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Charles Atlas Records

National Museum of American History

"Everlasting Strength and Health"
There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page .
Finding aid
There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page .

Object Details

sova.nmah.ac.0654
GUID
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep816d0a06c-9626-4d5a-8476-f0405b57904d
Creator
Atlas, Charles, 1893-1972
Topic
Bodybuilding
Masculinity
Provenance
Charles Atlas, Ltd. president Jeffrey C. Hogue donated the collection to the National Museum of American History, Archives Center on April 23, 1998.
Creator
Atlas, Charles, 1893-1972
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Charles Atlas Records
Summary
Collection consists primarily of educational, promotional and publicity materials created by Charles Atlas and others for his bodybuilding business.
Biographical / Historical
Charles Atlas was born Angelo Siciliano in 1893 in Italy and immigrated to New York as a young boy with his family. After failing to build up his body using weight-training equipment, he stumbled upon the concept of resistance exercise – pitting one muscle against another to build strength – during a visit to the Prospect Park Zoo in Brooklyn, and soon turned himself into a muscular beauty. He got his start in physical culture demonstrating exercise equipment and working as a circus strongman, ripping telephone books in half and performing other feats of strength. He later found work as an artists' model, becoming one of the most sought after models in the country, and was chosen as "The World's Most Perfectly Developed Man" in 1922 by Physical Culture magazine. For the next several years, Atlas tried to capitalize on his title by composing a multi-lesson, mail-order bodybuilding course that emphasized both exercise and clean living, physically and mentally. However, he turned out to be a poor businessperson and did not find much success. It was not until Atlas met advertising man Charles P. Roman in 1928, who named the system "Dynamic-Tension" and came up with the "97-pound weakling" marketing concept for which Atlas remains famous, that the correspondence course began to take off. With Roman as his business partner, Atlas became a ubiquitous presence on the backs of comic books and in the minds of scrawny boys everywhere, promising strength and manliness to all who successfully completed his program. The pair sold the course to millions of students worldwide, many of whom wrote Atlas to thank him for changing their lives. They sold several other products, including vitamins and a ten-volume encyclopedia called the Sexual Education Series. Roman bought out Atlas's half of the business in 1970 and sold Charles Atlas, Ltd., to Jeffrey C. Hogue in 1997. The company continues to operate, selling the Dynamic-Tension course, licensed apparel and other items, and nutritional supplements.
Extent
3 Cubic feet (9 boxes, 1 map folder)
Date
circa 1909-1998
Archival Repository
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Identifier
NMAH.AC.0654
Type
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Business records
Photographs
Citation
Charles Atlas Records, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Arrangement
The collection is divided into four series. Series 1, Educational Materials, circa 1920s-1998, undated Series 2, Publicity Materials, 1936-1998, undated Series 3, Promotional Materials, 1936-1998, undated Series 4, Photographs, circa 1909-1998, undated
Processing Information
Collection processed by Erin Podolsky, 2005.
Rights
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Genre/Form
Business records -- 20th century
Photographs -- Black-and-white photoprints -- Silver gelatin -- 19th-20th century
Scope and Contents
This collection consists primarily of educational, promotional and publicity materials created by Charles Atlas and others for his bodybuilding business. There is some information about Atlas's personal life including a biography, newspaper clippings and photographs of him throughout his life and of his family. The materials are useful in understanding health, physical culture, body training and self-esteem issues for males in American society during the first half of the twentieth century.
Restrictions
Collection is open for research.
NMAH.AC.0654
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep816d0a06c-9626-4d5a-8476-f0405b57904d
NMAH.AC.0654
ACAH
Record ID
ebl-1503513420566-1503513420568-0

  • Images 2 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Archival materials 180 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Books 1 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Posters 1 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • 1950s 1 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • 1980s 1 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Charles Atlas Records 180 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Charles Atlas Records / Series 3: Promotional Materials 73 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Charles Atlas Records / Series 1: Educational Materials 44 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Charles Atlas Records / Series 2: Publicity Materials 30 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Charles Atlas Records / Series 4: Photographs 29 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Bodybuilding 1 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Masculinity 1 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Nudity 1 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • CC0 180 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • No 176 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Yes 4 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • ead_component 180 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Promotional Materials

  • Everlasting Health and Strength : My Secret of Dynamic Tension [Booklet]

  • Atlas Summer Camp

  • Photographs

  • Atlas in his office

  • Advertisements for Boys' Life

  • Esquire

  • Newspaper clippings

  • Atlas with Jesse Jones and Owen D. Young

  • Membership cards

  • Newspaper clippings

  • Lesson nine Dynamic-Tension pictorial examples

  • Advertisements for Boys' Life

  • Newspaper clippings

  • Atlas with children

  • Dynamic-Tension course Spanish

  • Lesson seven copy

  • Other materials sold by Atlas Company

  • Licensing

  • Newspaper clippings

  • Advertising proof

  • Atlas beach set-up studio

  • Look

  • Students


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