Reader's Digest_May 2022

She’s Curious Life’s Like That

After a typical rapid-fire question THE GREAT TWEET-OFF:
SUPERSTITION EDITION
session with our five year old, my
Of course the people of Twitter have
wife wondered why she asks so their own strange particular beliefs.

many questions. If you see a clock with 11:11 on it,
make a wish.
Her response: “Well, I don’t
@FARKASVILKASRH
know anything.” —via Reddit
When at a large staff meeting,
Let’s Jam event or any occasion that involves
a round of applause, I always get
ME, IN MY TEENS: This radio the last clap. If I have to, I will keep
station is playing my jams. going. Don’t test me. You will lose.
ME, IN MY 20s: This disco is
playing my jams. @ABBYTRIBBLE
ME, IN MY 30s: This supermarket
is playing my jams. @mommajessiec I keep a broom by the door
because I was told the ghosts will
JUST YOU WAIT have to stop to count the broom
straws and forget why they were
My husband had a man-to-
man talk with our grandson. coming to haunt us.
He told him that in the future
@D O N N E T TA _W
he would have feelings for
girls. Our grandson nodded When I was little, I noticed that
and replied he already had movie vampires only ever bit their
victims on the right side of their
feelings for them. neck. I didn’t sleep on my left side

Surprised, his granddad until I was 30. Just in case.
asked what he meant.
@MIKECHEQ123
Our grandson replied, “They
make me really, really mad!”

SUBMITTED BY DEMI ROBERTS

readersdigest.com.au 49

READER’S DIGEST

I Am The

FOOD ON
YOUR PLATE

Pass
The

Please BY Kate Lowenstein,
Daniel Gritzer AND Diane Godley

T he sleepless princess in “The question of peas continues. The PHOTO: K. SYNOLD/TMB STUDIO
Hans Christian Anders- anticipation of eating them, the pleas-
en’s fairy tale, The Prin- ure of having eaten them, and the joy of
cess and the Pea, was far eating them again are the three subjects
from the only aristocrat that our princes have been discussing
to fuss over a pea. In 16th- and 17th for four days ... It has become a fashion
century France, the vogue vegeta- – indeed, a passion.”
ble sent the nobility into a tizz. So
great was the craze around eating Peas are among the oldest crops in
these bright green mini-treats in human history, though exactly what
the springtime that Madame de constitutes a pea is a little hard to pin
Maintenon, the second wife of King down. Just about anything we call a
Louis XIV, wrote one season: pea – whether a garden pea, snow pea,
chickpea or peanut – grows in a pod

50 may 2022

I Am The Food On Your Plate

and is a member of the larger legume during spring and summer, the tra-

family called Fabaceae (generally pro- ditional folk treat became popular

nounced “fuh-’bay-see-ee”). in Beijing during the Ming Dynasty

That’s the same family from which (1368-1644), and spread to the impe-

fava beans (also referred to as broad rial Forbidden City during the Qing

beans) get their name. The peas we Dynasty (1644-1912) – establishing a

eat when fresh, green and sweet – in- rightful place in Chinese cuisine for

cluding garden peas, sugar snap peas perpetuity. Comprising dried yellow

and snow peas – are usually mem- peas, sugar and water, it is a slightly

bers of the Pisum genus. PULSES AND sweet and light treat and
That also goes for green DRIED PEAS fairly simple to make
split peas, which tend to HAVE BEEN (alt hough you’ll need
be sold dried rather than USED IN CHINA to start a day ahead as
fresh, and are frequent- TO MAKE the peas need overnight
ly cooked into soup and CAKES AND soaking and slow cook-
porridge, such as mushy DESSERTS FOR ing for three-plus hours).
peas. HUNDREDS
It is no wonder peas
An all-time favourite have been dried for
in Great Britain, mushy centuries. The season

peas are traditionally for fresh sweet peas is

made from marrowfat tantalisingly short. The

peas. These peas are tender stalks and pods

larger than regular peas and are left pop up as the winter months start

to mature and dry naturally on the morphing into spring; within a few

vine. They have a high starch content weeks, the plants are overgrown

too, giving them a smooth, creamy and the peas not nearly as tasty. In

consistency, and a very different tex- fact, as soon as you pick a pea off the

ture to mushy peas that are made vine, its sugars start converting to

with regular peas. Marrowfat peas starch, rendering it less delicate and

are also used in Japan to make wasa- sweet. Hence why peas are so com-

bi peas. Other types of peas, such as monly sold frozen – freezing them

chickpeas and peanuts, belong to dif- when freshly picked preserves a lot

ferent genera. of their desirable qualities.

In China, peas aren’t reserved Had the court of Louis XIV en-

just for savoury dishes. Pulses and joyed the luxury of refrigeration,

dried peas have been used in cakes they might not have spent a few

and desserts, such as Wandouhuang weeks every spring being so enthu-

(or Beijing pea cake), for hundreds siastic over some tiny green vege-

of years. Peddled at market fairs tables.

readersdigest.com.au 51

READER’S DIGEST PASTA E PISELLI

52 may 2022 A quick, tasty pasta dish that
includes green peas that the
whole family will enjoy.

• Place a large, heavy-bottomed

pot over medium-high heat, add
2 tbls extra virgin olive oil and
110g diced pancetta.

• Cook, stirring often, until most

of the pancetta has lightly browned
and most of its fat has rendered,
about 7 minutes.

• Add 1 minced small brown

onion; cook, stirring and scraping
the bottom of the pan, until the
onion is softened, about 4 minutes.

• Stir in 500g frozen peas,

followed by 3 cups water and a large
pinch of salt.

• Bring to a boil, then add

500g pasta. Cook, stirring and
scraping, until pasta is al dente,
adding more boiling water, 1/2 cup
at a time, as needed to keep the
pasta just submerged.

• Remove from heat, then

season with salt and stir in about
15 torn mint leaves followed by
1/2 cup freshly grated
Parmigiano-Reggiano.

• Add boiling water if necessary

to give the sauce a thickened but
brothy consistency.

• Serve right away, sprinkling with

more grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
at the table.

