The Seat of Health
Inside the suitcase-like box in the photo is a portable rowing machine personally owned by George F. Jowett, a very influential writer, athlete and promoter of weight training during the first half of the 20th century. Called the “Seat of Health,” this rowing machine is made of stainless steel and was marketed as a device which could be carried on trips by busy, but fitness-conscious, travellers. It is still fully functional, and was given to the collection by Jowett’s daughter, Phyllis Jowett, who also donated scrapbooks, photographs, barbells, artwork and correspondence. Ms. Jowett also endowed a scholarship at UT in her father’s name.
The Milo Barbell Company
This dumbbell, first produced by the Milo Barbell Company in 1902, is the only one known to still exist. It is adjustable so that its weight can be increased or decreased by varying the amount of lead shot that is inside. The round, flat plate in the photo can be screwed on and off to allow the weight of the bell to be altered. The Milo Barbell Company was founded by Alan Calvert, a pioneer in the field of weight training in the U.S. who also went on to found Strength magazine in 1914. This dumbbell was given to the Todds in the 1980s by Dale Friez.
York Barbell Company
This pillow was given to the Todds by Alda Ketterman Hoffman, the widow of Bob Hoffman—who founded the York Barbell Company in 1932 and went on to become the most influential person in physical culture in the U.S. over the next 40 years. He bought the Milo Barbell Company, which had been founded by Alan Calvert in 1902, in 1932, but almost immediately named it after the town in which he lived—York, Pennsylvania. Hoffman, who began publishing Strength & Health magazine in 1932, was a great believer in the importance of “Olympic-style” lifting in the improvement of health as well as the improvement of athletic performance, and his York Barbell Club won the national team championships for 48 consecutive years.
... and over 150,000 more
Artifacts from the history of physical culture are stacked on every shelf top in the collection. Here a statue of the famous bodybuilder John Grimek rests alongside boxes for the Whitely Exerciser and a pair of Sandow’s Spring Grip Dumbbells. The large photo is of Earle Liederman, who rivaled Charles Atlas in the mail order business in the 1920s. The wood carving, from the Basque region of Spain, depicts stone lifting, a tradition that still continues there. The spherical weight in the center is called a kettlebell.
