Muscle Beach History - by Stuntmovie

[stuntmovie1]

Never enjoyed fishing but all this fishing stuff reminds me of something I haven't thought of in a hundred years or so......

What is the story concerning a GRUNYON RUN???

On my first such 'run' I never found a thing and was later told that there was no such thing but it was simply a way of getting me off my ass and on to the beach before sunrise in search of something that never really existed.

Then many years later....  I was on the beach a bit south of San Clemente (Camp Pendleton)  for some late nite/early morning training exercise and found thousands of civilians on the shoreline going a bit crazy on the shoreline.

I thought that they were there to greet us after a long ship to shore swim  ... but they paid is no attention and said that they were excitedly waiting for the Grunions.

But I was too damn smart to fall for it a second time.

So we took off over the dunes in pursuit of the 'bad guys'  and I never did find out what  the hell a Grunion was .... or even if one actually existed.

And all my life I lived no further than a mile from the sea and spent endless hours within it and under it..... and still have yet to meet one.

[The Ugly]

Mmmm I use to catch them off Catalina. Bake the filets in milk, butter, dill with salt and pepper. Mmmmm.

Indeed.

[The Ugly]

UGLY, YES! Semper Fi if appropriate.

Active duty years before Nam and years thereafter.

Never a hero but served with First Force Reconn and was "adopted" by the 101st Airborne after some life saving episode which led to a war time and hell of a drinking party followed by a damn exciting experience worthy of inclusion in CARCH 22 or Apocalyspe Now.

Great times and I'd do it all over again and try to relive it better.

MB.... We used to scale those cliffs to the left of the photo in the above shot.

We'd start on the Cliff House end and climb along the shoreline past old Sutro's and keep on going until the tide came in and stopped out progress.

Pretty stupid thing to do back then and .... many years later my brother (a San Francisco fireman)  did some sort of search and rescue for hikers who got caught between those fog bound craigs  and the deep blue sea.

Not me, but many Marines in the family. Thank you for your service.

[knny187]

Semper Fidelis Stunt.

[funk51]

here's the china beach pics.

[funk51]

mr mb 1950.

[stuntmovie1]

KNNY! Smper Fi. Good to know other "Jarheads" are on this board.

FUNK! I am AMAZED! I was an avid city hiker during my high school and college years while living in the Sunset District of San Francisco and knew just about every square inch of that city with the exception of the Mission District which was claimed to dislike outsiders from the Sunset.

And I was a regular 'regular' at Sunset Beach and would sit on the wind protected rooftop deck even when the fog rolled in which was about ever single day of the year except when school started after a fog bound summer.

That's where I sat and studied while going through high school and college except for the exceptionally fine and sunny days when I would spend daylight hours on the seawall directly beneath the Cliff House which was up the hill from Playland at the Beach.

Sorry for getting off track here but these are long forgotten memories....

And THIS IS THE FIRST TIME I've ever heard about any sort of physical event being held at China Beach.

And it's great to learn new stuff about stuff and places you thought you were completely knowledgeable about .. but weren't.

I have yet to rad the text that accompanies those photos but I Have a strong feeling that that event was promoted by a Police officer by the name of Bill Stathis who was very active within the world of "PHYSICAL CULTURE"  back in them good old days.

Thanks, FUNK!

[stuntmovie1]

FUNK, do you have a date when those China Beach photos were taken?

[funk51]

FUNK, do you have a date when those China Beach photos were taken?

     i scanned them out of the aug-sept-oct 1959 issue of ironman magazine.. so it could be in april may 1959 or so...

[The Scott]

I need a Wayback Machine NOW!

I would visit the mid 40s through the late 50s first.  I despise what the world has become of late and bodybuilding more so.

A Physical Culturist is more of what I have become.  I cannot identify with what trundles on and off the dais these days.  A bunch of little boys masquerading as men.  It is most likely a given that we will never see the like again of men such as Reeves, Park and Eiferman. 

The manlets of today want it now, sans any effort.   

[Howard]

I need a Wayback Machine NOW!

I would visit the mid 40s through the late 50s first.  I despise what the world has become of late and bodybuilding more so.

A Physical Culturist is more of what I have become.  I cannot identify with what trundles on and off the dais these days.  A bunch of little boys masquerading as men.  It is most likely a given that we will never see the like again of men such as Reeves, Park and Eiferman. 

The manlets of today want it now, sans any effort.   

Thanks. It's nice to know, I'm not alone in my thinking.

