HISTORICAL COMMISSION’S MONTHLY TALES OF OUR TOWN

HISTORICAL COMMISSION’S MONTHLY TALES OF OUR TOWN

Physical Culture: Manly Men and Less Feeble Wives and Mothers

October’s story concerns physical culture. In the latter parts of the 19th and into the 20th centuries, classes in such arts as oratory and physical culture (aka fitness) were important aspects of self-improvement across the nation and in West Newbury. In 1890, the West Newbury Messenger suggested “the idea of furnishing a portion of the empty shoe factory on Post Office square for the purpose of Y.M.C.A. rooms” with “a simple gymnasium.” By 1904, Post Office Square boasted an Athletic Club, residing on the second floor of what had been Bailey’s grocery, and in 1905 it was reported that the West Newbury Physical Culture Club was gaining members. While the concept of manly men was largely a matter of consensus (except, perhaps, in the arena of individual sports and diet), the question of womanly women was decidedly unsettled, particularly in terms of physical culture. It was not until the 1920s that West Newbury women began to participate in sports on a largely equal, if separate, basis as their male counterparts.

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