VOLUME 2 NUMBER 4 November 1992 THE NEEDFOR A HALL OF FAME eople with an interest in the history of physical nominees can be made with a maximum of fairness. culture have realized for many years that we To us, it seems somewhat less important for the Hall of need some sort of overarching, objective, broad- Fame to be a place than it is for it to be a set of procedures which based Hall of Fame. There are, of course, Halls allows deserving men and women to be named to the Hall. In other of Fame in the fields of weightlifting, body- words, it might be the case that, at least for the time being, the Hall building and powerlifting, but there is no orga- would exist only on paper. In time, of course, we hope to find an ideal nized Hall of Fame encompassing all aspects of home for the Hall—a place where living inductees can be formally physical culture. This has been much on our added to the Hall and where lovers of the iron game and physical cul- minds lately. Thus it was that last month, when ture can go to see the memorabilia and the artifacts of the heroes and we were in New York City to attend the tenth heroines in our broad field. The key is to develop a solid set of guide- annual gathering of the Association of Olde- lines for selection. time Barbell and Strongmen, we met with Vic Our first step was to establish a com- Boff and several other people to begin the pro- mittee to study the issue carefully. The com- cess of deciding how we might go about estab- mittee is being jointly sponsored by the Asso- lishing some sort of Hall of Fame. We are ciation of Oldetime Barbell and Strongmen in no great hurry to do this, and we understand and the Todd-McLean Physical Culture Col- that we need to think very carefully about how lection. At this point, the following members best to create and continue a Hall. Many of of the committee have agreed to serve: Vic you probably recall certain Halls of Fame in Boff, Founder and President of the AOBS; our field in the past which were short-lived Joe Roark, IFBB Historian and regular colum- because they were so poorly conceived. No nist in IGH; Al Thomas, writer; David Web- point would be served by rehashing those ster, historian and official; Harold Weiss, col- failures here, but we do hope to learn from lector and attorney; and the two of us. past mistakes and to establish a Hall which The job of the committee is not to will have respect and a lasting life. choose the members of the Hall of Fame, but The sort of Hall we have in mind to work together to establish a set of guide- is one in which members will be chosen on lines under which members can be chosen. a regular basis on the strength of their con- Perhaps some or all of the people named tributions to physical culture. Many such above will be involved in choosing mem- Halls of Fame exist in other activities, with bers for the Hall, but perhaps not. The Inter- the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown national Sports Hall of Fame for Women, being probably the most well-known in this for instance, has a selection committee con- country. We realize we can never rival sisting of all the living members of the Hall. Cooperstown, but we do hope to develop a plan which will result A small group was chosen at the outset, and all future selections have in a Hall with similar consistency over time and with similar pres- been made by those women already in the Hall. tige in the context of our own activity. Over the coming months, As a way to help us decide how best to proceed, we have we hope to be able to establish a system through which nominees written to over 100 Sports Halls of Fame throughout the United can be carefully chosen and through which choices among those States and Canada and asked them to give us information about IRON GAME HISTORY VOLUME 2 NUMBER 4 how they began, how they’re funded, who chooses the members, how a Hall of Fame, and the sooner we all give the Hall our careful con- many are chosen each year, if they have a physical home for their sideration, the sooner it will become a reality. hall, and so on. Once we have gotten this information together, we can study the various approaches and determine a sound approach Thanks are due to several contributors to our Library. for our own Hall. In making such an important decision, care is Martha Deal, daughter of the late Ray Van Cleef, gave us a won- more important than speed. Many factors must be considered. For derful set of correspondence between her father and Alton Elia- example, should we have separate categories for bodybuilding, son; Eliason