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54 may 2022

MOTHER’S DAY SPECIAL

Mama,
This Story Is For You

For many mothers, a card or some
flowers are perfect. My mother is more
unusual – and demands something special

BY Helene Melyan F R O M T H E O R E G O N I A N

ILLUSTRATIONS BY JOHN HENDRIX T here is a country – I read spoken. If she catches me staring at
about it once – where the anything small enough to put in a
local custom is that if you shopping bag, she hands it to me as I
go to a house and praise leave. It does no good to protest.
some small possession,
the owners feel obliged to offer it to “I was merely staring at that photo-
you as a gift. I don’t remember the graph of Mount Hood because I have
name of the country; the only other one exactly like it in my living room.”
place I know of with such a custom is Mama would only nod and say, “Of
my mother’s apartment. course. You were thinking how nice
Knowing Mama, I have always been it would be to have a set. If a mother
careful with my compliments, but that doesn’t understand, who does?”
doesn’t stop her. Mama senses ad-
miration far more subtly than what’s Being with Mama is like watching
an Alfred Hitchcock movie: I never
know what’s going to happen next.

readersdigest.com.au 55

READER’S DIGEST

For instance, I have lasting memories “I know,” she sighs. “But that’s life. PREVIOUS SPREAD: MARIA AMADOR (BANNER AND FLOWERS). THIS SPREAD: MARIA AMADOR
of childhood walks with her. Mama Maybe now that it’s spring ...”
noticed everything. We had to stop
to admire a nice house, a nice tree, a According to Mama, there is no
nice flower. Mama regarded the peo- problem that will not be a little bit
ple we saw (those who didn’t look like solved by the coming of spring. I grew
her relatives) as portraits in a muse- up believing that there was only one
um – no matter if people stared back. correct way to end a discussion of
“She was pretty once, but has seen things unpleasant or troublesome:
tragedy,” Mama would whisper, or, nod at the calendar, pat somebody on
“Such a handsome man, but conceit- the back if possible, and sigh, “Maybe
ed to the core.” Her sharpest epithet in the spring ...”
was “Minky”, reserved for the type of
woman Mama thought would wear a I could understand how certain
mink fur coat to the supermarket. problems – sinus conditions, chapped
lips, sticking windows – would re-
As far back as I can remember, spond to the change of seasons. But I
Mama was telling people they were in never tried to unravel the spring mag-
the wrong line of work and suggest- ic that Mama vowed would help me
ing alternative careers. If the landlord understand fractions or long division.
fixed the sink, she told him he should I was not the only target of Mama’s
have been a plumber. If he couldn’t fix philosophy. At one time or another,
it, Mama would wait until the plumb- Mama had several dozen people in
er came and then tell him he should the neighbourhood waiting for spring
have been a landlord. And if either to relieve them of indigestion, mice,
one of them told her a joke, she would domestic difficulties, and trouble with
ask why he hadn’t gone into show the horizontal hold on their TV sets.
business. My turn came when I grew
up and became a housewife. Sometimes, sitting in school during
history (which Mama promised me I’d
“You missed your calling,” Mama find less boring in the spring), I would
sighs, examining the doodles on my daydream my mother into other places
phone book. “You should have been and other times. Once I saw her patting
an artist.” Napoléon Bonaparte on the back, after
he got the news from the Russian front.
Later, when I tell her how I returned (“Maybe in spring ...”) She was looking
rancid fish to the supermarket and de- over Thomas Edison’s shoulder, com-
manded a refund, she amends this to forting him in his early failures. (“Don’t
lawyer. worry; maybe in the spring you’ll try
something new.”)
“You missed your calling,” I tell
Mama. “You should have been a vo- I have been worrying for weeks
cational counsellor.” now about what to give my mother

56 may 2022

Mama, This Story Is For You

There is always There is always the danger that a
the danger that a gift given to Mama will bounce swift-
gift given to Mama ly back to the giver. If I buy her some-
thing wearable, she perceives in an
will bounce instant that it could be let in here, let
swiftly back to out there, and it would fit me perfect-
ly. If I give her a plant, she cuts off the
the giver top for me to take home and root in a
glass of water. If I give her something
for Mother’s Day. For most people, edible, she wants me to stay for lunch
this is a modest problem, solved by and eat it.
the purchase of a dressing gown or
chocolates. For me, however, Moth- Papa, a sensible man, long ago
er’s Day represents an annual chal- stopped trying to shop for Mama. In-
lenge to do the impossible – find a gift stead, on Mother’s Day, her birthday,
that will make neither Mama nor me and other appropriate occasions,
feel terrible. he composes a short epic poem
in which he tells of their meeting,
Expensive gifts – which Mama de- courtship, and subsequent mar-
fines as costing over $1.98 – are out, riage. After nearly 30 years of po-
because they make Mama feel terri- ems, Papa sometimes worries that
ble. (“This is awful,” she says, exam- the edge of his poetic inspiration has
ining an apron. “I feel just terrible. dulled, but Mama doesn’t complain.
You shouldn’t have spent the money She comes into the room while he is
on me.”) Inexpensive presents – un- struggling over a gift poem and says,
der $1.98 – please Mama, but they “It doesn’t have to rhyme as long as
make me feel terrible. it’s from the heart.”

This year, finally, I think I, too,
have found a painless gift for Mama.
I am going to give her a magazine ar-
ticle, unrhymed but from the heart,
in which I wish her “Happy Mother’s
Day” and tell her there’s nothing
Papa or I could ever buy, find, or
make her that would be half good
enough anyway.

