Date: Tue, 26 Nov 2002 23:21:48 -0800 (PST)
From: Bob Archman <bldhrymn@yahoo.com>
Subject: Sandow's Fig Leaf

Sandow's Fig Leaf

By Bald Hairy Man

This is a fantasy about a 19th Century strongman, Sandow.  There is no
effort to make it historically accurate.  If you are offended by stories
about Gay men and Gay sex, DO NOT READ.  The story is about adults and is
intended for adults.  If you are not an adult, DO NOT READ.

It is possible I am the first person in the history of the world to make a
living making fig leaves. In truth, I never made a living making only fig
leaves.  I made a range of theatrical accessories until I encountered the
great strongman Eugene Sandow.  He made me famous. Perhaps not exactly
famous, but the rest of my life was spent making costumes for nearly naked
men.

Sandow was my friend and sometimes more that friend.  He told me his life
story and in many ways he was a great man.

Let me start from the beginning. I am Hans Hubner, theatrical outfitter and
costumer, originally from Berlin. Later I lived in London, then New York.
In that respect I followed Sandow. I was born in 1864, and so was a few
years older than Eugene. He too was Prussian and originally his family was
watchmakers.

Eugene was a handsome boy, but grew to become a spectacular man. His
families were typical provincial, Prussian, lower middle class, very
conservative and rather prudish. They had no plan for him other than to go
to school and become a watchmaker. That was all fine and good until
Eugene's Uncle Wolfram took him to Berlin to see the museums. I suspect his
family would never have taken him there on their own. Wolfram was a
wealthy, unmarried bachelor and they hoped he would leave some money to
them.

Berlin had just changed from being the capital of Prussia, to becoming the
Capital of the German Empire. The museums of the city were being expanded
to express the power and cultural aspirations of the new Empire.  They were
undeniably impressive. They were filled with architecture and sculpture
recalling that of Ancient Greece and Rome.

Poor Eugene had never seen a naked man before he saw the sculptures of the
Altemeuseum.  He lived in an urban district of Koenigsburg, a port city on
the Baltic.  His parents never took him to the country or to the baths to
swim.  Nudity, even in bronze, was a total shock to him. Needless to say,
he questioned his Uncle about this in detail.

Wolfram was a cultured man and he explained these sculptures represented
the highest achievement of Ancient culture and, indeed, Western Culture as
a whole.  Eugene was fascinated.  His parents had told him that nudity was
sinful and evil, yet here, in the center of the Capital itself, naked
sculptures were unashamedly on display.

Eugene also noted the businessmen and shop keepers of Berlin didn't look
much like the nude heroes of Greece. Wolfram explained the musculature of
the statues was idealized.  Real men didn't look like that. Eugene asked
why. He was told men simply can't be that muscular or defined.  Sandow set
out to prove him wrong.

Sandow turned into an avid outdoors man, obsessed with exercise and muscle
building.  He told me he set out to remake himself in the form of a Greek
statue. He found ways to make his body into the living reality that was
behind the statues of the ancients.  Eugene also believed that the naked
body was the ultimate expression of the human body.  Naked bodies of men
were a problem in the Western world at that time.  Sandow and I began a
20-year campaign to find a way to get as close to being naked as possible,
without going too far. Thus, I became a fig leaf maker.

Sandow discovered another shocking thing on that visit to Berlin, the cock.
He had no brothers, only two younger sisters. He had never seen his parents
naked, or indeed undressed. As a young child he imagined his genitals were
unique to him and hadn't realized they were common to all men.

Eugene was fascinated by cocks.  As a child, he could figure out what a
penis was for, but the reason for balls defeated him.  He was brought up in
a new circumstance.  Children living in rural areas on farms naturally get
an understanding of reproduction, as do most poor children.  When all
activities take place in a one room hovel, you naturally learn
things. Eugene was from a middle class, urban family.  He knew nothing.

Wolfram took care of that problem.  Not right away, for Eugene was only 12
when they first went to the museums, but they began to take these little
trips to Berlin and other cities monthly and by the time Eugene was 15,
Wolfram gently explained all Eugene needed to know.

By age 18 it was clear Eugene wasn't going to become a watch maker.  His
parents were ready to through him out of the house, when Uncle Wolfram
intervened.  He had a friend looking for a man servant. Eugene would be
perfect for the position.  Eugene's parents weren't very interested in this
until Wolfram told them it would be with Count Von Hellenburg, an important
member of the court. The idea of serving the aristocracy appealed to them.

