Waller The Perfect M an 233-235

7lChapm an Sandow the M agnificent 12-14 Adam Sandow on Physical Training 29

2Adam Sandow on Physical Training 104

Ibid

^C hapm an Sandow the M agnificent 86-87 ldquoM an Versus Lion Com modore and Sandow C onshy

testrdquo San Francisco M orning Call 23 May 1894 p 3 ldquoWrestling with a Lionrdquo Youthrsquos Companion 16

June 1910 p 316 Sandow Strength a nd How to O btain It 123-126 Mordden Ziegfeld 27 -29

7Burns ldquoClassicizing Bodies in the Male Photographic Traditionrdquo 442 Foutch ldquoArresting Beautyrdquo

211-214

76Burns ldquoClassicizing Bodies in the Male Photographic Traditionrdquo 444 Kasson H oudini Tarzan and the Perfect M an 64

^Burns ldquoClassicizing Bodies in the Male Photographic Traditionrdquo 442

78D utton The Perfectible Body 122 Waller The Perfect M an 69 -76

79Erick Alvarez Muscle Boys Gay Gym Culture New York Haworth Press 2008) 41 D utton The Perfectible Body 119-124

80ldquoD o You Have These Traitsrdquo Pacific Stars a nd Stripes 2 December 1951 p 5 Jones ldquoThe Kingrsquos Professor o f Scientific Physical Culturerdquo nd Coulter Collection Sandow D on Trenary ldquoStrong Man

Sandowrdquo Pacific Stars and Stripes 1 August 1954 p 21 Clarence Weber ldquoThe Progress o f Physical C ulture in Australiardquo nd Coulter Collection Sandow ldquoSampson and Sandowrdquo p 2 ldquoTwo Very Strong

Men T he M odern Sandow and the Ancient Samsonrdquo W innipeg Free Press 19 May 1893 p 7 ldquoW hat the World Does to G et Wellrdquo Lloyds Weekly News 19 February 1905 p 11 ldquoPhysical Culture in Englandrdquo N orth China Herald 28 July 1905 p 37 ldquoChildren o f Sandow Washington Post 29 September 1907 p 184 Kasson H oudini Tarzan and the Perfect M an 60

81 ldquoPlays and Playersrdquo North Adams Transcript 2 June 1903 p 5

82Keller Strategic Brand M anagement 576-577 Franziska Volckncr and Henrik Sattler ldquoDrivers o f

Brand Extension Successrdquo Journal o f M arketing 70 (2006) 18

83ldquoVirgin Historyrdquo Virgncom lthttpwwwvirgincomhistorygt [2 July 2012]

84 Eugen Sandow Body-Building or M an in the M aking H ow to Become Healthy amp Strong (London

Gale amp Polden Ltd 1904) Adam Sandow on Physical Training Sandow Strength and How to O btain It

Eugen Sandow The GospelofStrength According to Sandow (Melbourne T Shaw Fitchett 1902) Chapman Sandow the M agnificent 178-179

85Chapm an Sandow the M agnificent 108-109

ldquoldquoAlfred J Weed ldquoBacteria Germs N ot the Only Cause o f Diseaserdquo Sandows M agazine o f Physical

Culture 30 May 1907 p 686 ldquoHow to Keep in Condition in H o t Weatherrdquo Sandowrsquos M agazine o f Physical Culture 30 August 1906 p 63 George Elliot Flint ldquoThe Strength and Symmetry o f Man

Compared with Animalsrdquo Sandowrsquos M agazine o f Physical Culture 30 August 1906 p 268 Sanitas ldquoSleepshylessnessrdquo Sandows M agazine o f Physical Culture 30 May 1907 p 681 Waller The Perfect M an 121

87Waller The Perfect M an 121

88Tania Lewis ldquoBranding Celebritization and the Lifestyle Expertrdquo Cultural Studies 24 (2010)

580-598 ldquoChildren o f Sandowrdquo p 184 Eugen Sandow ldquoHow to Preserve Health and Attain Strengthrdquo

