He ate and pumped”

The Rise and Fall of D. L. Dowd, America’s Forgotten Fitness Entrepreneur

Bibliographic Data

ID11082136
AuthorsClaire Heffernan (0000-0001-5001-4257, The University of Texas at Austin, corresponding author), Conor Heffernan
Year2020
Volume47
Issue2
Pages143-160
Publication date2020-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Sport History (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0094-1700 • E-ISSN: 2155-8450
PublisherUniversity of Illinois Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.5406/jsporthistory.47.2.0143
OpenAlexW4234509169
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited20

Studies on physical culture have grown exponentially in the past decade. Although much of this work has focused on Eugen Sandow, arguably the most famous physical culturist of the early twentieth century, attention has nevertheless been afforded to several other voices. One such voice is D. L. Dowd, who predated the American physical-culture interest by a decade. At the height of his popularity in the 1880s and early 1890s, Dowd’s business empire was a forerunner for the approaches used by many of his physical culture successors. Dowd’s career has, to date, been dealt with only in cursory comments. Shedding light on his previously understudied career, the following article argues that Dowd’s business approaches and successes should be viewed as a precursor to the growth of the American interest in physical culture. Put another way, the article conceptualizes Dowd as a transitional figure in the popularization of personal fitness made manifest in twentieth-century America

Culture of the United States · Economic history · Empire · Media studies · Physical culture · Political science · Popular culture · Popularity · Sociology · Classics · History · Law · Medicine · Sport and Mega-Event Impacts · Sports and Physical Education Studies · Sports, Gender, and Society

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