Eugene had met the Count on one his trips with Wolfram.  They had visited
the Count's Schloss in Silesia, and had spent several days there. Schloss
Hellenburg was a rustic country house, quite small, with a swimming
pond. The Count was interested in nudism and there Eugene was nude outdoors
for the first time. It was a small party made up of several older men and a
cluster of younger men. All were naked as they sat around the pond. All
were interested in Eugene's dream of physical development.

Eugene was an extraordinarily handsome young man.  He had pale golden hair,
clear blue eyes and a tight, muscular body.  It wasn't close to the full
level of perfection it eventually achieved, but he was handsome.

The older men at the party were all handsome and fit, most were army
officers.  Most of the younger men were pretty and many were
effeminate. Every one of them was handsome or pretty.  Sandow stood out for
both his physique and masculinity.

Later, Eugene discovered most of the older men were friends or lovers of
Uncle Wolfram.  Wolfram had no sexual interest in boys or young men, but he
suspected Eugene would get his introduction to man sex at the
party. Wolfram wanted to be there to help Eugene, if the young man needed
it.

Eugene didn't need any help. He was fully aware of the Greek traditions of
older men guiding younger men. He later told me about it.

"You understand, my parents told me nothing about sex, other than you
shouldn't get a girl pregnant. I knew, right off the bat, a 55-year-old
army officer wasn't going to get pregnant." he told me. "I had never seen
an adult male's cock before that trip. I was entranced. It's funny, I was
embarrassed I was staring at their cocks, VonHellenburg told me he was
embarrassed at staring at mine. Neither of us noticed the other's stare."

Perhaps I need to explain something here. For years everyone has joked
about the size of Sandow's fig leaf. As its creator. I can tell you, it was
needed.  Often big, muscular men are modestly equipped. Not so Sandow. He
had both meat and the potatoes. We had to tie the cock up to keep it behind
the leaf.

I asked him more about the first visit to the Schloss.

"What happened? Did he make an advance?" I asked.

"He told me, he was going to stay up late in his bedroom suite. The door
wouldn't be locked."  Sandow explained. "After everyone was asleep, I had
to go to the w.c..  I just happened to pass the Count's door on the way
back. It was ajar."  Sandow smiled at that.

"He was waiting?"

"Of course.  He was waiting.  The Count was very nice. He said he didn't
want to embarrass me or to make me uncomfortable, but he loved seeing me
nude." Sandow continued.  "I told him, I loved being nude and that
afternoon had been the best day of my life. I was wearing a robe so I
opened it. He was wearing only a robe too. He dropped it.  The Count was
hard.  That was another first for me. I had never seen another man's cock
hard before. "

"Shocked?"

"Pleased, actually." Sandow answered. "It was good, long and thin, but I
was pleased my own was bigger. I asked him, if I could touch it.  He said,
yes of course. As I stroked his, he touched mine. He asked me if it felt
good. I was going to say yes, but he dropped to his knees and began to suck
my cock."

"Were you shocked then?"

Sandow laughed. "Not really. I have told you, I was an innocent. I had no
preconceptions as to what was normal or expected.  If he had begun to cluck
and wave his arms like a chicken, it would have been normal as far as I
knew!  It was surprising to have a nobleman sucking at my cock, but it was
his rank that surprised me, not the action itself.  The Count was a first
rate cock sucker. It was my turn to surprise him. If he had liked me soft,
he was in love with me hard."

"It was good then?"

"How bad can cock sucking be?"  Sandow replied laughing. "He sucked me
until I shot off. There was no spill at all. He got up and said it was
beautiful. I'm afraid I shocked him by getting on my knees and sucking
him. He lost desire for sex for a while after an orgasm, I'm always ready
to go again. Let me tell you that is a very useful trait to have!"

Apparently that was the real beginning of the party at the Schloss. Sandow
told me the guests got more uninhibited the next day. Even his Uncle
relaxed some. Everyone in the group liked man sex, so Sandow learned a lot.

Sandow discovered he liked to be naked in a group. There was a strong
element of an exhibitionist to him. He enjoyed being nearly naked in a
crowd. He also didn't mind sex with an audience.  Eugene discovered the
Count had a peep hole in his bedroom so some of the other guests could
watch. Most people would get insulted or enraged to find this. It just
excited Sandow.