39ldquo Muscle Makes the M anrdquo nd Coulter Collection Sandow

40A detailed biography o f Ziegfeld and his achievements can be found in M ordden Ziegfeld

4lIbid 54 Kasson H oudini Tarzan an d the Perfect M an 53-57 ldquoZiegfelds F irstlsquoGlorificationrsquo of Physique Eugene Sandowrdquo 6 August 1932 Coulter Collection Sandow

42Chapm an Sandow the M agnificent 59 ldquoTrocadero Programrdquo 25 July 1893 Chicago Historical Society Chicago Illinois found in Chapm an Sandow the M agnificent 86-87

43Untitled scrapbook clipping nd Coulter Collection Sandow

^ ldquoA Notable Athlete Eugen Sandow Camperdown Chronicle 25 March 1902 p 5

45ldquoSampson and Sandowrdquo Cedar Rapids Evening Gazette 13 December 1889 p 2

46Foutch ldquoArresting Beautyrdquo 182

47Adam Sandow on Physical Training 111-113

48ldquoSandow at the Opera H ouserdquo M elbourne Age 8 September 1902 p 8

49Adam Sandow on Physical Training 22 [quotation] 113-114 118 131 139

50Chapm an Sandow the M agnificent 70 Amy Leslie ldquoT he Muscles o f Sandowrdquo Chicago Daily News 2 August 1893 p 4 found in Kasson H oudini Tarzan and the Perfect M an 56

lsquorsquoN ew York Herald 18 June 1893 found in Kasson H oudini Tarzan an d the Perfect M an 54

52Chapm an Sandow the M agnificent 75

53Adelaide Register 13 August 1902 p 3 found in Daley ldquoT he Body Builder and Beauty Contestsrdquo59

Ibid

rdquo DanielJ Boorstin The Image Or W hat Happened to the American Dream (New York Atheneum

1962) 13 Richard L W atson The Development o f N ational Power The U nited States 1900-1919 (Bosshyton H oughton Mifflin 1976) 62 Anna Pegler-Gordon In Sight o f America Photography an d the Develshyopment o f US Im migration Policy (Berkeley University o f California Press 2009) 10 John Hannavy Victorian Photographers a t Work (Buckinghamshire UK Shire Publications Ltd 1997) 111-129-

ldquo Images Sandows M agazine o f Physical Culture 17 M ay 1906 images Sanaows M agazine ofPhysishy

cal Culture 15 March 1906 ldquoSandows Magazine Physical Culture C om pedtion rsquo Sandows M agazine o f Physical Culture 2d April 1905 p 434b Kasson H oudini Tarzan an d the Perfect M an 60 67 Michael Anton Budd The Sculpture M achine Physical Culture and Body Politics in the Age o f Empire (London MacMillan 1997) 42 Bryan E Burns ldquoClassicizing Bodies in the Male Photographic Traditionrdquo in A Companion to Classical Receptions eds Lorna Hardwick and Christopher Stray (Malden Mass Oxford University Press 2008) 443 William A Ewing The Body Photographs o f the H um an Form (London Thames and H udson Ltd 1994) 168

57Budd The Sculpture M achine 43 Kasson H oudini Tarzan and the Perfect M an 67- Chapm an

Sandow the M agnificent 33 Waller The Perfect M an 105 Encyclopedia o f Nineteenth-century Photography (New York Taylor amp Francis Group 2008) sv ldquoCabinet Cardsrdquo by W iliam B Becker

58Kasson H oudini Tarzan and the Perfect M an 67

59Chapm an Sandow the M agnificent 33 Bums ldquoClassicizing Bodies in the Male Photographic Traditionrdquo 442-445

ldquo Budd The Sculpture M achine 84 Waller The Perfect M an 166

6lKasson H oudini Tarzan and the Perfect M an 61-63

ldquo C hapm an Sandow the M agnificent 11 17 104 Waller The Perfect M an 31 Budd TheSculpture

M achine 43-44

C3D utton The Perfectible Body 191

ldquo lsquoBaroness Orczy ldquoIf 1 Were a M anrdquo East African Standard 28 February 1914 p 29

