Charles Atlas 552505 225945509 2008-07-16T03:43:39Z 140.142.199.85 /* History */ {{Advert|date=December 2007}} '''Charles Atlas''', born '''Angelo Siciliano''' ([[October 30]], [[1892]] [[Acri]], [[Italy]] &ndash; [[December 23]], [[1972]], [[Long Beach, New York]]<ref>Charles Atlas [http://www.sandowplus.co.uk/Competition/Atlas/Obit/obituary.htm obituary]</ref>) was the developer of a [[bodybuilding]] method and its associated [[exercise]] program, most well-known for a landmark [[advertising]] campaign featuring his name and likeness, which has been described as one of the most lasting and memorable ad campaigns of all time<ref name="hogan">[http://cagle.msnbc.com/hogan/features/atlas.asp The ad that made an icon out of Mac]</ref>. According to his description, he [[Physical exercise|trained]] himself to develop his body from that of a "scrawny weakling", eventually becoming the most popular [[muscleman]] of his day. He took the name "Charles Atlas" after a friend told him he resembled the statue of [[Atlas (mythology)|Atlas]] on top of a hotel in [[Coney Island]],{{Fact|date=March 2008}} and legally changed his name in [[1922]]. His company, Charles Atlas Ltd., was founded in [[1929]] and, as of 2004, continues marketing a fitness program for the "97-pound weakling." The company is now owned by [[Jeffrey C. Hogue]].{{Fact|date=March 2008}} ==History== Born '''Angelo Siciliano''' (also called Angelino) in [[Acri]], in [[Calabria]], [[Italy]] in [[1892]], he moved to [[Brooklyn]], [[New York]] in [[1905]], took the name Charles, and became a leatherworker. Although it has been said by some that he had been a small, weak child, by his own admission Siciliano was not undersized when he started training. Siciliano worked hard to develop his [[physique]]; he tried many forms of exercise initially, using [[weights]], [[pulley]]-style [[Friction|resistance]], and [[gymnastic]] style [[calisthenics]]. Atlas was inspired by other [[fitness]] and health advocates who preceded him. World-renowned strongman [[Eugene Sandow]] and [[Bernarr MacFadden]], creator of Physical Culture," both set the stage for Atlas. After being bullied, the young Siciliano joined the [[YMCA]], and began to do numerous exercise routines. He became obsessed with strength. One day, he watched a tiger stretching in the zoo, and asked himself, "How does Mr. Tiger keep in physical condition? Did you ever see a tiger with a barbell?"{{Fact|date=March 2008}} He concluded that lions and tigers became strong by pitting muscle against muscle.<ref>(The 20th Century History With The Boring parts Left Out" D. Wallechinsky 1999)</ref> In [[1921]], Bernarr MacFadden was the publisher of the magazine, ''[[Physical Culture (magazine)|Physical Culture]]''. MacFadden dubbed him "The World's Most Perfectly Developed Man" in a [[contest]] held in [[Madison Square Garden]]{{Fact|date=March 2008}}. He was chosen by a cross-disciplined group of health and medical experts, educators, [[anthropology|anthropologists]], [[scientists]] and medical doctors. They viewed Atlas as having the "perfect male body," and placed his physical measurements on file for posterity.{{Fact|date=March 2008}} Atlas's physical measurements are buried in the [[Crypt of Civilization]], a [[time capsule]] at [[Oglethorpe University]].{{Fact|date=March 2008}} He soon took the role of [[Strongman (strength athlete)|strongman]] in the [[Coney Island]] [[Circus (performing art)|Circus]] [[Side show|Side Show]]. His system was later dubbed "[[Dynamic-Tension]]." The system allegedly turned him into a 180-pound man who was able to pull a 72-ton [[locomotive]] 112 feet along [[railroad tracks]].