THIS STORY ORIGINALLY APPEARED IN THE MAY
1977 ISSUE OF READER’S DIGEST. THE OREGONIAN
(OCTOBER 2, 1975), © 1975 BY OREGONIAN PUB.
CO., OREGONLIVE.COM.

readersdigest.com.au 57

READER’S DIGEST

The Promise of
Intermittent

Fasting
A popular diet trend works well
for many weight watchers, and the benefits

could extend beyond your waistline

BY Rozalynn S. Frazier

Like many people who put on turned 40, he found 90 kilograms on PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES
extra weight, Jerico C. was his 1.82-metre frame. “Given my fam-
surprised when it happened ily history of heart disease, high cho-
to him. He loved walking, he lesterol and diabetes, I didn’t want to
used to be able to eat what- create any additional risks,” he says.
ever he wanted whenever he
wanted and stay relatively thin. But It was around that time that he
then life happened. A new advertis- came across a post on social media
ing sales job meant more driving and by a friend who had dropped about
less walking, and required company 27 kilograms. How did he do it? Jerico
dinners and later nights. Two kids asked. “IF,” said the friend.
left little time to think about healthy
eating, and get-togethers with his “If? If what?” Jerico responded.
extended Filipino family meant lots The answer was intermittent fast-
of big meals. “When you welcome ing (IF): fasting completely for certain
anyone into your home, it’s an au- periods of time and eating most any-
tomatic feast,” he says. When Jerico thing you want otherwise. That can
mean fasting for parts of a day, a day
at a time, or two days a week. Jerico

58 may 2022

HEALTH

readersdigest.com.au 59

READER’S DIGEST

decided to try an 18:6 plan, which in- Intermittent fasting PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES
volves carving out a six-hour window might ward off
– say, from noon until 6pm – when he
could eat whatever he wanted and neurological diseases
then going the next 18  hours with such as Alzheimer's
no food (but unlimited water, coffee,
tea and other noncaloric beverag- when we eat, our bodies break down
es). Two-and-a-half years later and the carbohydrates from the food
11 kilograms lighter (give or take a and turn them into a form of sugar
few, thanks to the pandemic), Jerico known as glucose, one of the body’s
hasn’t looked back. “I like it a lot,” he preferred fuels. Unused glucose is
says. “It has made me realise that our stored for later use in your liver. So if
appetite is more tied to seeing food you are eating three meals a day, your
than needing it. I do miss breakfast body always has energy on hand as
food, though. In fact, I regularly have well as a reserve it can tap.
breakfast for dinner.”
But when you’re fasting, your body
No one would say that intermit- doesn’t have a steady stream of food
tent fasting is easy, but it has many to turn into energy. That means it has
advantages. There’s no counting to tap its reserves. After about eight
kilojoules, resisting snacks, cutting hours, it depletes the stored glucose
out food groups or various challenges and needs another source of energy.
that come with other types of dieting.
Instead of focusing on what you eat This is when the body begins
as dieters do on Paleo (no processed burning fat for fuel, explains Mark P.
foods, grains or sugar), Atkins (low Mattson, adjunct professor of neuro-
carbs), Whole30 (no sugar, alcohol, science at Johns Hopkins University
grain, dairy, legumes), and other re- School of Medicine. This, combined
gimes, IF puts the emphasis on when
you eat.

“Rather than saying ‘Just eat less,’
we tell them not to eat after 6pm,”
says Elisabetta Politi, a dietitian and
the nutrition director for the Duke
Diet and Fitness Center in North
Carolina. “For those who have the
discipline, it works.”

No matter how long your fast-
ing period, the metabolic impact
on your body is similar. Typically,

60 may 2022

The Promise Of Intermittent Fasting

with the fact that you are likely taking carefully weigh the benefits against
in fewer kilojoules during the shorter the potential side effects. People with
eating window, is going to help get rid diabetes, heart disease or gout should
of excess weight. know that the lack of food triggers
steep dips in blood sugar.
If those were the only benefits of
IF, it would be worth a look for many All types of fasting can cause head-
people. But as the diet has become aches, fainting, weakness and dehy-
more widespread, studies have dis- dration, says Dr Scott Kahan, the di-
covered that its benefits extend be- rector of the National Center for Weight
yond what you see on your scales. and Wellness in Washington, DC. In
some cases, IF could backfire, leading
Research in Nutrition Journal re- to increased appetite and binge-eating,
vealed that IF reduces artery-block- as well as a slower metabolism. What’s
ing LDL cholesterol as well as tria- more, a randomised control trial pub-
cylglycerol, which causes hardening lished in a 2020 issue of the Journal
and thickening of the arteries. Both of the American Medical Association
arterial conditions are major factors found that most of the fasters’ lost
in heart disease. A 2019 study in the weight was lean muscle, not fat.
New England Journal of Medicine re-
ported that IF might ward off neuro- Lastly, if you are under high lev-
logical diseases such as Alzheimer’s, els of stress or in intense athletic
Parkinson’s and Huntington’s. The training, consider steering clear.
theory: the plaques that clog neurons In particular, you should avoid
in the brain feed on glucose. 36:12 fasting, which calls for 12 hours
of unlimited eating followed by
Not surprisingly, glucose reduction 36 hours of zero kilojoules.
also benefits people with diabetes. A
study published in 2018 in JAMA Net- “When you do any type of fast,
work Open showed that the 5:2 diet part of the benefit comes from mild-
(limiting kilojoules to 2000 to 2500 per ly stressing your body; like when you
day for two days and eating regularly lift weights, you damage the mus-
for five days) results in weight loss and cle to make it stronger,” says Robin
improved blood sugar control for peo- Foroutan, an integrative medicine di-
ple with type 2 diabetes. These fasts etitian. “With fasting, you are stress-
may promote autophagy, a deep cellu- ing out the body, but it gets stronger
lar clean-up that allows your body to in response.”
purge old, damaged cells and replace
them with new ones. And, if you stick to the programme,
it can get thinner too.
That said, intermittent fasting isn’t
a miracle, and as with any strict diet, With reporting by Denise Mann,
you should consult your doctor and Kim Fredericks and Corey Whelan

readersdigest.com.au 61

READER’S DIGEST

62 may 2022

SEE THE WORLD...
Turn the page ››
readersdigest.com.au 63

READER’S DIGEST

...DIFFERENTLY

AN EMPHATIC MESSAGE for
the planet: 125,000 drawings
and messages from children

around the globe about
climate change. The mosaic
covered 2500 square metres

of Switzerland’s Aletsch
Glacier and was laid out in
2018 by activists. It aimed
to inspire governments and
people around the world to
fight climate change while
committing to limit the global
temperature increase to a
maximum of 1.5° C. The Aletsch
Glacier, which is melting at an
alarming rate, is the largest

glacier in the Alps.

