In 1921 Bernarr Macfadden ran a contest in his Physical Culture Magazine for the “World’s Most Handsome Man.” Angelo Siciliano who used the name Charles Atlas entered and was chosen as the clear winner. Was it the socks that did it?
Atlas had been a skinny child who worked hard to build his muscular physique and Physical Culture Magazine was his source of inspiration. Some say he was given the name Atlas by friends who thought he looked like the figure of Atlas holding the world that was in front of the Atlas Hotel in New York City.
One of my characters in Lilac Girls, a French actor, wins the “World’s Most Handsome Man” contest. It was especially fun researching this.
The following year Charles Atlas won another Macfadden contest, “The World’s Most Perfectly Developed Man,” held in Madison Square Garden.
Soon after winning the contests, Atlas began to sell a mail-order bodybuilding course, “Dynamic Tension,” a forerunner of isometric exercises. The Atlas course became famous and is still sold today.