65ldquoA Notable Athlete Eugen Sandowrdquo 5

ldquo Chapm an Sandow the M agnificent 132-133 Oxford D ictionary o f N ational Biography (Oxford Oxford University Press 2004) sv ldquoW ittewrong Sir Charles Bennet Lawes Second Baronet (1843-

1911)rdquo by BS Long lthttpwwwoxforddnbcomviewarticle34430gt [27 February 2012] John

Dickson Carr The L ife o f S ir A rthur Conan Doyle (New York Carroll amp Graf 2003) Waller The Perfect

M an 173-176 Budd The Sculpture M achine 43-44

67Chapm an Sandow the M agnificent 46

ldquo ldquoPhysical Culture and the Territorial Armyrdquo Health amp Strength 13 February 1909 p 2 Waller

The Perfect M an 163-164 Chapm an Sandow the M agnificent 111 126-128

69ldquoSandow to Train King George Fifthrdquo nd Coulter Collection Sandow A Wallace Jones ldquoThe

Kingrsquos Professor o f Scientific Physical Culturerdquo nd Coulter Collection Sandow Chapm an Sandow the M agnificent 176

7nChapm an Sandow the M agnificent 17 222-223 Waller The Perfect M an 233-235

7lChapm an Sandow the M agnificent 12-14 Adam Sandow on Physical Training 29

2Adam Sandow on Physical Training 104

Ibid

^C hapm an Sandow the M agnificent 86-87 ldquoM an Versus Lion Com modore and Sandow C onshy

testrdquo San Francisco M orning Call 23 May 1894 p 3 ldquoWrestling with a Lionrdquo Youthrsquos Companion 16

June 1910 p 316 Sandow Strength a nd How to O btain It 123-126 Mordden Ziegfeld 27 -29

7Burns ldquoClassicizing Bodies in the Male Photographic Traditionrdquo 442 Foutch ldquoArresting Beautyrdquo

211-214

76Burns ldquoClassicizing Bodies in the Male Photographic Traditionrdquo 444 Kasson H oudini Tarzan and the Perfect M an 64

^Burns ldquoClassicizing Bodies in the Male Photographic Traditionrdquo 442

78D utton The Perfectible Body 122 Waller The Perfect M an 69 -76

79Erick Alvarez Muscle Boys Gay Gym Culture New York Haworth Press 2008) 41 D utton The Perfectible Body 119-124

80ldquoD o You Have These Traitsrdquo Pacific Stars a nd Stripes 2 December 1951 p 5 Jones ldquoThe Kingrsquos Professor o f Scientific Physical Culturerdquo nd Coulter Collection Sandow D on Trenary ldquoStrong Man

Sandowrdquo Pacific Stars and Stripes 1 August 1954 p 21 Clarence Weber ldquoThe Progress o f Physical C ulture in Australiardquo nd Coulter Collection Sandow ldquoSampson and Sandowrdquo p 2 ldquoTwo Very Strong

Men T he M odern Sandow and the Ancient Samsonrdquo W innipeg Free Press 19 May 1893 p 7 ldquoW hat the World Does to G et Wellrdquo Lloyds Weekly News 19 February 1905 p 11 ldquoPhysical Culture in Englandrdquo N orth China Herald 28 July 1905 p 37 ldquoChildren o f Sandow Washington Post 29 September 1907 p 184 Kasson H oudini Tarzan and the Perfect M an 60

81 ldquoPlays and Playersrdquo North Adams Transcript 2 June 1903 p 5

82Keller Strategic Brand M anagement 576-577 Franziska Volckncr and Henrik Sattler ldquoDrivers o f

Brand Extension Successrdquo Journal o f M arketing 70 (2006) 18

83ldquoVirgin Historyrdquo Virgncom lthttpwwwvirgincomhistorygt [2 July 2012]

84 Eugen Sandow Body-Building or M an in the M aking H ow to Become Healthy amp Strong (London

Gale amp Polden Ltd 1904) Adam Sandow on Physical Training Sandow Strength and How to O btain It

