Bernarr MacFadden, Physical Culture, and Fascism

Bernarr MacFadden (Bernard McFadden, 1868-1955) was at least twice as interesting as the most interesting person you can think of. Fame and accomplishment in one field (physical culture) led to fame, accomplishment, and wealth in another (publishing). He thus combines the attributes of an eccentric millionaire publisher like William Randolph Hearst with those of eccentric health cult leaders like Jerome Rodale or Father Yod.

MacFadden was so gonzo that articles about him almost always focus on his quirks, scarcely ever putting across the major fact of his largest legacy, which was the creation of one of 20th century America’s largest publishing empires. Among his periodicals were the newspaper The New York Graphic (which started the careers of Walter Winchell,Ed Sullivan, and Louis Sobol) and the magazines Liberty, Photoplay, True Detective, True Confessions, Ghost Stories, and the one that started it all, Physical Culture, among dozens of others. As you can tell from these titles, MacFadden was a pioneer of what has come to be known as tabloid journalism. He was all about the sensationalism. The nickname for his New York paper, for example was the New York PORNOgraphic.

MacFadden’s was a Horatio Alger story. Like Charles Atlas and Teddy Roosevelt, he started out as a puny, weak child, and proceeded to build up his body through will power and the hard work of exercise. But he also started with nothing. MacFadden was born and raised in a town called Mill Spring in the Southeastern corner of Missouri, not far from the borders of Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Arkansas. The product of an alcoholic, abusive father and a sickly mother, he was orphaned by age 11 and sent by the State to work on farms. This is where he first developed a healthy body, although he later developed his own regimens that included lifting dumbbells and walking several miles a day. It is said that he engaged in self-hypnosis as he exercised, talking to his body as though it were another entity as he did so. He took up wrestling and boxing, and socialized at local gyms. He became a vegetarian and an advocate of fasting.

An early effort to professionalize occurred in 1887, when he hung out his shingle in St. Louis as “Bernard McFadden – Kinestherapist — Teacher of Higher Physical Culture”. Lacking much formal education, however (and he was only 19) he realized that this gambit was a bit premature. He took a job at an Illinois military academy where he coached football and wrestling in exchange for getting to audit classes.

In 1893 MacFadden got a job hawking exercise devices at the World’s Columbia Exposition in Chicago. There he had the opportunity to study Sandow the Great — and Ziegfeld’s marketing and presentation of him. Thus, another major leap in his development. A few months later, he moved to New York. This is when he changed the spelling of his name, from the bookish “Bernard”, to the savage snarling sound of “Bernarr”. He also changed his surname from McFadden to MacFadden, on the premise that “mack” sounds fiercer than “mick”. I’m not sure why, but I believe he was correct. At this stage, he began to work as what we now call a personal trainer to earn his living.

Throughout 1897 and 1898, MacFadden toured the music halls of England, lecturing and giving demonstrations of poses inspired by classical sculptures. During this trip he held a contest for “the most perfect specimen of English womanhood”. He married the winner, a champion swimmer named Mary Williamson, who bore him eight children.

Then, in 1899 MacFadden launched Physical Culture magazine, the success of which changed everything. The income from this enterprise allowed him to expand rapidly in countless different directions. He authored and published over 100 books. He started a chain of over 20 health food restaurants. He built a utopian community in New Jersey called Physical Culture City, which at its peak had 200 residents. It had a reputation for being a nudist colony, which often got him intro trouble with the law, as did the images in his books and magazines, which tested the obscenity laws of the day. The supposition that some people looked at this literature for sexual gratification was not incorrect, nor was it denied. MacFadden was one of the first people in the U.S. to baldly, unapologetically argue for recreational sex as a healthy activity, apart from the purposes of procreation. He was decades ahead of his time.

He also founded the Coney Island Polar Bear Club in 1903!

