Strength & Health, Page 30, July 1946
A GROUP of America's best built young men appeared for the special events of the "Mr. America" contst on Saturday night, June 1st. This gave the officials a good opportunity to closely observe the meritorious features of a liberal number of America's best developed athletes in action as they selected teh winners of the special divisions; best arms, best back, best chest, best legs and best abdominal development.
The majority of those who had entered the "Mr. America" contest also took part in all of these special divisions. I believe that this year's contestants as a group were the best, ever to participate in this most outstanding physique contest.
The first special event was the subdivision, big arms. The exceptional physical specimens competing in this event were called out one by one to pose. After closely examining the arms of the entire group, the judges requested John McWilliams of the Athletic Club of Columbus, Ohio, Sam Loprinzi representing the York Barbell Club, John Farbotnik of Fritshe's Gym in Philadelphia and Alan Stephan of the Douglas Park Club of Chicago to pose again. Incidentally, Alan Stephan is the AI Steponaitis that has been featured in Strength & Health. He recently changed his name. All of these selected contestants provided wonderful displays of arm development in this special repeat posing exhibition. John McWilliams was declared the winner of this event. His massive upper arms measuring over 18 inches were very impressive. Sam Loprinzi was a close second in this subdivision.
In the best back event the muscular development of the majority of the entrants was most extraordinary. The ultimate winner of this sub-division was 22 year old Alan Stephan of Chicago. He was recently released from the Navy after serving for three years. During this period he took part in some of the battles in the Pacific. All the time he was away he had with him a pair of 40, pound York adjustable dumbells and one of the pre-war ten black cable expanders. These exercising appliances combined with some heavy barbell training, when barbells were available, were chiefly responsible for developing his wonderful back musculature which won for him the special award in the best back event, and paved the way to his victory in the "Mr. America" contest.
Broad shouldered Joe Lauriano from the York Barbell Club was second. John Farbotnik of Fritshe's Gym was third and the "Junior Mr. America", Everett Sinderoff of the FaII River Boy's Club was fourth in the best back sub-division.
The best chest division brought out as finalists John Farbotnik, Sam Loprinzi, Kimon Voyages and Joe Lauriano. This group was finally narrowed down with the repeated posing to Farbotnik and Sam Loprinzi. It was difficult to select a winner between these wonderful physical specimens. Farbotnik a few months ago looked like Jules Bacon of some years ago. But Farbotnik has been gaining strength and muscle at a rapid rate. Gained 8 pounds since his appearance at the "Strength" show Fritshe sponsored in Philadelphia in March of this year. All of the weight had been built in the right places and he seemed to have everything.
The judges finally declared that Farbotnik was the winner of this event. He had the deepest chest in the competition. Please pardon the seeming immodesty but Farbotnik's chest swelled out more like my own chest than any I have seen. I told John that he certainly deserved to win one of the awards. He is sensationaI and will unquestionably be still better in the future.
It was tough for Sam Loprinzi to lose all of these special divisions by such a narrow margin. I said at this point that Sam was having the same experience as a girl who is often a bridesmaid but never a bride. Also said that Sam was on a par with the best in each division. Continued by saying "When Sam gets all of these extraordinary features together he would be hard to beat for the Most Muscular Man title." Although any athlete would like to be selected for the "Mr. America" title, Sam Loprinzi, who is 5 feet 6 inches tall, thought that his shorter than average stature would be a handicap for that honor. So he had centered all his hopes and training upon winning the Most Muscular Man title.
Last year's winner of best abdominals was the winner again this year. I refer to Honolulu Joe Lauriano, last year's "Junior Mr. America", who was representing the York Barbell Club. Abe Goldberg of the East Side Barbell Club from New York City and Everett Sinderoff proved to be Lauriano's closest rivals for the best abdominals award.
Similarly last year's winner of best legs repeated this year. Kimon Voyages has a powerful herculean body of which the best feature is his remarkable legs. They are large and powerful yet extremely shapely. The sweeping curve of his vastus muscles and the front upper thigh, the full rounded curve of the thigh biceps and the shapely contours of the calf muscles make his leg development truly extraordinary.
Lauriano's thigh development is so exceptional that he gave Voyages competition for the best leg award. John Farbotnik and Sam Loprinzi were also close rivals in this sub-division.
Sunday evening, June 2nd, the competition to determine this year's "Mr. America" and "Most Muscular Man" was held. Emmett Faris of Cincinnati, who is Chairman of the Ohio Association of the AAU Weight Lifting Association, Chester Teegarden, now instructor of weight training at Purdue University, Art Gay, famous physical culture director of a gym in Rochester, Harry Paschall, creator of Bosco and an expert official, and Fred Hoffmeister, who operates a gymnasium in Indianapolis, served as the official judges for the subdivisions in the physique competition on Saturday evening and again for the "Mr. America" and "Most Muscular Physique" events on Sunday evening. Thus, the contestants had a group of very capable officials to judge their physical merits.