Eugen Sandow The GospelofStrength According to Sandow (Melbourne T Shaw Fitchett 1902) Chapman Sandow the M agnificent 178-179

85Chapm an Sandow the M agnificent 108-109

ldquoldquoAlfred J Weed ldquoBacteria Germs N ot the Only Cause o f Diseaserdquo Sandows M agazine o f Physical

Culture 30 May 1907 p 686 ldquoHow to Keep in Condition in H o t Weatherrdquo Sandowrsquos M agazine o f Physical Culture 30 August 1906 p 63 George Elliot Flint ldquoThe Strength and Symmetry o f Man

Compared with Animalsrdquo Sandowrsquos M agazine o f Physical Culture 30 August 1906 p 268 Sanitas ldquoSleepshylessnessrdquo Sandows M agazine o f Physical Culture 30 May 1907 p 681 Waller The Perfect M an 121

87Waller The Perfect M an 121

88Tania Lewis ldquoBranding Celebritization and the Lifestyle Expertrdquo Cultural Studies 24 (2010)

580-598 ldquoChildren o f Sandowrdquo p 184 Eugen Sandow ldquoHow to Preserve Health and Attain Strengthrdquo

1911)rdquo by BS Long lthttpwwwoxforddnbcomviewarticle34430gt [27 February 2012] John

Dickson Carr The L ife o f S ir A rthur Conan Doyle (New York Carroll amp Graf 2003) Waller The Perfect

M an 173-176 Budd The Sculpture M achine 43-44

67Chapm an Sandow the M agnificent 46

ldquo ldquoPhysical Culture and the Territorial Armyrdquo Health amp Strength 13 February 1909 p 2 Waller

The Perfect M an 163-164 Chapm an Sandow the M agnificent 111 126-128

69ldquoSandow to Train King George Fifthrdquo nd Coulter Collection Sandow A Wallace Jones ldquoThe

Kingrsquos Professor o f Scientific Physical Culturerdquo nd Coulter Collection Sandow Chapm an Sandow the M agnificent 176

7nChapm an Sandow the M agnificent 17 222-223 Waller The Perfect M an 233-235

7lChapm an Sandow the M agnificent 12-14 Adam Sandow on Physical Training 29

2Adam Sandow on Physical Training 104

Ibid

^C hapm an Sandow the M agnificent 86-87 ldquoM an Versus Lion Com modore and Sandow C onshy

testrdquo San Francisco M orning Call 23 May 1894 p 3 ldquoWrestling with a Lionrdquo Youthrsquos Companion 16

June 1910 p 316 Sandow Strength a nd How to O btain It 123-126 Mordden Ziegfeld 27 -29

7Burns ldquoClassicizing Bodies in the Male Photographic Traditionrdquo 442 Foutch ldquoArresting Beautyrdquo

211-214

76Burns ldquoClassicizing Bodies in the Male Photographic Traditionrdquo 444 Kasson H oudini Tarzan and the Perfect M an 64

^Burns ldquoClassicizing Bodies in the Male Photographic Traditionrdquo 442

78D utton The Perfectible Body 122 Waller The Perfect M an 69 -76

79Erick Alvarez Muscle Boys Gay Gym Culture New York Haworth Press 2008) 41 D utton The Perfectible Body 119-124

80ldquoD o You Have These Traitsrdquo Pacific Stars a nd Stripes 2 December 1951 p 5 Jones ldquoThe Kingrsquos Professor o f Scientific Physical Culturerdquo nd Coulter Collection Sandow D on Trenary ldquoStrong Man

Sandowrdquo Pacific Stars and Stripes 1 August 1954 p 21 Clarence Weber ldquoThe Progress o f Physical C ulture in Australiardquo nd Coulter Collection Sandow ldquoSampson and Sandowrdquo p 2 ldquoTwo Very Strong

Men T he M odern Sandow and the Ancient Samsonrdquo W innipeg Free Press 19 May 1893 p 7 ldquoW hat the World Does to G et Wellrdquo Lloyds Weekly News 19 February 1905 p 11 ldquoPhysical Culture in Englandrdquo N orth China Herald 28 July 1905 p 37 ldquoChildren o f Sandow Washington Post 29 September 1907 p 184 Kasson H oudini Tarzan and the Perfect M an 60

