Overview
‘Eugen Sandow’ was born Friederich Wilhelm Mueller, in Prussia, in 1867. He started his career as a sideshow strongman. Early on, he began building his muscles to the same proportions as those of the men in classical Greek and Roman art, and as part of his act he imitated their poses. The showman Florenz Ziegfeld soon produced a variety show with Sandow as the main attraction, and ‘Sandow's Trocadero Vaudevilles’ toured major theatres across the United States.
Sandow’s fame spread. He was more than a performer. He was an astute businessman and a passionate advocate of physical health. He developed a fitness regime that he called ‘The Sandow System’. He wrote books about it, published a magazine, and patented his own brand of equipment. In 1887, he opened his own fitness school in London – Sandow’s Institute of Physical Culture. After that, ‘Sandow Schools’ began to proliferate around the world.
In the summer of 1902–3, Sandow toured New Zealand for seven weeks as the star attraction in Mr Harry Rickard’s No. 3 Vaudeville Act. By that time, there were several Sandow Schools here, and his exercise equipment was available in several local stores.
The tour began with five nights in Auckland’s City Hall Theatre. Performing to full houses almost every night, the company worked their way south – to Palmerston North, Masterton, Hawke’s Bay, Wellington, Christchurch, Ashburton, Timaru, Dunedin, Gore, and finally Invercargill. The season closed on 10 January 1903. Tribute is paid to the Sandow craze in the art work by Donna Demente-Ogilvy and Jeff Mitchell, Sandow’s Microvaudevillean Thrillorama!
Audiences had to wait until the second act to see Sandow. The first act included song and dance, a short play, an accordion player, and some short films, one of which showed the coronation of King Edward and Queen Alexandra.
When the curtains rose after intermission, Sandow was standing on the stage atop a revolving pedestal, wearing tights, sandals, and a leopard skin. He flexed his muscles and posed for the audience, then launched into a display of strength. He lifted huge iron barbells in many different ways, attended by assistants dressed as Grecian slaves.
The grand finale was ‘The Tomb of Hercules’: ‘With his feet and hands as sole support Sandow raises his body, whereon is placed a platform bearing all the available dumbell weights. The sight of six attendants then standing on his body, and which must have increased the weight to half-a-ton, was enough to send a thrill through the spectators, and the curtain fell, leaving an amazed audience with food for much thought.’ (1)
An act like Sandow’s could easily have been seen as tacky. However, Sandow was determined to cultivate an image of respectability. The association of his act with high-brow classical art was a good start. In addition, he and his people were masters of PR. They put out carefully worded press releases and organised an official mayoral welcome in each town they visited.
While in New Zealand, Sandow also held seminars with local medical professionals and prominent community members to promote the Sandow System. During these seminars, he would flex his muscles and invite people to feel them – both tensed and relaxed. One of his pupils would then perform exercises, while Sandow talked about the correct way to use the equipment. Finally, there would be a question and answer session.
Sandow was idolised. Early in his career, he allowed women backstage after his show to feel his muscles, in return for a donation to charity. When he married Blanche in 1894, these invitations stopped. However, he remained a heart-throb.
His marriage grew unhappy, and he developed a deep relationship with a handsome male friend, the composer and concert pianist Maurice Sieveking. The two worked together, travelled together, and for a time lived together in New York.
Myths about Sandow abounded, even during his lifetime. When he died in 1925 some said a blood vessel burst in his brain when he lifted an automobile from a ditch after an accident. Others suggested it was syphillis that killed him. Whatever the truth, his legacy lives on.
Sandow’s ideas promoted greater appreciation of the importance of physical exercise – and of less restrictive clothing for women. His stage show and studio photographs also helped liberalise people’s attitudes to displaying the human body, and public physical display became an increasingly acceptable activity.
He’s considered by many today to be the first true bodybuilder, and Mr Olympia winners still receive the coveted ‘Sandow trophy’ sculpted in his image.
Reference
1. The New Zealand Herald, 19 December 1902, p.6.
Text originally published in Tai Awatea, Te Papa's onfloor multimedia database.