by Clinton Brown

Physical Culture was a magazine that ran from 1899 to 1951.  It was founded by a man named Bernarr Macfadden, who used the magazine to promote body building and his theories on nutrition.  Macfadden was a big believer in and advocate for fasting or, as some of us call it today, anorexia.  Here’s a picture of him being visited by President Franklin D. Roosevelt:

And below is a small sampling of the body-obsessed covers of Physical Culture:

Artist Unknown

by John Drew

Artist Unknown

Artist Unknown

By Arthur Ray McCowen

by Clinton Brown

by Jay Weaver

by Jay Weaver

by Jay Weaver

by John Drew

Artist Unknown