81 ldquoPlays and Playersrdquo North Adams Transcript 2 June 1903 p 5

82Keller Strategic Brand M anagement 576-577 Franziska Volckncr and Henrik Sattler ldquoDrivers o f

Brand Extension Successrdquo Journal o f M arketing 70 (2006) 18

83ldquoVirgin Historyrdquo Virgncom lthttpwwwvirgincomhistorygt [2 July 2012]

84 Eugen Sandow Body-Building or M an in the M aking H ow to Become Healthy amp Strong (London

Gale amp Polden Ltd 1904) Adam Sandow on Physical Training Sandow Strength and How to O btain It

Eugen Sandow The GospelofStrength According to Sandow (Melbourne T Shaw Fitchett 1902) Chapman Sandow the M agnificent 178-179

85Chapm an Sandow the M agnificent 108-109

ldquoldquoAlfred J Weed ldquoBacteria Germs N ot the Only Cause o f Diseaserdquo Sandows M agazine o f Physical

Culture 30 May 1907 p 686 ldquoHow to Keep in Condition in H o t Weatherrdquo Sandowrsquos M agazine o f Physical Culture 30 August 1906 p 63 George Elliot Flint ldquoThe Strength and Symmetry o f Man

Compared with Animalsrdquo Sandowrsquos M agazine o f Physical Culture 30 August 1906 p 268 Sanitas ldquoSleepshylessnessrdquo Sandows M agazine o f Physical Culture 30 May 1907 p 681 Waller The Perfect M an 121

87Waller The Perfect M an 121

88Tania Lewis ldquoBranding Celebritization and the Lifestyle Expertrdquo Cultural Studies 24 (2010)

580-598 ldquoChildren o f Sandowrdquo p 184 Eugen Sandow ldquoHow to Preserve Health and Attain Strengthrdquo

Cosmopolitan A M onthly Illustrated M agazine June 1894 p 169 ldquoEugen Sandow on Athletic Trainingrdquo Otago Witness 11 November 1897 p 56

Sandow The Gospel o f Strength According to Sandow idem Strength and How to O btain It Adam Sandow on Physical Training Sandow Body-Building or M an in the M aking How to Become Healthy amp Strong advertisement Sandows M agazine ofPhysical Culture 1 M arch 1906 p vii advertisement Sandowrsquos M agazine o f Physical Culture February 1905 p iii advertisement Sandows M agazine o f Physical Culture

January 1903 p 95

Sandow Strength a nd How to O btain It 141

9lChapm an Sandow the M agnificent 101 174Waller The Perfect M an 113

92 Advertisement Sandows M agazine o f Physical Culture 9 February 1905 p v

93Chapm an Sandow the M agnificent 181-184 Waller The Perfect M an 240-241 advertisement

Sandows M agazine o f Physical Culture January 1903 p 95

W aller The Perfect M an 238

C hapm an Sandow the M agnificent 172 ldquoSandow and the Doctorsrdquo M arlborough Express 17 July 19 L1 p 7 Foutch ldquoArresting Beautyrdquo 176

Advertisement Sandows M agazine o f Physical Culture 15 November 1906 p ix Chapman Sandow the M agnificent 116

97Richard Grigonis ldquoYork Barbell Museum amp USA Weightlifting Hall o f Fame (York Pennsylvashy

nia)rdquo Interesting Am erica 31 M arch 2012 lthttpwww interestingsmericacom2012-03-31_U SA- W dghdifting-Hall-of-Fame_by_Grigonishtmlgt [15 April 2012]

Advertisement Sandows M agazine o f Physical Culture 30 M ay 1907 p ii advertisement Sandows M agazine o f Physical Culture 8 March 1906 p iv

