Thanks, Montana! I believe that it was Clancy who signed me up at the West Portal location in SF. Long time ago so it could have even been Alan Stephan. But I do know for a fact that Steve Reeves came into the Gold Gate Avenue AHS location before they closed up and watched me benching one afternoon. I simply said "hello"with the intention of talking with him after my workout, but he was gone before I finished.
Johnny Vegas, how do you know all this? !!! You are one of the mightly few that knows about Oakland and bodybuilding in the 50's and beyond and you are ENTIRELY CORRECT.
Are you also aware of Lake Tamescal in the Oakland Hills and Rio Nido on the Russian River? Those were two of the bodybuilding hot-spots back in the 40's and the 50's? (I'll try to attach pictures of both spots at the end of this post.)
I knew all the guys you mentioned above (plus one you failed to mention who visited Oakland in the days of Reeves by the name of Reg Park) and that brings back a lot of good memories.
Back then bodybuilding was UNKNOWN except for a handful of guys in the SF Bay Area. Jack Lalanne had a gym (around the 300 block of Market Street in the dumpy part of town back then), and Walt Baptiste and his wife had a gym on Van Ness Avenue in a similar slockie location mostly catering to Yoga enthusiasts, and most of the serious odd lifters and bodybuilders trained at the YMCA on Golden Gate Avenue or over in Oakland at Yarick's.
ANd to the best of my memory that was the extent of it in the early 50's until a SF Police Office by the name of Bill Stathis opened a very small gym out in the Sunset neighborhood on Judah Street and close to 39th avenue, and for the more fortunate - The Olympic Club in San Francisco.
(Being a bit specific, because it sounds like you might know of these individuals and places.)
I can only recall BB contests being held in the Golden Gate YMCA or over in some old place in Oakland with no more than 5 or 6 competitors. The following names come to mind but I could be completely off base here .... Mel Knoll, Curt Freeman, Curt Haywood, and a handfull of others who were not as well known as Clancy and Steve and Reg and Norm and Al and George; but were as equally impressive. They just never had the chance to run into the likes of Russ Warner and Arti Zeller; and Weider was a relatively unknown entity back then.
Lake Tamescal was one of the spots where Steve would go to catch the sun on occasions. I first met him there when I was a little kid. He tapped me on the head while he was coming out of the water and said something like, "Get big, kid!" I must have been around 5 or 6 at the time and had no idea who he was until years later when he became pretty well known in the Bay Area.
One of the local newspapers did an interview with his mom and I recall reading it and Mrs Reeves telling the writer that her son never had a cold or a cavity. That same weekend we saw Steve and a couple of his friends in Rio Nido where every kid in the Bay Area went on Summer weekends to swim during the day and hit the dancefloor and meet the ladies during the evenings. Dick Crest was the big time orchestra leader back then we danced to stuff like Harlem Nocturn and Jungle Boy. No Rock and Roll till later on when Rock Around the Clock got our attention and just about started it all.
Those were different times than we find today. Times of "innocence" might be the best description.
The few guys in school who lifted weights followed Steve's routine to the letter - Three to four sets of 8 to 10 reps, three times a week - if I recall rightly. Gains were slow but noticeable. Vitamin E oil and yogurt were the maine supplements. Protein powders were non-existent to the best of my recollection.
Damn! Didn't intned to carry on like this but those were the days that are worth remembering.
Thanks, Montana, Thanks, Johnny.
I bow my head to all those greats.
I'll try to find a couple of those pictures now.......
