The tenth in our Vintage Photo Series is the famous Santa Monica Muscle Beach. The original Muscle Beach was located just south of Santa Monica Pier and was known as ‘The Birthplace of the Physical Fitness Boom of the Twentieth Century’. Muscle Beach is a long-time landmark in the world of body-building and the area dates back to the 1930′s. With the burgeoning Hollywood film industry attracting varied talent from across the globe, the area soon became a popular place for movie stunt people, actors and celebrities to show off their skills.

By the end of the 1930′s international fame was growing for the area, which was often visited by celebrities such as Kirk Douglas, Mae West, famous fitness guru Jack LaLanne and pioneering woman’s  bodybuilder Pudgy Stockton, to name a few. Exhibitions were a regular occurrence and as these photographs show, became a popular spectacle in the area, throughout the 1930′s and 1940′s.

Nowadays, Muscle Beach has been fully restored and refurbished to cater for gymnasts, acrobats and youth with an extensive gymnastics training area. Other features include chinning bars at various heights, parallel bars, rings, a small jungle gym for children and a padded gymnastics area.

Contributor: Ali Bedford

Santa Monica Convention & Visitors Bureau is a client of Magellan PR. For more information, please visit http://www.santamonica.com , follow them on twitter @GoSantaMonica or on Facebook/visitsantamonica.

Magellan PR is on twitter: @MagellanPR / on Facebook: MagellanPR / on Pinterest: Sue Lowry / on Google+:  Sue Lowry & MagellanPR and on Flickr: Sue Lowry.  For more information on our company, visit www.magellan-pr.com.  Follow our other blog focussing on travel in the South of England - A3 Traveller.

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