Advertisement Sandows M agazine o f Physical Culture 9 February 1905 p 157

l00Chapm an Sandow the M agnificent 224

l01Advertisement Sandowrsquos M agazine o f Physical Culture M arch 15 1906 p vi

l02Chapm an Sandow the M agnificent 167-169 Waller The Perfect M an 169 232-237

l03Keller Strategic Brand M anagement 243 247 Leonard L Berry ldquoRelationship Marketing o f

Servicesmdash Growing Interest Emerging Perspectivesrsquo Journal o f the Academy o f M arketing Science 23 (1995)

236-237

l04ldquoSandow Magazine Readersrsquo C lubrdquo Sandowrsquos M agazine o f Physical Culture 15 March 1906 pp 335-337 ldquoSandow Magazine Readersrsquo C lubrdquo Sandowrsquos M agazine o f Physical Culture 24 January 1907 pp 109-111 ldquoSandow Magazine Readersrsquo C lubrdquo Sandowrsquos M agazine o f Physical Culture 1 M arch 1906 pp 281-284 ldquoSandow Magazine Readersrsquo C lubrdquo Sandowrsquos M agazine o f Physical Culture 21 M arch 1907 pp 359-361 ldquoSandow Magazine Readersrsquo C lubrdquo Sandowrsquos M agazine o f Physical Culture 19 July

1906 pp 89-93

l05ldquoSandow Magazine Readersrsquo C lubrdquo Sandowrsquos M agazine o f Physical Culture 1 M arch 1906 p

281

l06ldquoSandow Magazine Readersrsquo C lubrdquo Sandowrsquos M agazine o f Physical C ulture 21 March 1907 p359

l07ldquoHints from Sandowrdquo Sandowrsquos M agazine o f Physical Culture 8 M arch 1906 p 318

l0ldquoSandow Magazine Readersrsquo C lubrdquo Sandows M agazine o f Physical Culture 21 March 1907 pp 281-284 ldquoSandow Magazine Readersrsquo C lubrdquo Sandows M agazine o f Physical Culture 7 February 1907

pp 335-337 ldquoSandow Magazine Readersrsquo C lubrdquo Sandowrsquos M agazine o f Physical Culture 24 January1907 pp 376-380 ldquoSandow Magazine Readersrsquo C lubrdquo Sandowrsquos M agazine o f Physical Culture 15 N oshyvember 1906 pp 794-797 ldquoSandow Magazine Readersrsquo C lubrdquo Sandcws M agazine o f Physical Culture11 October 1906 pp 459mdash460 ldquoSandow Magazine Readersrsquo C lubrdquo Sandowrsquos M agazine o f Physical Culshyture 21 June 1906 pp 633-635 ldquoSandow Magazine Readersrsquo C lubrdquo Sandowrsquos M agazine o f Physical Culture 22 M arch 1906 pp 109-111 ldquoSandow Magazine Readersrsquo C lubrdquo Sandowrsquos M agazine o f Physishycal Culture 15 M arch 1906 pp 173mdash174 ldquoSandow Magazine Readersrsquo C lubrdquo Sandowrsquos M agazine o f Physical Culture March 1 1906 pp 359-361

l0vSandow Strength and How to O btain It 81

110ldquoInterview w ith Sandowrdquo Indian People 6 November 1904 pp 9 -10

lsquoArthur H Collard ldquoNotes o f the M onthrdquo Sandows M agazine o f Physical Culture 12 July 1906

p 59 W illiam Laurenson Jr ldquoNotes o f the M onthrdquo Sandows M agazine ofPhysical Culture 12 July 1906

p 59 H W hite ldquoNotes o f the M onthrdquo Sandows M agazine o f Physical Culture 12 July 1906 p 59 FH

Lumb ldquoNotes o f the M onthrdquo Sandows M agazine o f Physical Culture 22 March 1906 p 379 Joseph Shancross ldquoNotes o f the M onthrdquo Sandows M agazine o f Physical Culture 22 M arch 1906 p 379

112ldquoBest Developed Child C om petitionrdquo Sandowrsquos M agazine o f Physical Culture August 1902 pp 147-148 ldquoSandows Magazine Physical Culture C om petitionrdquo Sandows M agazine o f Physical Culture