himself gave us a collection of magazines, photos and weightlifting, powerlifting. arm-wrestling, strongman stunts, coach- meet posters; Mrs. Lou Hopfe contributed her late husband’s exten- ing, writing, promoting, and so on? And how far back should the sive collection of books and magazines; Jack Macfadden, son of Hall reach? Back to Reeves? Sandow? Topham? Milo of Crotona? Johnnie Lee Macfadden and stepson of Bernarr himself, gave us a And how should the issue of retirement be handled? In baseball, play- beautiful oil painting of Macfadden, along with a collection of mag- ers must have been retired for a certain period of time before they’re azines and personal correspondence; Vic Boff sent down a certifi- eligible for induction, but how can we apply such a rule in the dis- cate stating that George F. Jowett had won the Health and Life parate range of activities which make up physical culture? “Pose Competition;” and Sal Franchino, who had heard us explain As this process continues, we would very much appreci- how the Library functions, sent us a generous financial contribution. ate any suggestions. We think the field of physical culture deserves We are very grateful.. —Terry and Jan Todd 2 IRON GAME HISTORY VOLUME 2 NUMBER 4 IRON GAME HISTORY VOL. 2 NO. 4 PATRON SUBSCRIBERS TABLE OF CONTENTS November 1992 DR. CHARLES MOSS JOHN COFFEE Page: SAMUEL GALAGAZA 1. The Need for a Hall of Fame . Terry and Jan Todd DR. PETER GEORGE 3. Bob Peoples: Deadlift Champion . Al Thomas DR. WALTER MARCYAN FRANCIS X. TIRELLI 6. The Search for Suitable Exercise . Jan Todd DEAN CAMENARES MICHAEL DENNIS 16. John Terpak’s 80th Birthday. John Fair FRANK STRANAHAN GERALD M. SMITH 17. A Sandow Chronology. David Webster FREDERICK SHUTZ GORDON ANDERSON 19. Roark Report: The First Mr. America . Joe Roark JACK LANO 21. Grapevine. Staff HAROLD ZINKIN JACK ELDER ED GLOD Co-Editors. Terry and Jan Todd JOHN BALIK SAL FRANCHINO Executive Editor. Dorothy J. Lovett Creative Consultants . Steve Bittick & Joe London Subscriptions . Kim Beckwith FELLOWSHIP SUBSCRIBERS Editorial Board . John Balik (Santa Monica,CA), Jack Berryman (U. of Washington-Seattle), Vic ANONYMOUS ANGELO IUSPA Boff (Fort Meyers, FL), William H. Goetzmann (U. of Texas- ERNEST HACKETT DR. SPENCER MAXCY Austin), John Grimek (York ,PA), John Hoberman (U.of HOWARD HAVENER JOSEPH PULEO Texas-Austin), Joe Roark (St. Joseph, IL), Thomas Ryan JAMES LORIMER JOHN T. RYAN (Texas A&M Univ.), Al Thomas (Kutztown Univ.), Dave Webster (Scotland). JUANITA PEOPLES USA WEIGHT BERNARD BRAND TRAINING CENTER Iron Game History is published six times per year by the McLean Sport Histo- ry Fellowship at the University of Texas at Austin. Address: Terry and Jan DR. JOHN LONG MARTHA DEAL Todd, The Todd-McLean Collection, Room 217, Gregory Gymnasium, The Uni- ARVIN DER DR. KEN “LEO” ROSA versity of Texas at Austin, 78712. Telephone: 512-471-4890. Fax: 512-443-0381 M E U.S. Subscription rate: $15.00* per one year, $25.00* per two years, $50.00 KEVIN O'ROURKE MIKE GRAHAM per two year McLean Fellowship membership, $100.00 per two year McLean ALTER ROLL Fellowship Patron’s subscription. (Additional information can be found on page KEITH RAPISARDI W K 24.) Address all subscription requests to: IGH Subscriptions, Room 217, Gre- NORMAN KOMICH RICHARD MARZULLI gory Gym, The University of Texas, Austin, Texas, 78712. *Canada and other foregin subscriptions add $15.00 (U.S.) per year. STEPHENGALYA GERALDCOLES Back Issues: $4.00 each. JAMESGRAY DYKESHEWETT Iron Game History is a non-profit enterprise. Postmaster: Please send address corrections to: Iron Game History, Room 217, Gregory Gymnasium, The University of Texas, Austin, Texas 78712. 2 November 1992 IRON GAME HISTORY Al Thomas, Ph.D. Kutztown University B OB PEOPLES: DEADLIFT CHAMPION, STRENGTH THEORIST,CIVIC LEADER s kids, when we headed out to lift weights, taken root, intermarrying with the local English and Germans. Bob that’s what we did: lift weights. Nowadays lived in Central Community in Carter County. He was married for a kid doesn’t head out to some icebox garage 53 years to the former Juanita Wills, who after 32 years of elemen- or dirt-floored cellar; more likely he’s off to tary and junior high teaching is now retired, the recipient of many a plush-carpeted spa with a blonde in span- awards for her long service in special education and for her civic and dex behind the instructor’s clipboard. And church work. They have a daughter, two granddaughters, and a except in name, it isn’t “weightlifting” that great-granddaughter.