PHOTOS: FABRICE COFFRINI/
AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

64 may 2022

readersdigest.com.au 65

READER’S DIGEST

LAUGHTER

The Best Medicine

“Wow, that’s taken years off you!”

Like No M-Other “Yes,” she said, “As I’m leaving, can CARTOON: ROYSTON ROBERTSON. ILLUSTRATION; GETTY IMAGES
you say ‘Goodbye, Mother’? It would
A young man was walking through make me feel so much better.”
a supermarket when he noticed an
elderly lady following him around. “Sure,” answered the young man.
Thinking nothing of it, he ignored her As the old woman was leaving,
and continued on. he called out, “Goodbye, Mother!”
As he stepped up to the checkout
Finally he went to the checkout line, counter, he saw that his total was
but she got in front of him. “Pardon $127.50. “How can that be?” he
me,” she said. “I’m sorry if me staring asked, “I only purchased a few
at you made you feel uncomfortable. things!”
It’s just that you look just like my son, “Your mother said that you would
who died recently.” pay for her,” said the shop assistant.

“I’m very sorry,” said the young www.i30ownersclub.com
man. “Is there anything I can do?”

66 may 2022

Laughter

Rocked Their World

REALISATION: The asteroid

that ended the dinosaurs was

technically the highest ratio of

killing birds to one stone in

Earth’s history. @cubosh

Somewhat Arresting ON THE BRIGHT
RIDE OF LIFE
Could I do an impression of a
flamingo being arrested? Easy, I Fill your tank up with our
could do it standing on one leg with driving jokes.
my hands tied behind my back.
„ Subway is definitely the
JAKE LAMBERT, COMEDIAN healthiest fast food available
because they make you get
Switch Off out of the car.

HER: Are you going to walk around „ I’ve never once been able
all day without a shirt on? to explain my car trouble to
ME: Just giving you a show. a mechanic without resorting
HER: Can I change the channel? to sound effects.

@XplodingUnicorn „ Two dogs are walking along
a street. They are passed by a
Down, But Nut Out third dog driving a truck load
of logs. One turns to the other
A guy goes into a bar in the middle and says: “He started fetching a
of the day. It’s quiet and practically stick and built up the business
deserted. He sits alone, thinking from there.”
about the twists and turns his life has
taken. He hears a soft voice: „ I didn’t realise how bad of a
“Nice tie.” driver I was until my sat nav
said, “In 400 metres, do a slight
He looks around but he doesn’t right, stop, and let me out.”
see anyone. The voice speaks again:
“Great haircut.” Seen on the internet

A few moments later, he hears: readersdigest.com.au 67
“Congratulations on your promotion.”

He waves over the bartender to
ask her if she hears anything. The
bartender says: “That’s the peanuts,
they’re complimentary.”

Seen online

HUMOUR

RAISING KIDS:

To Coddle, Or Neglect?

BY Richard Glover

The youngest sibling in I have had children. I have ob- PHOTOS: SAM ISLAND
a family, according to served the children of others. The
a recent report, is often only possible conclusion: standards
sleeker and fitter than the slip with each additional child.
first-born child. While I’m
with the scientists when it comes to With the first born, everything
global warming, the importance of must be perfect. They are fed a diet of
vaccines, and the need for dental hy- high-quality vegetables and organi-
giene, I must break ranks on this. cally reared meat. The staff, by which
I mean the mother and father, are in

68 may 2022

the kitchen night and day, pausing superior – and so much more con-

in their culinary efforts only to read venient”. The bedtime reading ses-

linguistically challenging texts and sion, which, with the first child, had

to perform ethnically diverse folk involved 50 minutes of funny voices

dances for the child’s amusement. and entertaining asides, now lasts

Photographs are taken, almost the three minutes between when

constantly, recording events such as Daddy first lies on the bed and when

First Burp, First Wriggle and What Daddy begins snoring.

We Took To Be The First Smile But In The number of photographs mod-

Retrospect Was Just Colic. erates from five a day to one every

As the child grows older, a pro- six weeks. A trendy brand of jump-

tective, loving and educationally suits in which the first child was

rich system is established in which dressed has been replaced with

they are permitted cheap copies from the
to watch one hour of BALLET SHOES discount store.

television each week, ARE BOUGHT. Television viewing is
providing it’s a nature A CELLO IS NOT still restricted to ‘na-
doc u ment a r y. ture documentaries’
CONSIDERED but the definition of
Ballet shoes are pur-

chased. A cello – a cel- TOO GREAT ‘nature documenta-
lo! – is not considered AN EXPENSE ries’ appears to have
too great an expense. widened to include The

The first soccer game Lion King, Toy Story 4

is witnessed not by one parent, but and real-estate reality shows.

by two parents, four grandparents, The soccer entourage has dwindled

and an uncle visiting from overseas. to one rather hungover father, whose

There are pop stars with smaller interest seems to be largely focused

entourages. on finding something to eat. And the

The child, inevitably, is considered request for a trumpet, in order to join

‘gifted’. the school band, is declined on the

It’s at this point that the second basis of expense – why don’t you try

child is born. Standards immediate- Mum’s old guitar?

ly decline. All this, of course, is just limbering

The hand-operated mincer, in up for the arrival of the third child,

which baby food had been freshly at which point standards collapse

prepared by the kitchen staff, is nev- completely.

er retrieved from the bottom draw- The definition of toddler food has

er. Instead, commercially produced now grown to include a serving of

slop is suddenly rated “nutritionally nachos and some gnawing on the

readersdigest.com.au 69

READER’S DIGEST

edge of last night’s pizza. This ‘meal’ kid is still in the womb, and so the

is served while watching a ‘nature proto-kid shifts its metabolism in or-

documentary’ – one that appears to der to store more fat.

involve Bruce Willis shooting at peo- This then becomes a lifetime habit,

ple in a New York airport. with the first-borns waddling around

The third child will be six years old trying to keep up with their sleeker,

before they are the subject of a single younger siblings.