Both awards were to be decided at the same time on Sunday evening. The scoring basis for the "Mr. America" event was to allow a maximum of 7 points for muscular development, a maximum of 5 points for proportions or symmetry, a maximum of 2 points for the combination of posture, general appearance, condition of skin, teeth and hair, and 1 point was allowed for posing ability. Each contestant was allowed one minute to pose as an individual. The lighting was so arranged that it was sufficiently adequate and uniform to allow the judges to clearly observe the merits and flaws of each physique on display.
After all of the contestants had posed the judges requested the five finalists to appear upon the stage together. The athletes in this select group were Alan Stephan, Sam Loprinzi, Leo Stern of San Diego, California, who recently won the "Mr. California" physique title, Joe Lauriano and John Farbotnik. The audience was tense, eagerly awaiting the final decisions, for it was evident that the competition between these five wonderfully developed finalists was close. A minute or two after the finalists appeared upon the stage together the decisions were announced. Alan Stephan of Chicago was the grand prize winner of the much coveted "Mr. America" title. Sam Loprinzi was a close second. The scoring of the five finalists was as follows:
| Name | Points |
| Alan Stephan | 72 |
| Sam Loprinzi | 69 |
| Leo Stern | 63 |
| Joe Laouriano | 62 |
| John Farbotnik | 59 |
A perfect score would have been a total of 75 points so it is evident that Alan Stephan, the 1946 "Mr. America" title holder, was nearly perfect in the judges' estimation. He makes an ideal "Mr. America" for he is tall, well proportioned, broad shouldered, deep chested, has a pleasing and impressive muscular contour and is extremely handsome. The next issue of Strength & Health will feature an article devoted to his athletic career and will be illustrated with some fine recent photos of our new "Mr. America."
Soon after the decisions in the "Mr. America" competition were released the judges decided the ratings for the "Most Muscular Physique" title. The first check of their totals revealed that Sam Loprinzi and Alan Stephan were tied for this major award with a total of 34 points each. A perfect score in this event would have been 35 points. A recheck of the judges was then taken and four of the officials decided in favor of Sam Loprinzi for the "Most Muscular Physique" title. This decision proved a favorable one with the spectators and made Sam very happy to have won the title he was striving for. Joe Lauriano placed in a tie for third with Leo Stern in the scoring for the "Most Muscular Physique" title and added to his world fame for possessing one of the best physiques among bodybuilders.
Strength & Health Magazine is donating suitable attractive trophies to all the subdivision physique winners. Especially large trophies are being presented by this publication to Sam Loprinzi for winning the "Most Muscular Physique" title and to Alan Stephan for winning the "Mr. America" title. We hope, in an early future issue of the magazine, to publish photos of these outstanding physique title holders posing with the Strength & Health trophies.
| Points | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Affiliation | City | Overall | Muscular |
| Alan Stephan | Douglas Park | Chicago, Ill. | 72 | 34 |
| Sam Loprinzi | York Barbell | York, Pa. | 68 | 34 |
| Leo Stern | Progressive Health Training | San Diego, Cal. | 63 | 31 |
| Joe Lauriano | York Barbell | York, Pa. | 62 | 31 |
| John Farbotnik | Fritshe's Gym | Philadelphia, Pa. | 59 | 29 |
| Abe Goldberg | East Side BBC | New York, N. Y. | 58 | 29 |
| Victor Nicoletti | Brooklyn Central YMCA | Memphis, Tenn. | 58 | 29 |
| Kimon Voyages | Unattached | New York, N. Y. | 55 | 23 |
| Everett Sinderoff | Fall River BC | Fall River, Mass. | 55 | 24 |
| Gene Jantzen | Unattached | Bartelso, Ill. | 54 | 23 |
| Mike Dubel | Detroit Body Builders AC | Detroit, Mich. | 52 | 24 |
| Joseph M. Thaler | New York University | Brooklyn, N. Y. | 51 | 23 |
| John McWilliams | Columbus AC | Columbus, Ohio | 50 | 23 |
| Robert McCusie | Unattached | Amsterdam, N. Y. | 49 | 22 |
| Peter Bonny | Unattached | Spring Lake, Mich. | 45 | 18 |
Best Arm Development won by John McWilliams
Best Leg Development won by Kimon Voyages
Best Back Development won by Alan Stephan
Best Abdominal Development won by Joe Lauriano
Best Chest Development won by John Farbotnik.
- THE WINNER! The winner and 1946 "Mr. America" - ALAN STEPHAN of Chicago. Don't miss the next issue with Al's story and training methods.
- The five finalists for the title. Left to right: JOHN FARBOTNIK of Fritshe's Gym, Philadelphia, winner of the Best Chest Development special award. JOE LAURIANO of the York Barbell Club of York, Pa. winner of the Best Abdominal Development award. "Mr. America" ALAN STEPHAN of Douglas Park Club of Chicago and also winner of the Best Back Development special award. SAM LOPRINZI of the York Barbell Club runner up for the Mr. America title but selected as the "MOST MUSCULAR MAN IN AMERICA" and (extreme right) LEO STERN of San Diego, Cal., runner-up for the Most Muscular Man title. (Photo by Mason Pawlak of Detroit.))
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