Getbig.com: American Bodybuilding, Fitness and Figure
Getbig Bodybuilding Boards => History - Stories - and Memories => Topic started by: wes on May 28, 2026, 05:49:59 AM
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Chapter One:
When I was waaaaaaay younger I bought every muscle magazine I could find........we simply called them "muscle books",though technically they were magazines.
Anyway I used to read them cover to cover many times over.
Used to read about a guy named Claude Rigon who was always winning or placing well in Masters Division contests.....he lived in New Jersey.
Weirdly enough,they opened up a new gym in the South End section of my hometown of Springfield Mass.so my twin cousins who I trained with at the time, and I went there on the opening day to initiate their new gym.
We got busy training, then I spotted a guy doing Pressdowns.........it was Claude Rigon from the magazines!! :o
I went up to him and told him I knew who he was from the mags and he said he was in town to visit his son who attended Springfield College.
Decades later I was competing in the Southern States contest in Ft. Lauderdale and he was in the contest also.........he remembered me when I recounted meeting him in Springfield.
It`s a small world !
(https://scontent-den2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/499820635_9806602396042429_158340719927121445_n.jpg?_nc_cat=104&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=aa7b47&_nc_ohc=urXQ2TJUMIAQ7kNvwHtj61t&_nc_oc=AdpIXd9u0kH6xnrM82NuEGxyGphq3hmb0Xi1qZ7SWh6NkuPLxZf5-QV6zfwi2LssOuI&_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent-den2-1.xx&_nc_gid=6mIY95jRTBJe5Kq0_VDiZA&_nc_ss=7b2a8&oh=00_Af4VVxrrO39sFgw-cKrVPX6pFvoqY3JJxmmaOu2OC0E2sg&oe=6A1E1CF9)
(https://scontent-den2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/504144144_10235972869398858_4837770289133873647_n.jpg?_nc_cat=101&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=bd9a62&_nc_ohc=FXOSguTtZN8Q7kNvwEr-J2_&_nc_oc=AdqEJsxj78iJXcIcH9m_LUg3k2X5AMHDXErPUh_DQuVV6nqC0WhyQFFxioW5RTL7Yx8&_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent-den2-1.xx&_nc_gid=uqKlEe4gtxw2ChcC6ItCUw&_nc_ss=7b2a8&oh=00_Af5Zo-N1_ShVVMNAYCJDmsQ_G5zzPwjdErG0Wv-NSLJNfQ&oe=6A1E0656)
(https://scontent-den2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/486616149_9373825516039313_7669367130039089000_n.jpg?_nc_cat=105&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=bd9a62&_nc_ohc=63SBqpmdZkUQ7kNvwFUk5R6&_nc_oc=Adohv8k15swNrCsPKmt3FeGPAx_Q9C3TBZE2jJv5zjNh3QLey3AUsUrER8gd9ZBdHXk&_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent-den2-1.xx&_nc_gid=1kz0QdKwNjalDkLFOrMlww&_nc_ss=7b2a8&oh=00_Af5Hc85DjEZ5x4iId04ZzSdoPdV8zVvyEGBY21y-VpliVA&oe=6A1E08B3)
^^^^^ Claude with Casey Kucharyk in Puerto Rico guest posing and doing a seminar.
Both times I chatted with him he seemed like a really great guy......RIP. :(
An except from the 1995 Southern States Contest:
Masters 35+ LightWeight
1 Tim Wescott
2 Rick Evans
3 James Jackson
4 Philip Ricciardi
Masters 60+ LightWeight
1 Billy Fraser
2 Gene Schlossberg
3 Claude Rigon
Stay tuned for Chapter Two !! ;)
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Chapter Two:
When I first moved up to Northern N.Y. there was no computer repair shop in my town so I had to go to the nearby town of Massena about an hour away.
So me and my wife brought our computer there to be fixed, and while talking to the hyperactive guy who ran the shop with his wife,he commented saying that I had a good physique and that his father was a bodybuilder also, and that he had won the Mr. America contest.
Right away I`m thinking this guy`s full of shit...............he probably will tell me next that he can bench press 500 pounds.
::)
Anyway,the dude runs upstairs where the family lived over the shop and brings down this magazine:
(https://musclememory.com/magCovers/sh/sh5112.jpg)
^^^^ 1950 Mr. America John Farbotnik
His son was James Farbotnik who was investigated in the death of his Russian wife but was later found not to be a person of interest.
He also shared with me that his father was involved with the Canadian mob but I couldn`t find any evidence of this.
Fucking weird!!
John Farbotnik
Height 5'9"
Weight 195
Born May 20, 1925 Philadelphia, PA
Died March 23, 1998
1946
Mr America - AAU, 5th
1947
Mr America - AAU, 4th
Mr Universe, 2nd
1948
Junior Mr America - AAU, 2nd
1950
Mr America - AAU, Winner
Mr California - AAU, Winner
Mr California - AAU, Most Muscular, 1st
Junior Mr America - AAU, Winner
World-Universe - FICH, Winner
1951
Pro Mr America, Winner
Magazines
1946 September Vol 1, Num 2 Chicago Bodybuilder
1947 January Vol 2, Num 1 Chicago Bodybuilder
1947 June Vol 7, Num 3 Your Physique
1947 July Vol 3, Num 2 Muscle Power
1948 June Vol 3, Num 6 Chicago Bodybuilder
1950 May Strength and Health
1950 August Vol 5, Num 7 Chicago Bodybuilder
1950 December Strength and Health
1951 February Vol 11, Num 1 IronMan
1951 December Strength and Health
1958 April Strength and Health
1999 November Vol 11, Num 3 Hardgainer
Stay tuned for Chapter Three !!