photograph, and even THE THIRD What nonsense.
then it’s just their right CHILD WILL Here’s my alternative
leg in a photo of the theory: the younger

dog. They are dressed BE SIX YEARS ones, having grown up
in clothes handed OLD BEFORE with parents oblivious
down from a second THEY ARE THE to their welfare, are now
cousin, soaked in ex- living a life so dissolute

tra-strength detergent SUBJECT OF A they don’t have time to
to remove the stains. put on weight.
They hitchhike to SINGLE PHOTO Or maybe, just may-

soccer. be, humans are like

They learn music on a kazoo. grapevines. The best wine often

When it comes to table manners, comes from grapes planted in stony

the only guidance they are given in- soil and starved of water. They thrive

volves the phrase: “Don’t wipe your on the neglect. The grapes are smaller,

hands on the furniture, that’s disgust- but more powerful, filled with flavour.

ing. Use your T-shirt like your father.” And that may be the story of the fit,

How, given all of this, can science slim, and intense younger siblings.

still claim that the youngest siblings I’d like to prove my various theories

tend to be the healthiest? by showing you photographs of these

Their theory, should you be inter- later-born children, recording the cir-

ested, goes like this: first-time moth- cumstances of their childhood and

ers, it is said, are less adept at pump- adolescence. What a shame that there

ing kilojoules into the kid when the appear to be none in existence.

Quick Brain Teaser

In a drawer you have black socks and white socks.
They are not stored away in pairs. Without looking, how many times will

you have to reach into the drawer to come out with a matching pair?

ANSWER: TO BE GUARANTEED A PAIR YOU WILL HAVE TO REACH IN THE DRAWER THREE TIMES.

70 may 2022

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READER’S DIGEST

72 may 2022

WHAT IT’S LIKE TO ...

Volunteer On
An Archaeological

DIG
BY Gil Davis F R O M T H E C O N V E R S AT I O N

PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES Afew more brushstrokes Croft – seeking powerful lost artefacts
and the student gasped and unimaginable wealth. You don’t
with excitement. There need me to tell you this is the stuff of
in the dirt was a small, fantasy. Gone too are the days when
bronze statue of a calf, real archaeologists just wanted to
revealed for the first time in 3000 find palaces and temples and signifi-
years. Places on archaeological digs cant objects to stuff in museums.
are not confined to university stu-
dents. If you are interested, there are The reality is more absorbing and
opportunities to become involved in less dangerous. The questions that
the fascinating world of archaeology interest us nowadays involve under-
both locally and abroad. standing how people lived and inter-
acted with their landscape. What did
Archaeologists in popular imagina- they eat, drink, wear and believe, and
tion are like Indiana Jones and Lara what tools and technologies did they

readersdigest.com.au 73

READER’S DIGEST

use? This comes under the rubric of HOW DOES A DIG WORK?
‘material culture’.
A typical dig in the Middle East, Eu-
Excavation is the essential part, but rope and the UK will start with a
it is destructive. We excavate the min- survey to identify what is likely to be
imum area possible to answer specif- found and the most promising areas
ic research questions. We leave the to excavate. This includes plotting sur-
remainder for future archaeologists face finds.
with different questions and even bet-
ter technologies. Just as sultanas in a cake mix will
come to the surface, ubiquitous bro-
Uncovering architectural remains ken sherds of pottery litter the ground.
and artefacts is vital, but only if we Diagnostic elements can be identified,
can interpret the finds. To do so, we giving a snapshot of what lies beneath.
need to employ a wide range of spe- Geophysical surveying reveals the
cialisations, many of them scientif- outline of subterranean structures.
ic. For example, a team in Israel was
excavating the site of Ramat Rachel, The dig director then decides
which was the administrative centre of where to dig in 5m-by-5m squares.
the Persians outside Jerusalem. It was Each square has a supervisor and a
complete with a palace and pleasure few people to help dig and record the
gardens traditionally kept by Eastern finds. Those squares don’t dig them-
potentates – think the Garden of Eden selves. First you get down to the levels
full of exotic species. No plants had of interest by removing all the topsoil.
survived from 2500 years ago, but the It’s usually filled with tree roots and
walls in the garden were plastered an- rocks. Mattocks, spades and an end-
nually, and in the plaster was micro- less supply of buckets are the go.
scopic evidence of pollens and phyto-
liths (the mineralised remains). Bingo! This is where your labour comes
in. Most digs need volunteers to do
Brushes are used to carefully the hard work. The dig supplies the
remove dirt from artefacts equipment, training and supervision;
the volunteers do the work. Soon
the team reaches the levels of inter-
est. The work becomes more careful,
turning to trowels and brushes. Volun-
teers become adept at identifying and
recording finds and levels. Fit people
don’t need a gym on a dig. Others less
physically able will contribute to light
duties, logistics and preparing meals.

A dig draws on a wide range of
expertise including geophysics,

PHOTOS: GETTY IMAGES surveying, photography, computing, Pottery sherds are studied to reveal
pottery, biology, zoology, archaeome- their age, style and composition
tallurgy, chemistry and isotopic analy-
sis. There is always call for volunteers are ideal, such as ones in Menorca
able to offer specialised skills. People (Spain), Ireland and Bulgaria. The
with medical and health training are Archaeological Institute of America
especially welcome, as are those who also lists many opportunities. For
can speak a local language. digs in Australia, and other regions of
the world, inquire at universities that
Australian sites are handled differ- offer archaeology to find out which
ently as they mostly deal with under- digs they are doing and whether they
standing Aboriginal and Torres Strait accept volunteers.
Islander use of land and historical
(post-European settlement) sites. Re- WHY DO IT?
search questions are usually linked to
cultural heritage management. A dig offers a unique and worthwhile
experience. You challenge yourself in
The way the sites present does not many ways, work in a team and cre-
lend itself to excavating in squares ate amazing friendships with
and is more to do with plotting sur- like-minded people. As you gain ex-
face finds such as campsites spread perience, you become more valuable.
out over a wide area. Nonetheless, You could then be employed as a su-
volunteers are usually welcome and pervisor and not have to pay. Many
specialised skills and knowledge are volunteers become archaeology
prized. junkies who can’t wait to spend their
next holiday digging up the dirt.
HOW TO VOLUNTEER
Gil Davis is Associate Professor and
Be mentally prepared. It’s tough work Director, Ancient Israel Program,
in the dirt with long hours and very Australian Catholic University.
basic accommodation. Hats and sun-
screen are essential – but not whips REPUBLISHED UNDER A CREATIVE
like Indiana Jones. Usually, you pay COMMONS LICENCE
for the privilege of participating,
though the dig will supply your ac-
commodation, food and transport.