{{Fact|date=March 2008}} There is a misconception that Charles Atlas used weights to gain his build. Charles Atlas used his own system of Dynamic-Tension to build his body after he tried other systems of exercise and found they did not work for him. Atlas began advertising his program in [[comic books]]. Atlas's "Dynamic-Tension" program consists of twelve lessons and one final perpetual lesson. ==The Famous Charles Atlas Print Advertisement== His ad became iconic, presenting a scenario in which a boy named Mac is threatened on the beach by a sand-kicking [[Bullying|bully]] while his date watches. Humiliated, he goes home and, after kicking a chair and gambling a ten-cent stamp, subscribes to Atlas's "Dynamic-Tension" program. Later, the boy, now muscular, goes to the beach again and beats up the bully, becoming the "hero of the beach." Girls marvel at how big his muscles are, and the ad is called "The Insult that Made a Man out of Mac." "As is true of all the exercises in Atlas's <!-- ATTENTION EDITORS can be argument about whether the possessive of "Atlas" is formed with just an apostrophe or with apos-S. But a quote is a quote, word for word, letter for letter, and down to the punctuation marks. (The strong advice for conversion of smart quotes to plain quotes is probably the *only* punctuation subject, in the case of a direct quote, to WP's MoS.) [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Charles_Atlas&diff=134878115&oldid=134876664 Docclint added this quote], including "Atlas's", at a time when the preceding 'graph was one of the many that used "Atlas'" as the possessive, so they weren't just imitating the other instances of the possessive of the surname. Unless you check the source and find that they somehow mistranscribed it, it is not permissible to change the quote. [[User:Jerzy]] Oh-dark-hundred, 24 January 2008 (UTC) --> course, you can do these exercises almost anywhere." <ref>(Yours in Perfect Manhood, Gaines and Butler 1982)</ref> == Likenesses == Each lesson is supplemented with photos of Atlas demonstrating the exercises. Beyond the physical aspect of his regiment his rhetoric and personal touch improved his likeness even more. He would add commentary that referred to the readers as his friends and gave them an open invitation to write him letters to update him on their progress and stories. His products and lessons have sold millions, and Atlas became the face of fitness. Besides photographs, Atlas posed for many [[statues]] throughout his life, including, it has been said, the statue of [[George Washington]] in [[New York City|New York]]'s [[Washington Square Park]].{{Fact|date=March 2008}} Atlas was also an inspiration and a model for more recent body builders and fitness gurus, including [[Arnold Schwarzenegger]].{{Fact|date=March 2008}} Atlas died of heart failure at age 80 after his daily jog on the beach (it should be noted that his family had a history of heart attacks).{{Fact|date=March 2008}} At the time, people were still writing to him.{{Fact|date=March 2008}} == Cultural References == *"Charles Atlas Song/I Can Make You a Man" from the [[rock and roll]] musical ''[[The Rocky Horror Show]]'' includes multiple references: ** The title line exploits the grammatical ambiguity of Atlas's slogan<ref>James Woycke, [http://books.google.com/books?id=6iAPCjYBW6AC&pg=PA3&lpg=PA3&dq=%22i+can+make+you+a+man%22+-rocky+atlas&source=web&ots=jUcAX4vH5a&sig=emuPMe6AFz9IwGK4O5Qk5YxU0GU ''Au Naturel: The History of Nudism in Canada'', p. 3]</ref> "In just seven days, I can make you a man," between the meanings "...cause you to become a 'real' man" and "... create a man for you." ** It mentions both Charles Atlas and "Dynamic-Tension" by name. ** It refers to a ''98''-pound weakling, a device that did not infringe{{Fact|date=January 2008}} Atlas's trademark on the phrase "97-pound weakling." ** The [[mad scientist|mad-scientist]] character ([[Dr. Frank N. Furter]]) furthermore claims that his [[Frankenstein's monster|Frankensteinian creation]] "carries the Charles Atlas Seal of Approval." *The song "I Can See For Miles" by [[The Who]], featured on the album ''[[The Who Sell Out]],'' is followed by a "commercial" for the Charles Atlas Course. ("The Charles Atlas course with "Dynamic Tension" can