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Title:
Pudgy and Les Stockton Collection
Creator:
Stockton, Abbye (Pudgy) Eville
Dates:
1922-2006
Quantity:
7 Boxes, 407 Folders, 1 Oversized Magazine Box, 1 Flat File, 11 Artifacts: 2476 Items
Material Types

Ephemera, Letters, Photos, Scrapbooks

Abbye “Pudgy” Stockton played a central role in popularizing physical culture and exercise for women in the mid-Twentieth Century. She was born Abbye Eville on August 11, 1917, and lived most of her long life in Santa Monica, CA. In the late 1930s, she began working out with friends at Muscle Beach and quickly became famous for her rare combination of beauty, strength, and muscularity. Her husband, Les Stockton, who served in WWII, was also a member of the Muscle Beach community and later a gym owner. Pudgy Stockton was the author of “Barbelles,” a monthly column about weight training and women, that appeared in Strength and Health magazine  1944-1954.  The collection includes copies of “Barbelles” along with a large correspondence file related to that column.  Of particular importance and value in this collection is the large number of photographs, many of which are action photos of the incredible acrobatic stunts performed daily.

Autographed photograph of bodybuilder Pudgy Stockton posing, in a bikini, while wearing iron boots, from the Pudgy and Les Stockton Collection.
Bodybuilder Les Stockton, in a swimsuit, balancing bodybuilder Pudgy Stockton on his hands while she presses a barbell overhead with two hands, in a bikini, on the beach, from the Pudgy and Les Stockton Collection.
Bodybuilder Steve Reeves, in a swimsuit, carrying bodybuilder Pudgy Stockton, in a bikini, on his shoulder, from the Pudgy and Les Stockton Collection.
Bodybuilder Pudgy Stockton posing, in a bikini, on her tiptoes, on the beach, from the Pudgy and Les Stockton Collection.
Bodybuilder Pudgy Stockton pressing a barbell overhead with one hand, in a bkini, on the beach, from the Pudgy and Les Stockton Collection.
Bodybuilder Pudgy Stockton doing a handstand, in a bikini, on the beach, from the Pudgy and Les Stockton Collection.
Bobybuilders Pudgy and Les Stockton posing on the beach with Pudgy, in a bikini, and Les, in his military uniform, from the Pudgy and Les Stockton Collection.
An autographed photograph of bodybuilder Les Stockton, in a swimsuit, balancing bodybuilder Pudgy Stockton in a backbend, in a bikini, on his feet, from the Pudgy and Les Stockton Collection.
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