There are endless opportunities to
volunteer but finding them takes a
bit of sleuthing on the internet. Some
countries provide a contact point.
For digs in Israel, contact the Israel
Antiquities Authority. Field schools

readersdigest.com.au 75

TELL ME WHY...

Flamingos Are Pink

How the gangly birds get their distinctive colour

BY Jen McCaffery

Flamingos are so famous for orange molecules. Those molecules PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES
their colour that they’ve even are absorbed by fats in the liver and
inspired their own hot pink are eventually deposited into flamin-
lawn ornament. So they must go’s skin, feathers, beak and legs. Over
be born rosy, right? time on this diet, a flamingo’s feathers
will gradually turn from grey to a more
Nope. It turns out that flamingos are vibrant hue.
not naturally pink. The lanky-limbed
birds are actually born with light grey Of course, flamingo feathers range
feathers. Pink is not in their DNA. in colour from white to many different
shades of pink to orange and red.
So what causes the birds to turn
pink? Well, their favourite things to The colour a flamingo’s feathers
eat in the wild are brine shrimp, larvae turns depends on where they’re lo-
and blue-green algae. All three con- cated and what they’re eating. For
tain compounds called carotenoids, or example, the pink feathers of some
yellow, red or orange pigments. When flamingos living in zoos started to
these foods make their way into a fla- fade until zookeepers started feed-
mingo’s digestive tract, enzymes break ing the birds a synthetic version of
the carotenoids down into pink and the pink dye.

76 may 2022

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CULTURE

Only two monks know
the full recipe for Chartreuse,
and it remains frozen in time

BY Marion Renault

FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES

Monks, circa 1953,
collect herbs for
making Chartreuse

78 may 2022

PHOTOS: (LEFT) GETTY IMAGES; (RIGHT) ALAMY IMAGES

An
Ancient

readersdigest.com.au 79

W
WHEN THE WORLD went into lock-
down, for the monks of Chartreuse it landslides, terrible fires, religious
was simply another tick on their 938- wars, pillaging, evictions and exile,
year record of self-imposed isolation. military occupation, the French Rev-
olution, and, yes, plagues. Through
The Chartreux brothers, also times of earthly chaos, the Chartreux
known as Carthusians, embrace a thrive in accordance with their Mid-
deeply ascetic existence near Gre- dle Ages-era motto: Stat crux dum
noble in the western French Alps, volvitur orbis (‘The cross is steady
observing customs that have barely while the world turns’).
changed since their Christian order
was founded. The monks pass the “This order has lasted because they
days alone, praying for humanity know how to live beyond time, and
and listening for God in the silence they know how to live, also, in the
that surrounds them. Frugal meals present,” says Nadège Druzkowski,
of bread, cheese, eggs, fruits, vege- an artist and journalist who spent
tables, nuts and fish arrive through a
cubbyhole in their individual quar-
ters. With few exceptions, the monks
do not enter one another’s quarters,
and they rarely interact – save for
midnight and daytime church ser-
vices, where no musical instruments
are allowed. And once a week, they
stroll in pairs through the forests that
fortify the monastery.

This lifestyle has survived centu-
ries of external turmoil – avalanches,

80 may 2022

An Ancient Elixir

PHOTO: CARLO D’ALESSANDRO/ATELIER K almost five years putting together a The monastery is in the Chartreuse
documentary project on the monas- Mountains in south-eastern France
tery and its surrounding landscapes.
“It’s humbling.” sharp, bright and profoundly herbal.
In Evelyn Waugh’s novel Brideshead
In 2020, the Chartreux philoso- Revisited, Anthony Blanche compares
phy worked in reverse: as COVID-19 it to ingesting the rainbow, “like swal-
ground the world to a halt, the Carthu- lowing a spectrum.”
sian way of life went on, unchanged.
Bartender Brendan Finnert y, a
The Carthusians sustain this isolat- Chartreuse superfan, says it tastes
ed lifestyle largely through the produc- “like Christmas in a glass” or “grassy
tion and sale of Chartreuse, a liqueur Jägermeister”. To me, it has the colour
the monks developed centuries ago. and flavour of summer sunlight strik-
Like its mountainous namesake and ing a canopy of leaves – impossibly
the hue named after it, Chartreuse is

readersdigest.com.au 81

READER’S DIGEST

vibrant, sparkling with life, green mission of good will and benevo- PHOTO: COLIN CLARK/THE NEW YORK TIMES
beyond belief. lence, donating a portion of sales to a
support programme for the US hos-
When France went into periods pitality industry and gifting 10,000
of pandemic confinement, little litres of pure alcohol to a Grenoble
changed at the Chartreuse pro- hospital for much-needed hand san-
duction site – even as the country’s itiser. The monks also sacrificed their
winemakers and producers of other weekly social walks, in solidarity
liquors, such as Cognac and Coin- with the outside world.
treau, struggled. Shutdowns in
France and beyond did, however, “We were separated from all, but
close the bars and restaurants that participated through our prayer,”
usually function as the secular con- says Michael Holleran, a Catholic
duit for the monastic liqueur. Char- priest and a former Carthusian; he
treuse sales dropped to two-thirds of was at the order’s head monastery,
their usual level, according to a press Grande Chartreuse, for almost five
officer for the distilling company years. And, the liqueur company
Chartreuse Diffusion. followed the path of its founders
and remained patient. “We have had
“That world sank in a dramat- to learn to live with the virus,” Ro-
ic way,” says Philippe Rochez, the chez says, and that will take time. At
brand’s ex por t director, “so we Chartreuse, luckily, there’s nothing
turned to what was open.” The en- but time.
terprise pivoted from the service in-
dustry to wine merchants and liquor “The Carthusians have a wonder-
stores, hoping to place Chartreuse in ful perspective,” Father Holleran
household cabinets. says. “The days pass very quickly
when you’re immersed in the shad-
Throughout the pandemic the ow of eternity.”
company also upheld its founding

