The Editor's Corner

One of the truisms of elementary psychology is that mankind tends to overlook the obvious. The human animal is attracted by garish colors and enticed by ridiculous proposals provided the suggestions are dressed with such adjectives as "quickly," "cheaply" or some humorous catchphrase.

This reality of human behavior is forcefully brought to the attention of this desk every day as we consider the appeals that are made by commercial organizations who are peddling recreational products and services.

An example in point can be dramatically illustrated in the metropolitan Chicago area. In this expanse of some 600 square miles there are more than 300 parks, nearly a thousand baseball diamonds, scores upon scores of tennis courts, bathing pools, and other recreational facilities. All of these fine places are open to the public without charge or at only a nominal service charge not exceeding fifty cents.

What happens? Super salesmanship lures the crowds to our major league baseball parks where as many as 100,000 people watch eighteen men in quest of a slice of World Series money. Others spend tortuous hours on bus, train or in automobiles for the dubious pleasure of paying a dollar each to enter an enclosure where they watch a parimutuel board, gambling their hard earned dollars on the antics of horses that prance around a dusty oval.

This writer has been in organized baseball for more than a decade as a sports broadcaster and has called the races at beautiful Gulfstream Park in Florida as well, but the fact remains that large numbers of these game participants have been sold a bill of goods which attracted them to their spectator role.

Perhaps a majority of men would rather participate in a good game

of sandlot baseball than watch the hapless, hopeless Cubs succumb to any one of the seven other teams in the National circuit at beautiful Wrigley Field in Chicago.

Basically, sports-minded men would rather mount up on a spirited horse for a canter through Lincoln Park than tear up a two dollar ticket at famed Arlington Park.

The American male who settles into the comfortably upholstered seat of his automobile for a ride to the ball park where he munches hot dogs and drinks beer is actually symbolic of the physical decay of the once virile and active American man.

Certainly it is the American privilege to spend leisure hours as one. sees fit and to spend money in any way that the law allows. It is also, however, the American responsibility to family and country to maintain physical fitness through group rec-

reation.

The picture, of course, is not all black. Bowling leagues in the nation now account for hundreds of thousands of kegler enthusiasts while industrial softball teams are to be found in almost every community. There are many other examples of sports which touch the life of great numbers of the average working men in our nation.

Thinking men know that a corollary to mental alertness is physical fitness. Leaders of our nation are aware that space age advancements in science, medicine, and a more benign economy are NOT a replacement but only a supplement in the well-rounded life that combines stout muscles with an inquiring mind.

Take a look around your community. See and enjoy the FREE sports facilities. Live the FULL LIFE!

TS. TAIL

Gentlemen:

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first class males

What sports activities would you consider the best for all around body conditioning? My buddies claim that bowling is tops but I still think swimming does more for you. Harold Green

Suffolk, Virginia

Editor's Note: That's a time honored question, Harold, and it is like putting your head in a buzz saw to venture an opinion. We are inclined to agree with you that swimming calls for the utilization of more muscle, stamina, and all around body other conditioning. Bowling, like many sports, does not call into play nearly as many muscles. Dear Sir:

You might be interested to know that VIM is a much read magazine and most appreciated publication in the day rooms at the San Diego Naval Training Station. John Porter

San Diego, California Dear Editor:

What is the greatest chest expansion on record? We've heard many reports that the Mighty Atlas was the champ. Tom Murchison Boston, Mass.

Editor's Note: As far as we know you are right. Atlas had a normal chest dimension of 48 inches which expanded to 56 inches. Quite an achievement.

Gentlemen:

It was more than five years ago that I bought my first copy of VIM magazine. I purchased that copy near Trafalgar Square in London and since that time it has been my pleasure to be a regular subscriber.

me

My engineering profession takes around the globe frequently and it is a constant source of amazement that I find VIM on sale the most unusual places for American publications.

This past week I saw the May VIM

prominently displayed in α book stall located on a dusty cobblestone street in Calcutta, where I am now located. The proprietor told me in his clipped British speech, acquired no doubt from an English school, that he sold a dozen or more every month. It's quite amazing!

James Warburton LaJore, India

Dear Sirs:

I am an amateur artist and member of a group now engrossed in figure sketching. Would you tell us how one can best obtain live models for such projects? Peter Wilson

Cincinnati, Ohio

Editor's Note: Most communities, some ever as large as your city, do not have regular sources for male artist models. We would suggest, however, that a wide variety of photographs will suffice and, as a matter of fact, are utilized almost exclusively by your largest and finest art departments in advertising agencies. Gentlemen:

... you certainly go to a great deal of trouble editorially which several other magazines deem completely unnecessary. All in all, I like your magazine! Charles R. Gwaltney Saticoy, California

Dear Editors:

I am plagued by a synthetic rubber tire around my middle and a narrow, skisloped chest. Though I exercise regularly with bells, eat high protein foods, and have regular health habits, I can't seem to gain a better figure. What do you suggest?

R.M.

Chicago, Illinois

Editor's Note: We are not physicians or diagonosticians of individual physique problems. Repeatedly we urge readers to consult a physcian for medical problems and the community YMCA director regarding exercise for the individual need.