I highly doubt he is natural. Steroids were around in the 50's, and people WERE using them...
No.
Eder was like 21 in that pic, from 1953, and strong as fuck even as a 15-16 year old where the magazines started writing articles about him and his strength. And, it's not "the 50's", it's early 50's, and there is simply no way he could've gotten hold of them.
This guy was hitting a 400 lb bench raw at age 18 or thereabouts. That would've been in 1950.
He did dips with 220 lbs added as a 16 year old.
That would've been 1948.
It's mildly amusing that people WANT to believe he took steroids, but among the anti-drug ironhistorians and old timers who think about the past and old days with joy you will see many of them refer to Marvin Eder - absolutely no possibility of steroids - as a natural superfreak whose lifts have yet to be matched. He is by many thought to be the prime example of what has been achieved without drugs.
But of course I am all ears if you have info the entire iron history community does not.. please explain to me how the poor kid Marvin Eder, plumber apprentice from the bronx, too poor to buy his own set of weights and thus started doing chins and dips on the playground - religiously - could get hold of steroids in 1948 up to 1953, at which year they were INTRODUCED
