The ad read, Brother, can YOU spare a DIME 10ct? How to Gain up to 50 lbs. of Mighty Muscles! YOU into a New Athletic Mighty-Muscled-Stretched HE MAN
I wanted to be such a He Man like the men I saw portrayed in the glossy back page of my comic book. I flexed my biceps each night before going to bed in hope that the next time they would rise an inch taller. I even surprised my mother by eating all the slimy spinach she spooned on my plate.
I so much desired to develop a vise-like grip on my slim situation and become the strong man--starting right now at age 10!
POWER-PACKED WRISTS...SLEDGE-HAMMER FOREARMS...In Just Minutes A Day!
But, there was a catch...this was going to cost me a bundle: $1 was a month's allowance! I'd have to really work hard around the house here and wash/wax my stepfather's Ford Fairlane a few times, too. Then, spotted another advertisement inside of my friend's borrowed Sgt. Rock of Easy Company comic book.
SKINNY or FAT, 15, 20, 30, 40 YEARS OF AGE...Pick the Kind of Body You Want
I want that one there! Indeed, there was hope for me! And this offer was for free, as was another I found in my sister's sissy Archie comic she kept in her underwear dresser drawer.
The ad said, Hey, Skinny!...yer ribs are showing! I definitely didn't want to be that embarrassed chum with the girl and the scenario played out on the page! Above the picture perfect photo of Charles Atlas and his notable bulges was this, his telling testimony:
I Can Make YOU a New Man, Too, In Only 15 Minutes a Day!
My 32-Page Illustrated Book is Yours - Not for $1.00 or 10 cts. - But FREE
Hey, I could spare a quarter-hour out of my busy boy day and build me a body like his!
I dreamed of being the only Charles on the beach, walking bronzed and broad by bikini-clad girls, who sat up from sunning themselves to admire my physic, as I passed by. You could see the guys envying my muscles and strength: bulging arms, thighs, chest, and washboards...Nobody was going to mess with me, except the beautiful women I met and lifted up and over my head with ease, as I would barbell weights!
