Charles’ 
Slide of the Week: October 21st, 2005
Muscle Beach, Santa Monica, 1957
This man is doing the hood ornament pose. Is he feeling cool ocean breezes in places where we don’t ordinarily feel cool ocean breezes?!
Southern California’s obsession with fitness began in the 1930s on Santa Monica’s sunny seashore. According to the legend, out of work actors began gathering there to lift weights while sun tanning and hoping to be discovered by a Hollywood talent scout.
This slide, and many more just like it, was taken by Mr. Sheffield, the drama teacher at San Pedro High School. While showing a slide of him during a slide show he was recognized. A woman screamed out of the audience and said “That’s the drama teacher at San Pedro high School, and I’m the drama teacher there now!” It was a magic moment. So I said “What can you tell us about Mr. Sheffield?” She hesitated for a moment and said “Well, he lived at home with his mother and he never married!”
Here’s to the man feeling cool ocean breezes, Mr. Sheffield and you!
Charles Phoenix
Los Angeles
October 2005
Sets this Slide belongs to:
Los Angeles
4 Comments on “Muscle Beach, Santa Monica, 1957”
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February 9th, 2006 at 6:59 pm
A Goliath descends or Lilliputians attack?
Forced-perspective? Messed-up relative-scales, what-have-you, that’s what I’m loving here.
A man with powerful inner ear balance here wows the crowd by balancing a tiny 6-inch child on his extended finger tips while another climbs to remove his navel-lint.
Beware the giants for they just want to enslave us to do their grooming.
February 10th, 2006 at 2:23 pm
Is that hotdog on a stick in the back left?
October 27th, 2007 at 5:31 pm
Just a note. I can remember when I was at Muscle Beach and Doug Strohl was a star then. My membership was just $3 bucks per year and Muscle Beach was sure a fun place. I still train and think that I will be looking good again at 70. Cheers…Dick Stark
January 31st, 2008 at 4:10 pm
Great pictures,Muscle beach is still there, but there is more acrobacts,gymnast, stunperson from the movie industry that still work out every Sunday. I still talk to many of the original crew from muscle beach. I see Armond Tanny (Mr America 1950) he is know 85 years old