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May 1, 2017

Beefcake and Bulges in Old Swedish Photographs

The Du Gamla website uploads photographs of people who lived in Sweden from the 1850s and 1950s.  Some local celebrities, like Olympic athletes, but mostly regular people with no particular claims to fame.

It's a fascinating compendium of people who were once solid, who ate and drank and planned for the future, who desired and were desired by men or women, or both, and now are long forgotten.

Like Allan Buhne, 1911.  Obviously a wrestler.

I have found no other record of him on the internet except for this, from the records of the Hammarby Idrottsförening (Sports Club) in Stockholm: Allan Buhne came 4th in SM. He worked for almost all his life in Hammarby Wrestling.

It's obvious that he had the same singlet problem that wrestlers have today.



Frithiof Martensson (1888-1956) was a middle weight contender in the wrestling contest at the 1908 Olympics.  Later he became a dental hygienist.
















August Bylen, 1871-1954, was a metalsmith and farmer. And, apparently, packing.


















Ruben Johansson, 1899 to 1918.  Very cute guy.  He died at age 19, maybe during the worldwide influenza epidemic.



















Ragnar Larsson, 1901-1984, a wrestler at the 1924 Olympics.

More after the break.



















Andreas Cervin (1888-1972), a gymnast in the 1908 Olympics.  He later became a lawyer and alderman.

















The Sjostrom Brothers, wearing the top fashion in men's swimsuits in 1912. Helmer, in the middle, is 18 years old, and shows a sizeable basket.

I went to a Swedish Lutheran college, and one of my classmates was a Sjostrom.  I wonder if he was a relative.  Maybe Helmer's grandson.

There's a Sjostrom and Sons Construction Company near Rock Island.








I don't know who he is, but I'll bet you are fantasizing about kissing him.

















I don't know who he is, either.  Obviously a wrestler, with a nice tight chest and rather small biceps.



















Thure Ahlqvist (1907-1983), was a boxer who was active from 1926 to 1935, and won a medal at the 1932 summer Olympics.

See also: Pudge and Budge, the Beefcake Buddies of Yale University

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