[stuntmovie1]

It looks like it might be a good idea to update this topic and move a couple pf miles south to the new Muscle Beach in Venice, Ca.

This location also has a very  interesting history which may be of interest to some of you GetBiggers, but I'll be needing a lot of help to fill in the historical blanks between the 1950's through the present.

So let me start this off by doing my best to recall how the beach scene from Santa Monica to Venice was back in them good old days and how it gradually evolved into the circus as we know it today.

Here goes ....

Back before I arrived on the scene, Venice wads a small beach town with CANALS, some of which are still there today. It was the part of Los Angeles where many old time movie stars resided  and even Charlie Chaplain had a home right on the beach where he hosted many elaborate parties. And it's still there but it's now used to sell tourist crap, hot dogs, hamburgers, and lemonade.

When I arrived in the 1950's Muscle Beach was still in Santa Monica. My first visit  was during an overcast midweek morning and a sole bodybuilder by the name of Doug STROHL was in the pit  lifting heavy rusted dumbbells and complaining about the weather.

A few years later I realized that the sun rarely shone on Muscle Beach before 11:30 AM and I think it's still the same today, but back then there was no such thing as smog, nor traffic, nor parking meters, nor lots of other stuff that causes us to complain so avidly today.

But even early in the morning you could hear the Merry Go Round music coming from the Santa Monica Pier less than a 100 yards north of this "pit" with the rusty dumbbells and barbells and rickety wooden benches.

So you always had the Merry Go Round music playing in the background while you did three or four sets of eight to twelve reps for every body-part while inhaling the salt air coming from the lapping waves less than 40 yards away.

During these early week-day mornings, it was a quiet and relaxing workout environment that has been seldom seen since them good old days.

But on the weekends, all hell broke loose and Muscle Beach became one of the major hectic area within the Los Angeles basin.

It turned into a 'circus' with circus-type individuals doing circus type stuff and decent built guys and gals stood on shoulders as high as they could go  while thousands of city-folk crowded around to get a better look at all the crazy stuff that was happening here on Muscle Beach.

On most weekends it got so crowded that it felt good to get away and head on south down the beach by way of the electric tram that started a the Santa Monica Pier and ended at a somewhat deserted spot called Venice Beach roughly two miles down the coast.

More to follow ....

[Mr. MB]

By 1953 my parents thought it was proper that the family had a regular summer beach club. They joined the Johnathan Club (building below the cliff) next to Sorrento Beach Santa Monica. There was a fence of sorts that ran down to the water as far as legal to keep out the "riff raff". Gone were my trolley car rides to Muscle Beach Santa Monica. My Dad made sure that if he was paying club dues I stayed with them. Aaaaarg!! When I turned 16 and bought my own car I became a regular at Sorrento when not in town at Goodrich Gym. I got as high as 5th in 2 man team on the big VB tourney in 1957. The girl who lived next door (she became my first wife and mother of my children) belonged to the much snootier Beach Club (color pic) thru the 50s and 60s.

I miss *sniif* those innocent days.

[funk51]

misc pics. of mb.

[funk51]

 

[funk51]

 

[Primemuscle]

I moved to Beverly Hills, CA when I was 8 years old. This was in 1952. I remember the beach clubs. I didn't venture far enough down the beach to discover Muscle Beach until at least 5 years later, when it was okay with my mom if I walked down the beach. It must have been quite a walk. My mom and I would spend the entire day at the beach, arriving at 10:00 a.m. and heading home around 5:00 p.m. Muscle Beach was a fascination. I knew I wanted to be as muscular as those guys when I got older. Not sure I ever got there though.  

[stuntmovie1]

MB, PRIME, FUNK, Thanks for your latest input.

Here are a couple of Santa Monica Muscle Beach remarks before I continue with my early days tour from the Santa Monica Pier to Venice Beach.

PRIME, MB, I do recall those private Beach Clubs that stretched along Santa Monica Beach beneath that Santa Monica cliff and all the way down to a bit south of the building now known as the Sand Castle which in itself is only a few yards south of what was the original Muscle Beach weight enclosure.

I think that most of those private clubs have been long gone except for a couple that still remain standing.

My family is in the movie business so they are frequent guests of the most exclusive one on the north side of Santa Monica Beach ... the name of which I have forgotten, but I do believe that it is a private Jewish club.

The exclusive club on the southern end of Santa Monica Beach is now an apartment complex but it used to have tennis and volley ball courts on the beach itself until some law was passed making that part of the beach accessible for all and not just for club members.