The next two years were spent body building. Eugene had no real duties at
Count von Hellenburg's Schloss, he just worked on his body. Barbells,
weights, swimming, hiking, gymnastics and callisthenics were Eugene's daily
duties. He was a hard worker and by the time he was 20 his body was
beginning to reach its mature form.

There had been many musclemen and strongmen before, but these were huge
blokes with no muscular development. Sandow looked like a Greek god. Every
muscle was developed and expressed. He was strong, but graceful and
elegant. He didn't play the caveman or Attila the Hun, the brutish
barbarian invader.  Sandow was a Greek god.

The Count committed suicide in1889. Word of his sexual interests got out
and that was too much for the German officers' corp.  It was the end of a
good period in Sandow's life.  He always spoke of the Count as a gentleman
and benefactor. Fortunately, by that time Sandow was ready to launch his
career. Sandow immediately got modeling jobs at a university art school.

However, the Count moved in lowbrow circles as well as aristocratic ones
and among his many friends was Otto Gruneburg, an impresario and
producer. Otto had met Sandow at the Schloss and been dazzled as had all of
the Count's friends.

Gruneburg could see Sandow's potential.  There were scores of circus and
side show carnivals which all included a strong man.  Gruneburg understood
Eugene could do a lot more than that.  He wanted to introduce him into more
elevated circles.  The impresario had connections to the theater world in
London and New York. Gruneburg knew if Sandow could make in London or New
York, he would be accepted everywhere. Sandow had no desire to stay in
Germany. He knew the United States was the place for him.

This is when I met him. Grueburg needed a costume that would emphasize his
physique. When I first met Sandow, I was impressed.  He was an
exceptionally handsome man.  I was working from my small apartment and we
talked.  He explained he wanted to be as close to being nude as possible.
We talked for an hour before he stripped to show me his physique.  I had
only just heard of him and had no idea what he looked like under his
clothes.  I couldn't believe it.

All my ideas vanished.  No leotards or tights could hope to show the detail
of his musculature. His skin was pale, but the picture of health, a creamy
pink. The hard muscles and delicate color made a dramatic contrast between
masculine and feminine. I was trying to figure out how to costume him and
didn't notice Sandow hadn't stopped stripping, now he was totally naked.
He was standing and I was sitting.  His genitals were at my eye level.

I just stared at them like an idiot. He had the genitals of a Greek statue,
but at twice the size. Well formed orbs framed the cock.  The head was
fully shrouded in the foreskin, the cock head was clearly outlined.  His
genitals were fully relaxed, but the cock head was so large it stretched
the foreskin.  I could see blue veins.  His body was hard and defined, his
balls looked firm, like apricots held in a tightly stretched skin.  The
cock alone was soft.

Sandow must have noticed my interest, he pulled the skin back and exposed
his head. It was pinkish red and the size and shape of a large strawberry,
with a wide slit.  There was a bead of pre cum glistening on the slit.  He
took a step nearer.

"It would take quite a fig leaf to cover that!" I said.

"If only it would. That's exactly what I want." Sandow said. "A fig leaf
would be perfect." I continued to stare at his cock, transfixed. His cock
responded to the attention.  It began to firm up and rise.

"Wouldn't you be more comfortable nude?" he asked.  Of course I wasn't more
comfortable, but there was no way I could continue to stare at his cock.

"You are so handsome, I am embarrassed." I stammered.

"Nonsense!  The male body is a beautiful thing." he insisted.  I began to
take my clothes off.  I am a throughly average man.  I am thin and already
balding, with a close-cropped beard and hairy body.  I felt like a monkey
man next to Sandow's smooth, alabaster skin.

"You are never fully naked, are you?" he said.  "With that fur coat you are
wearing, you are always dressed in something!"  He was smiling.  With one
hand he stoked the hair on my chest.  With the other he fondled my balls.
He weighed them in his hand.  "Jewish?"  He asked, noticing I was
circumcised.

"No, the skin was too tight as a child." I said.

"Your cock is so well proportioned when you are erect." he said.  "Mine
appears to be bloated, too large and ungainly.  It is only perfect when I
am soft."

"Has anyone ever complained?" I asked.  He laughed.

"Never once." he replied.  "I think that you and I can work together well.
Working with a naked man doesn't bother you?"

"Not at all." I answered.  "I am looking forward to it." My career was
launched.