82 may 2022

An Ancient Elixir

Emmanuel Delafon (left), Chartreuse Diffusion CEO, with Father Dom Benoît, one of
the monks who oversaw production until he recently stepped down

PHOTO: PHILIPPE DESMA ZES/AFP/GE T T Y IMAGES A Millennium Ago monks formulated a milder version,
Green Chartreuse (55 per cent alco-
The year was 1084, and seven men hol), and a sweeter Yellow Chartreuse
in search of isolation and solitude (43 per cent). Both have become pop-
took refuge in south-eastern France’s ular cocktail ingredients, while the
Chartreuse Mountains – “the emer- Elixir continues to be sold medicinally
ald of the Alps”, as the French writ- for ailments such as indigestion, sore
er known as Stendhal called them. throat and nausea.
According to legend, centuries later,
in 1605, the order’s monastery near Today, the order sells about 1.5 mil-
Paris received an alchemist’s ancient lion bottles of its three hallmark prod-
manuscript for a perfectly concocted ucts annually, with the yellow and
medicinal tonic of about 130 herbs green liqueurs going for about US$60,
and plants: the ‘Elixir of Long Life’. and cask-aged versions for US$180 or
more. About half its production run is
The monks studied and slowly re- sold in France, with the US the largest
fined the recipe until by 1764 they export market.
had a potent (69 per cent alcohol) Elix-
ir Végétal, which a lone monk, Frère Royalties go back to about 370 Car-
Charles, delivered by mule to near- thusian monks and nuns residing in
by towns and villages. In 1840, the 24 charterhouses spread across the

readersdigest.com.au 83

READER’S DIGEST

globe, including Argentina, Brazil, Beyond the two monks Brother
Germany, Italy, Slovenia, South Ko- Jean-Jacques and Brother Raphaël
rea, Spain, the UK and the US. Re- Marie, who now protect the recipe,
markably, among them, only two all others involved in the production
monks know the full 130-ingredient of Chartreuse – Carthusian or not –
recipe. know only fragments of it.

“The secret of Chartreuse has long Old-Fashioned
been the despair of distillers, just as Quality Control
the natural blue of forget-me-nots has
been the despair of painters,” reads Inside the Grande Chartreuse, skilled
an 1886 document referred to in a monks receive, measure and sort 130
recent history of the company and unlabelled plants and herbs into gi-
order. Father Holleran spent almost ant sacks. Then, at the distillery, five
five years overseeing the distillation non-Carthusian employees work
process, ordering ingredients and alongside two white-robed monks to
planning its production schedules. macerate, distil, blend and age the li-
When he departed the site in 1990, queur. A computerised system allows
he became the only living outsider to them to monitor the distilling from
know the liqueur’s ancient formula. the monastery. Along its five-week
distilling process, and throughout
“It’s safe with me,” he says. “Odd- the subsequent years of ageing, those
ly enough, they didn’t make me sign two monks are also the ones who
anything when I left.” But the formu- taste the product and decide when it
la is extremely complicated, he adds, is ready to be bottled and sold.
and involves lived expertise passed
on through generations. “No one has “They are the quality control,” says
ever been able to duplicate the Char- Emmanuel Delafon, the current CEO
treuse, or could ever do so.” of Chartreuse Diffusion. The order
owns the company almost exclu-
This trade secret is both a market- sively, and works with the business’s
ing coup and a potential catastro- secular employees, who carry out the
phe. “I am very scared always,” a tasks too foreign to the monks’ her-
Chartreuse Diffusion president told metic vocation. “It’s their product,
The New Yorker in 1984. “Only three and we’re at their service,” Delafon
of the brothers know how to make it adds. “They need it to maintain their
– nobody else knows the recipe. And financial independence. They trust
each morning they drive together to us to make the link between monas-
the distillery. And they drive a very tic life and everything else.”
old car. And they drive it very badly.”
In 1935, the city of Voiron became
He added, “I really have no idea the liqueur’s main manufacturing
what it is I sell.”

84 may 2022

An Ancient Elixir

site. But in 2011, Delafon says, re- alcohol, two major ingredients in

gional officials tightened distilling liqueur, the company is exploring

regulations, mostly aimed at the other plant-based products that

hazards of making such high-proof could be more in line, morally,

alcohol – fires and vapour-fuelled ex- with the monastery’s values: herbal

plosions, notably. After all, the Elixir medicine, aromatherapy, balms and

barely escapes the International Air ointments, for example.

Transport Organisa- It would not be the

tion’s threshold for “NO ONE HAS first time the Carthu-
dangerous goods. BEEN ABLE TO sians reinvent them-
Officials deemed the DUPLICATE THE selves. Over their
Chartreuse distillery nearly 1000-year his-

dangerously close to CHARTREUSE, tory, the order has re-
schools and homes. OR EVER covered from natural
COULD” disasters, government
So, looking for expulsions, pestilence
a new production

home, Chartreuse set- and poverty. “Every

tled on a plot of land time, they have lifted

previously owned and farmed by the themselves up, recovered, and rede-

Carthusians in the 17th century. By fined themselves,” says Nadège Dru-

2020 the entire process, from distil- zkowski, the documentary maker.

lation to bottling, had moved to its That willingness to transform while

new million-dollar facility in rural remaining loyal to the order’s legacy is

Aiguenoire. It’s a 15-minute drive both a luxury and a safeguard during

from Chartreuse’s mountainside times of turmoil, according to Dela-

headquarters and three kilometres fon. “When you have roots this deep,”

from the source of water used to he says, “it allows you to forget the

make the liqueur. “The Carthusians short term and project your vision far

came home,” Delafon says. into the future.”