T April 1905 p 436 ldquoSandows Magazine Physical Culture Com petitionrdquo Sandows M agazine ofPhysi-

calC ulture 9 February 1905 p 115

ll3Chapm an Sandow the M agnificent 134-136

n4Ibid 136 150-151 This assertion is also supported by the numerous newspaper articles and his

first book which were all published before 1901 See for example ldquoSampson and Sandowrdquo ldquoModel o f a

M anrdquo ldquoTwo Very Strong Men T he Modern Sandow and the Ancient Samsonrdquo Adam Sandow on Physishy

cal Training A Study in the Perfect Type o f the H um an Form ldquoM an Versus Lion Com modore and Sandow

Contestrdquo ldquoStronger Than Sandowrdquo Stonewall Argus 2 July 1896 p 3 ldquoEugen Sandow on Athletic Trainingrdquo ldquoHealthy Athletes Eugen Sandow T he Strong Man Gives His Views on the Subjectrdquo Tacoma D aily News 11 December 1897 p 7 and ldquoEugene Sandow Physicalrdquo M inneapolis Journal 27 August

1898 p 12

n5Chapm an Sandow the M agnificent 129-163 Sandow Strength and H ow to O btain It 120-136 ldquoInterview with Sandowrdquo 9mdash10 ldquoSouth Indian Notesrdquo Indian O pinion 15 July 1905 p 11 ldquoEugen Sandowrdquo N orth China Herald 4 August 1905 p 26 Waller The Perfect M an 183-203 ldquoSandow Talks to Boys Displays His Strength before Enthusiastic Youngsters at East Side Boysrsquo Clubhouserdquo New York Times 21 M arch 1902 p 9

n6ldquoM odel o f a M anrdquo 2 ldquoSandowTalks to Boysrdquo 9

u7Weber ldquoT he Progress o f Physical Culture in Australiardquo Coulter Collection British

ll8Daley Leisure amp Pleasure 41 -57 Weber ldquoThe Progress o f Physical Culture in Australiardquo

U9John McCrystal The Originals 1905A ll Black Rugby Odyssey (Glenfield New Zealand Random

House 2005) 2 2 71 W J Stead and New Zealand Sports Hall o f Fame Billyrsquos Trip Home The Remarkshy

able D iary o f an AU Black on Tour (Dunedin New Zealand New Zealand Sports Hall o f Fame 2005) 9

20Joseph S Alter ldquoIndian Clubs and Colonialism H indu Masculinity and Muscular Christianityrdquo Comparative Studies in Society and History 46 (2004) 512 Chapm an Sandow the M agnificent 159-160 Waller The Perfect M an 196-203-

l2lldquoRama M urti T he Indian Hercules W ho Supports a Three Ton Elephant on His Chestrdquo nd C oulter Collection British ldquoRama M urtirdquond Coulter Collection British Basanta Koomar Roy ldquoRam

M urti Naidu T he Hercules o f H industhanrdquo nd Coulter Collection British Basanta Koomar Roy ldquoStrength and Vegetable Foodrdquo nd Coulter Collection British Basanta Koomar Roy ldquoThe Strongest Man in the Worldmdash W ho Doesnrsquot Eat M eatrdquo nd Coulter Collection British

122Chapm an Sandow the M agnificent 160 KV Iyer Physical Training through Correspondence Lesshy

sons 1-8 (Bangalore City India Hercules Gymnasium amp Physical Culture Correspondence School nd) found in Stark Center

l2W ilson Chacko Jacob Working O ut Egypt Effendi M asculinity and Subject Formation in Colonial Modernity 1870-1940 (D urham N C Duke University Press 2008) 81

124H andbook o f Texas O n line sv ldquoSandow Texasrdquo by Vivian E lizabeth Smyrl lth ttp

wwwtshaonlineorghandbookonlinearticleshts03gt [13 January 2012]

125ldquoW ho Will Succeed Sandowrdquo nd Coulter Collection Sandow

126Interview Jan Todd with Dom inic Morais Austin Texas 14 November 2011 notes in possesshysion o f author