Beefcake - The Muscle Magazines of America 1950 - 1970 (Photobook)

Gay history is largely a hidden, unwritten, history. This book charts the genre of muscle magazines after the Second World War up to 1970, when male homosexuality was still illegal, and a serious offence in countries like the United Kingdom and the United States. Although at first sight these magazines look like examples of soft porn from that era, they were one of the few means that gay men could find to express and affirm their self identity, and as such an important part of the history of gay culture. Readers may like to see the film of the same name which was inspired by the book Beefcake [1999] [DVD ].

Becasue of the publishers I assumed this would be a high quality book perhaps with some detailed history of the era etc. It isn't. The text, as basic as it is, is in three languages so it looks quite full but is just the bare minimum really. The photographs are none too interesting either and the few models presented take up quite a few pages with some mediocre work. One wonders if the compilers just had a few photos to go on and tried to make the most of it. It would explain a lot. I would imagine there are a lot more detailed and interesting books on this topic than this one.

Classic muscle poses that for me surpass anything that appears in the published genre today. The men's bodies have a grace and innocence that is absent from the muscle images published today. The models don't look as if they have just swum through an oil slick for one thing!! If any physique fans know of similar books available let us know about them. Well worth buying this if, like me you grew up in the fifties & early sixties and hanker for a bit of youthful nostalgia.

.....all though I wasn’t even born during the height of “Beefcake” I should have been move aware of the genre. After being enlightened by this book I'm wishing I could go back in time for a few weeks as I never imagined that this kind of life and activity occurred in the 40's, 50's, and 60's. Tells how naive I am! You will absolutely love the book. We thought the 80s & 90s were liberating…….hell we were old news by then.

Beefcake（牛肉菓子）を辞書で引いて Male Nudeのことであると知った時は、ビックリした。これは F.Valentine Hooven三世なる方が、1950-1970年代に出回ったMuscle Beautyを売り物にした雑誌を示して、Male Nudeの歴史を解説した作品である。ギリシャ彫刻のポーズの模倣に始まり、ボディービルコンテスト候の筋骨隆々を経、やがて普通らしい佇まいに至り、遂には、無花果の葉がはらりと地に落ちるまでを、実例を挙げて説明しているのである。1950年代に活躍した人気モデルBob Delmantiqueの懐かし姿や、今も活躍の Tom of Finlandのイラストなども見られて、たのしい一冊に仕上がっている。それにしても、たった一枚の葉が地に落ちるまでに、長い長い年月がかかったことを思うと、今更ながらため息が出るのである。

good book I just wish the fotos were clearer and larger

Good book, the quality according as the description, very good seller.

Seems poorly researched and the print quality/picture size is rather poor. But still, beefcake. :-)