turn you into a beast of a man.") [[John Entwistle]] poses on the cover as a panther skin-clad Charles Atlas alumnus, as the more muscular [[Roger Daltrey]] was otherwise occupied in a bathtub filled with baked beans. * An article in ''[[The Onion]]'' newspaper's ''[[Our Dumb Century]]'' spinoff portrays a feud between [[Adlai Stevenson]] and General [[William Westmoreland]] being carried out in the same vein as illustrated in the Charles Atlas advertisement. * A ''[[Spitting Image]]'' annual parodies the Charles Atlas advertisement, with the two protagonists competing not on muscular physique, but their rhetorical skills and grasp of [[post-modernism]]. *The song "[[Mr. Apollo]]," recorded by the [[Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band]] and released on the album ''[[Tadpoles (album)|Tadpoles]],'' parodies Charles Atlas's advertising, with lead-singer/writer [[Vivian Stanshall]] affecting a gruff butch voice. The song involves members of the band singing the praises of fictional bodybuilder Mr Apollo, while Stanshall alternately sings and offers no-nonsense motivational advice, such as "''no tiresome exercises / no tricks / no unpleasant bending / wrestle poodles and win!''" *The song "Sand In My Face" by [[10cc]], on their debut album, is a detailed description of Atlas's legendary ads. *"We Are The Champions" by [[Queen (band)|Queen]] includes the line, "I've had my share of sand kicked in my face..." *The song "I Will Not Fall" By Wiretrain/Wire quote is; "And Charles Atlas Stands, upon the beach, upon his head and says...I will not fall." *The band [[AFI (band)|A.F.I.]] have a song called "Charles Atlas" on their album "Very Proud Of Ya." *The 1990 film ''[[Book of Love (1990 film)|Book of Love]]'' has [[Tom Platz]] playing a Charles Atlas-like character. *Australian band The Fauves had a minor local hit with their song "The Charles Atlas Way." * In the 1966 postmodern Canadian novel ''Beautiful Losers,'' written by [[Leonard Cohen]], Charles Atlas is parodied as "Charles '''''Axis."''''' * In [[Grant Morrison|Grant Morrison's]] run on the comic book series [[Doom Patrol]], the character [[Flex Mentallo]] is the creation come to life of a little boy who wrote his own comic book based on the iconic "Insult that Made a Man out of Mac" advertisement. * The novel ''[[Cat's Cradle (novel)|Cat's Cradle]],'' written by [[Kurt Vonnegut|Kurt Vonnegut Jr.]], mentions Charles Atlas. When the narrator comes across the term "Dynamic Tension" in a book about the mysterious cult leader Bokonon, he laughs because he imagines the author does not know "that the term was one vulgarised by Charles Atlas, a mail-order muscle-builder." However, as he reads on he finds that Bokonon is an alumnus of Atlas's training program, which has inspired his idea that "good societies could be built only by pitting good against evil, and by keeping the tension between the two high at all times." * The [[Bob Dylan]] song "She's Your Lover Now" contains the lyric: "Why must I fall into this sadness?/Do I look like Charles Atlas?/Do you think I still got what you still got, baby?" * The [[Josef K]] song "[[Sorry For Laughing]]" contains the lyric: "When we groove on into town/Charles Atlas, he stops to frown." ==See also== *[[Dynamic tension|Dynamic Tension]] ==References== <references/> ==External links== * [http://www.charlesatlas.com CharlesAtlas.com] * [http://www.sandowplus.co.uk Sandow Plus] * [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=2300 Charles Atlas at Find-A-Grave] {{BD|1892|1972|Atlas, Charles}} [[Category:Advertising]] [[Category:American bodybuilders]] [[Category:American exercise and fitness writers]] [[Category:Burials at St. John's Cemetery (Queens)]] [[Category:Italian-American sportspeople]] [[Category:Naturalized citizens of the United States]] [[Category:People from the Province of Cosenza]] [[Category:Sideshow performers]] [[Category:Strength training writers]] [[es:Charles Atlas]]