MacFadden also established a chain of sanitoriums, which he called “Heathitoriums”. One of these was located in Battle Creek, Michigan, near rivals Kellogg and Post. When these two competitors launched breakfast cereals, MacFadden introduced his own, Strengthfude (i.e. Strength Food). This grain and nut concoction did not catch on with the public. Nor did MacFadden’s attempt to start his own religion, which he called Cosmotarianism. Equally unsuccessful were his many attempts to attain public office, such as the Mayoralty of New York, and the U.S. Presidency.

It’s a good thing, too. MacFadden was clearly a guy with cuckoo dictatorial tendencies, the sort of guy who, were he to acquire power, would definitely have attempted to legislate human behavior to an oppressive degree. Body obsession can attract a certain type. Some will protest the unfairness of this observation, but I can’t help injecting here that Hitler was a vegetarian, and that Leni Riefenstahl loved to take pictures of naked, muscle-bound bodies. Don’t misconstrue me. I’m not implicating these activities, which are unimpeachable. I’m saying that AMONG those who are drawn to them, a certain subset (as with anything) will be obsessive. And you’ve got to keep an eye on those who turn it into some kind of Gospel that they want everyone to follow.

If, as progressive essayist Randolph Bourne wrote, “War is the health of the state”, perhaps health, too, is the health of the state. Or, rather, “health”, in quotes. MacFadden had a lot to answer for. In addition to his irresponsible advocacy of lengthy fasts, he also didn’t believe in conventional medicine, and told people not to visit doctors. This too is a Fascist, cult-like tendency, this unwillingness to allow rival worldviews to compete with his own. It is unknown how many people died as a result of following MacFadden’s prescriptions, but it is known for certain that there were at least two. They were his own children. “It’s better she’s gone,” he said of his deceased daughter, “she only would have disgraced me.” Another quote I find damning, his most popular catch phrase, “Weakness is a crime; don’t be a criminal.” I find the sentiment incompatible with both humanity and the Christianity that many profess to adhere to in this country. I don’t know what MacFadden’s religion was (apart from, um, “Cosmotarianism”), but you cannot pray to the Gods of Compassion and Ruthlessness at the same time. It cannot be done. I bring it up in the context of the next election, for the MAGA cult represents the identical hypocrisy.

MacFadden Publishing still exists in some corporate form, though there have been countless mergers and buy-outs over the decades. Some iterations owned radio and television stations. MacFadden himself lived well into the television age, long enough to see his son Jack appear on You Bet Your Life with Groucho Marx in 1953. This was also long enough to appreciate lyrical references to him in the musical Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. (And thanks Eve Golden for that tip!) Bernarr passed away a couple of years later — after refusing to see a doctor for a stomach ailment. His memory did not long survive him, though his cultural impact certainly did.

MacFadden’s successor as head of his company was nearly as interesting as he was. Ed Bodin (Edward Longstreet Bodin, 1894-1983) had been the managing editor of Physical Culture and the treasurer of the Bernarr MacFadden Foundation when the founder’s death elevated to running the empire. Among his many fascinating biographical details: he wrote for pulp magazines like Strange Stories and Thrilling Mysteries, using pen names like “Lucifer” and “Chakra”. His first book was Scare me!: A Symposium on Ghosts and Black Magic (1940). He was the agent and mentor of L. Ron Hubbard (well, what do you know about THAT?) And in 1952 he ran for President of the United States representing the Spiritual Party, an organization that his fertile mind created. McFadden claimed that his family knew Woodrow Wilson. It’s possible. Bodin was from New Jersey and Wilson had been President of Princeton. Wilson was also a Southern Democrat, and in this context I can’t help noting Bodin’s middle name, which happens to be the same as a certain Confederate General. Whether his parents were relatives or just admirers of the Old War Horse has not been discovered by this scribbler.

There is a terrific web site dedicated to the life and career of Bernarr MacFadden. It is more admiring than I am about its subject, but the facts are excellent, and I drew from it, among other sources, for this post. You may peruse it here.

For more on the history of spectacle, including music hall entertainment and lecture circuits,consult No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous.