Estonian Photos- Part 54

Estonian Photos

We continue our series of photos from the Tartu Ülikooli museum of anthropology in Estonia.

I am presenting the photos in reverse chronological order; that is, each new post has photos earlier in the sequence.  The later photos show a front view, rear view, and side view of two men.  At this earlier point in the sequence, the photos show a front view and a side view of a single man.

For those who haven't seen my previous posts in this series, a few words of explanation.  The museum provides no information about the men, other than the photos came from the Institute of Anatomy at the University of Tartu.  In particular, it does not say who these men are, or when or why the photos were taken.  However, the photos are labeled "Füüsilise antropoloogia pildistus" (physical anthropology photography).

Who are these men?  My best guess is that they are military recruits.  The very short haircuts suggest that these photos were taken during or shortly after the enlistment process.

When were the photos taken?  My best guess is between World War I and World War II, when Estonia was an independent country with its own military.  Before WWI, Estonia was part of the Russian Empire, and after WWII, Estonia was part of the Soviet Union until 1991.

A clue to the time frame is that these photographs were made on glass plates, not film.

Dry glass-plate photography started in 1871 and began to fall out of use in the 1920s.  I found some references to it in Estonia through the 1930s.

One other clue to the time frame of these photos is that in two other photos in this series, the man is wearing a wristwatch.   Wristwatches were considered to be for ladies before World War I.  (Men used pocket watches.)  However, during the war, wristwatches proved very useful for soldiers and pilots.  After WWI, wristwatches came into fashion for men.

Although wristwatches were evidently rare in Estonia (only two men wore a wristwatch among the hundreds that were photographed), it suggests that these photos are post-World War I.

Since the use of glass plates fell out of use in the 1920s, I think the photos were most likely taken shortly after World War I.

Some of the men in this series have darker faces and hands.  Are they tanned from working outside like farmers, or are they dirty from some dirty occupation?  We don't know.

Although these appear to be military recruits, these are probably not military photos.  We know that the museum that currently has the photos got them from the Institute of Anatomy at the University of Tartu.  If these are military photos, why would they end up at the Institute of Anatomy?

I believe the photos were taken by academics doing a study of physical anthropology.

Scientists at the Institute of Anatomy were trying to measure what they considered racial characteristics of the population by measuring the body, including phrenology (measuring the skull), ideas which are now discredited.

I think that the scientists at the Institute of Anatomy may have persuaded the military to let them take photographs of the naked new recruits for "research" purposes.

I have no written evidence to support this idea, but since the photos were at the Institute of Anatomy, and the photo subjects appear to be military recruits, it's now my best guess as to what happened.

Later photos in this series each contain a pair of men.  A question that perennially arose: why were the men photographed in pairs?  Was it to save film?

The answer is that these photos were made on glass plates, not film, but glass plates were more expensive and involved more labor than film, so yes, it's likely that the men were photographed in pairs to save on glass plates.

But these earlier photos are of individual men.  The idea of photographing the men in pairs to save on glass plates must have occurred to someone later in the project, after these photos were taken.

Bottom line: My best guess is that these photos were taken after World War I, the subjects are new or recent Army recruits, and the Estonian military allowed scientists from the Institute of Anatomy to take photos of the naked recruits for a study of physical anthropology.

Not the Same Old Song - Part 85

 It's Hard

It's Hard was released by the English rock band The Who in 1982 on an album of the same name.  Well, how could I resist illustrating this song as they sing "It's hard, it's very very very very hard" ?

Vintage Military - Part 108

Battle of the Naked Men

Today we look at a number of vintage naked military men in the form of artworks representing naked men fighting.

Battle of the Nude Men is a print by Italian Renaissance artist Antonio Pollaiuolo (1429-1498).  Copies of the print are in many museums.  This one is in the Cincinnati Art Museum.

No one knows exactly what the battle depicts.  Some think it's an episode from Roman history.  The chain that the two central figures grasp may suggest that they are gladiators.  Some think it commemorates the death of a contemporary Florentine nobleman.  The date of the artwork is also uncertain – some say 1470s, some say 1480s

Above is Battle of Naked Men by Italian Renaissance artist Andrea Mantegna (c. 1431-1506).  The work was described as "after Pollaiuolo", but dated in the 1460s, which is earlier than Pollaiuolo's work.  However, the dates of all of these works seem to be quite uncertain.  What we can be certain about is that we have more naked warriors fighting.

This theme seems to have persisted throughout the Renaissance.  Above is Battle of Naked Men, 1517, by Domenico Campagnola (1500-1564), a later Italian Renaissance artist.

This is Combat of Naked Men, c. 1535-1555, by French artist Jean Mignon, copying an original by Italian artist Luca Penni (1500-1556).

We end with Battle of the Naked Men, c. 1550-1560, by French artist Etienne Delaune (1518-1595).

Bodybuilders - Part 45

Jack LaLanne and Jack Thomas

Last time we saw bodybuilder Jack Thomas.  Today we look at a famous photo shoot that California photographer Russ Warner did of Jack Thomas (left) together with Jack LaLanne (right) in the early 1950s.

Jack LaLanne (1914-2011) became a fitness guru.  He hosted the first and longest-running fitness TV show, The Jack LaLanne Show, from 1951 to 1985.

Using the rope as a prop.

Engaging in some acrobatics, Thomas gets on top of LaLanne ...

and does a remarkable handstand in mid-air.

LaLanne lifts Thomas to show off his impressive strength (and his impressive body).

When Jack LaLanne became famous for his television series, he attempted to buy and destroy all prints of the photo set, because he was afraid that they gave a homosexual impression.  (You think?)  Fortunately, photographer Russ Warner refused, and that's why we have the photos to enjoy today.

Columbus Day 2026

Columbus Day

Today is Columbus Day.  Christopher Columbus discovered America on October 12, 1492.  Some people do not consider that a thing to celebrate, as it led to genocide of Native Americans.  So, today's post does not celebrate Christopher Columbus.  It celebrates a statue in Columbus Circle, New York City.

This is a statue of Adam in the Columbus Circle shops in the Time Warner building.  It and a companion statue of Eve were made by Colombian artist Fernando Botero (1932-2023) in 1990.

A rear view of the statue.  It's about 12 feet tall.

Why is the statue's penis gold?  The statue is made of bronze, which naturally oxidizes to a dark brown patina.  But so many passers-by have rubbed the penis of this statue that the patina has been rubbed off, exposing the shiny metal underneath.

This little guy can't quite reach it.

But she and thousands of others can.

Olympics - Part 26

Akwasi Frimpong

Akwasi Frimpong represented Ghana in the 2018 Winter Olympics.  His sport, skeleton, uses a small bobsled where the rider rides face down.  He was the second Winter Olympian from Ghana in history.  Clearly Ghana is not a country with a lot of winter sports.

Frimpong was born in Ghana in 1986.  His first eight years were spent in a small one-room cottage in Kumasai, Ghana, raised by his grandmother with nine other grandchildren.  They all slept on the ground.

At age 8 he joined his mother, a gospel singer, in the Netherlands, but he was an illegal immigrant.

He began sprinting at age 15.  In 2003 he won the title of Dutch junior champion in the 200 meter sprint, earning the nickname GoldenSprint, and he aspired to compete in the Olympics.

Meanwhile, his family and his supporters worked on getting him a Dutch residence permit.  It took 13 years, but he got legal residence in 2007 and became a Dutch citizen in 2008.

However, he suffered a severe ankle injury that temporarily derailed his running hopes.  He applied to colleges in America and was offered a scholarship to Utah Valley University.  He attended UVU and ran for the college team, where he broke several records.

The Dutch bobsled team was visiting Utah and tried out Frimpong as a brakeman.  In 2013 he was invited to the Dutch pre-Olympic team trials, and he was selected among 7 others.

In 2018 he decided to compete for Ghana at the Winter Olympics on skeleton.  He was the only male athlete representing the African continent.

I do not know the story behind his posing for these photos.

Events - Part 93

Smallest Penis in Brooklyn

From 2013 to 2015 the Kings County bar in Brooklyn, above, hosted the Smallest Penis in Brooklyn contest.

Customers viewing the contest could drink a Penis Colada.

It wasn't just a contest for who had the smallest penis.  In 2013 they did measure the penises (above), but they didn't even bother to measure them in 2014 and 2015.

It was really a kind of combined beauty pageant and talent show for men with a small penis and the balls to show up.  The remaining photos are from the 2015 contest.  There were 5 contestants in 2015.  The competition consisted of three rounds.  The first round was "formal wear" (above).

A closeup of the "formal wear".

The second round was "swimwear", which didn't cover much.  Above is contestant Puzzlemaster. 

A closeup of Puzzlemaster in "swimwear".

The third round was a talent contest.  Above, contestant Cromwell singing.

Contestant Rip van Dinkle singing.

The judges awarded the 2015 title to Puzzlemaster.  In the talent contest, he sang the theme from "Goldfinger" in which he changed the words to "gold dinger."

We end with this view of Puzzlemaster.  His real name is Taylor Campbell, and he flew in from Wisconsin to be in the contest.  He won a prize of $500, but more than that, he won the proud title of "Smallest Penis in Brooklyn."

In late 2015 the Kings County bar closed, and that was the end of the Smallest Penis in Brooklyn contest.