The Purser apartments that can be seen in the background of a couple of Funk's photos is still standing if my memory serves me well.

Some of those beach houses along PCH just  north of the SM Pier were the homes of some of the original founders of the major Hollywood film studios and I understand that Marilyn Monroe spent some time with JFK
when one of those larger beach front residences belonged to Peter Lawford.

There's a lot of Hollywood history along that stretch of beach.

Next up: The Electric Trolly-Car Ride from Muscle Beach to Venice and Return.

[Primemuscle]

MB, PRIME, FUNK, Thanks for your latest input.

Here are a couple of Santa Monica Muscle Beach remarks before I continue with my early days tour from the Santa Monica Pier to Venice Beach.

PRIME, MB, I do recall those private Beach Clubs that stretched along Santa Monica Beach beneath that Santa Monica cliff and all the way down to a bit south of the building now known as the Sand Castle which in itself is only a few yards south of what was the original Muscle Beach weight enclosure.

I think that most of those private clubs have been long gone except for a couple that still remain standing.

My family is in the movie business so they are frequent guests of the most exclusive one on the north side of Santa Monica Beach ... the name of which I have forgotten, but I do believe that it is a private Jewish club.

The exclusive club on the southern end of Santa Monica Beach is now an apartment complex but it used to have tennis and volley ball courts on the beach itself until some law was passed making that part of the beach accessible for all and not just for club members.

The Purser apartments that can be seen in the background of a couple of Funk's photos is still standing if my memory serves me well.

Some of those beach houses along PCH just  north of the SM Pier were the homes of some of the original founders of the major Hollywood film studios and I understand that Marilyn Monroe spent some time with JFK
when one of those larger beach front residences belonged to Peter Lawford.

There's a lot of Hollywood history along that stretch of beach.

Next up: The Electric Trolly-Car Ride from Muscle Beach to Venice and Return.

Those were some happy days. It's fun to recall them.

[Joe Roark]

Stunt, I have several contests filed for China Beach, but only from 1958 thru 1961.

[stuntmovie1]

JOE, That is really surprising because those were the exact years I was a semi-regular at China Beach and never realized that they were going on, but if they occurred during the summer months I was spending a lot of time 72 miles north of China Beach on the Russian River which was the epi-center of every teen age kid who lived anywhere near the San Francisco Bay Area.

That's where we first met Reeves and numerous other pioneers within the heavy lifting world.

I have a strong feeling the the name of Bill Stathis is prominent in those files .... and possibly Doc Northrup also.

But bodybuilding events in the SF Bay Area were very uncommon at that time  and nothing compared tot he bodybuilding activity within the Los Angeles area.

Thanks, Joe!

[Joe Roark]

Stunt,
I should acknowledge that although several contests were labeled as happening at China Beach, they may not have actually taken place on the beach. For example:

July 4, 1958 The China Beach Deadlift Contest took place in Westlake, CA. (is that near China Beach?)

Several contests wearing the name China Beach (May 17, 1959 Miss China Beach, and the 1959 Mr. China Beach for which I have seen two dates attributed July 12, and Sept 19, were listed as happening in San Francisco).

The May 28, 1961 Powerlift Chps were said to have happened at China Beach, CA. Exactly where, do not know. You may be correct if you doubt that the events happened on the actual beach.

[stuntmovie1]

JOE, the Westlake area of San Francisco is on the southern end of the city limits ... at least it was back them but the city may have stretched south a bit since those early days.

As I recall it ... the Westlake area was sort of like cowboy country with a lot of horse stables and a couple of wild ass red-neck wild west type bars.

And I don't recall anyplace on that part of the city that held any sort of lifting event, but those 'China Beach' titles were most likely held at China Beach when I waS raising hell as a teenager up on the Russian River in a small summer place called RIO NIDO.

Was powerlifting even called "powerlifing" back then? I seem to recall it was referred to as "ODD LIFTING". But that could have been 10 years earlier.

No mention of BILL STATHIS???. He was the pioneer of all things LIFTING back then as far as I recall.

Reeves was lifting across the Bay so he was only seen on rare occasions unless we ran into him in Rio Nido (see above),

One busy weekend night he got in a bit of trouble there... but I think I've told that story earlier.

Thanks, Joe!

[Joe Roark]

Stunt, I assume you mean Bill Stathes?

[Mr. MB]

Stunt....The Beach Club was located on both sides of the highway. (view from upper club attached) I can assure you that it was not a Jewish club. My WASP inlaws were members along with their WASPish friends.