With the growing concerns over FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES (DECEMBER 17, 2020),
t he hea lt h ef fec t s of suga r a nd © 2020 BY THE NEW YORK TIMES COMPANY

Broom And Gloom

An old English and Cornish superstition holds buying a new broom
in May is unlucky: “Buy a broom in May, and you will sweep your

family (and friends) away.” Oh, and apparently, you shouldn’t
wash any blankets either! ARCHIVAL MOMENTS

readersdigest.com.au 85

PHOTO FEATURE PHOTO: BARCROFT MEDIA VIA GETTY IMAGES/DIETER KLEIN/BARCROFT MEDIA

Once
Upon A

TIME

The hands of time show no mercy to anyone
or anything. This cycle of inevitable decay

can at least be somewhat spectacular

BY Doris Kochanek

86 may 2022

How long will it take for nature to
completely overgrow this
unintended sculpture of wrecked
cars? The bodies of the lowest row, at
any rate, have almost sunk into the
Swedish forest floor.

readersdigest.com.au 87

Colourful graffiti adorns the remains of a disused ice factory in the historic PHOTOS: (COOLING TOWER) MIRNA PAVLOVIC; (ICE FACTORY) GER BEEKES/AL AMY STOCK PHOTO; (SHIP) MICHAEL POLIZ A
Luisenstadt district of Berlin. No doubt to the disappointment of local children,
ice cream was never manufactured here. Instead, until 1991, only ice for food
refrigeration was produced at the facility.

The interior of this cooling tower at an abandoned power plant near Charleroi
in Belgium would make a good backdrop for an end-of-the-world movie.
However, its demolition is imminent.

Once Upon A Time

The Eduard Bohlen seems to be stranded in the desert.
The ship ran aground off the Skeleton Coast of Namibia in
1909. Over the years, the desert has expanded, engulfing
the shore; the wreck now lies hundreds of metres inland.

readersdigest.com.au 89

READER’S DIGEST PHOTOS: (LIGHTHOUSE) PANTHER MEDIA GMBH/AL AMY STOCK PHOTO; (STAIRWELL) DIMITRI BOURRIAU, JAHZ-DESIGN; (NEON SIGN) JA XPIX/AL AMY STOCK PHOTO

From 1900 to 1968, the Rubjerg Knude lighthouse in
northern Jutland, Denmark, indicated the way for ships. Then
the ever-shifting sand dune, whose name it bears, took away its
function. By 2019, the colossus was only a few metres away from
the edge of the coast, and in danger of collapsing. In a
spectacular operation, it was lifted with hydraulic presses and
transported 80 metres inland. The 122-year-old lighthouse is a
popular tourist site, attracting about 250,000 people a year.

90 may 2022

Once Upon A Time

Once, their flashing and blinking
attracted gamblers and pleasure
seekers to the bars and casinos of
Las Vegas. Today, visitors to the
city’s Neon Museum can see
discarded neon signs that divulge
the city’s colourful history.

Today, silence reigns in the ornate readersdigest.com.au 91
stairwell of a chateau in the French
municipality of Dammartin-sur-
Tigeaux. When the building still
housed a sanatorium, the footsteps
of nurses could be heard up and
down the stairs.

READER’S DIGEST

QUOTABLE QUOTES

Your image isn’t Just as you think
your character. you know someone,

Character it turns out you
is what you actually have no
are as a person. idea who a person

DEREK JETER, really is until
you’ve travelled
BASEBALL PLAYER
with them.
You have
brains in GABRIELLE UNION, ACTRESS
your head.
You have THE BEGINNING IS THE
feet in your MOST IMPORTANT PART
shoes.
You can steer OF THE WORK.
yourself any
direction you PLATO, PHILOSOPHER
choose.
WHEN WE
DR. SEUSS, RECOGNISE
THE VIRTUES,
CHILDREN’S AUTHOR THE TALENT,
THE BEAUTY OF
MOTHER EARTH, Write it on your PHOTOS: GETTY IMAGES
SOMETHING heart that every
IS BORN IN US, day is the best
SOME KIND OF day in the year.
CONNECTION,
LOVE IS BORN. RALPH WALDO EMERSON, POET

THICH NHAT HANH,
CLERGYMAN

92 may 2022



THEN AND NOW

The

GYM
For some of us, they’re like back as far as the sixth century BCE,
a second home. For others, although back then they were little PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES
more than a shady area of packed
they’re entirely foreign. earth next to a river. They were
But either way, gyms have thought to have originated as a way
a fascinating – and well for young Greek men to improve their
fitness in readiness for warfare. But
defined – back story. the fact that it turned them into Greek
Gods wasn’t at all unwelcome either
BY Zoë Meunier – the body beautiful was as important
then as it is now.
To truly appreciate just
how different the gyms With time, Gymnasia were housed
of yesteryear were, one within large buildings. Typical sports
must first understand included wrestling, running, box-
that the word ‘gymna- ing, jumping, discus and gymnastics,
sium’ derives from the along with those useful for warfare
Greek word for nudity (gymnos). Yes, such as archery, javelin and armed
back in the day, activities at these all- combat.
male venues were undertaken in the
nude. Feel free to wince. Along with exercising, men visiting a
gymnasium could bathe, get massag-
The earliest known examples date es, or attend a philosophical lecture by
Plato or Aristotle ... wait, what? Yes, as
Gymnasia became common features

94 may 2022

readersdigest.com.au 95

in cities, they slowly transformed into exercise video while lounging in front
of the TV.
centres of intellectual endeavour –
What galvanised people into action
and a vital part of the Greek world. in the late 1700s was, once again, the
hope of creating superior soldiers.
When the Romans conquered Ancient
German physical educationalist Jo-
Greece, they adopted the Gymnasia. hann Christoph Friedrich GutsMuths
(more conveniently known as the
After the collapse of the Greco- ‘Grandfather of Gymnastics’) wrote of
the importance of strengthening chil-
Roman civilisation, many centuries dren’s bodies to build strong future
soldiers.
passed before the gym re-emerged.
Another German physical educa-
The ‘Dark Ages’ witnessed a rever- tionist, Friedrich Ludwig Jahn (aka,
somewhat unoriginally, the ‘Father
sal of any appreciation for the body, of Gymnastics’), was motivated by
avenging Prussia’s humiliating defeat
given the Catholic Church’s reli- by Napoleon Bonaparte. He devel-
oped the Turnplatz, or exercise field,
gious doctrine that the body was an which combined sports like running,
discus and javelin – with the use of
object of sin. equipment of his own design. These PHOTOS AND ILLUSTRATIONS: GETTY IMAGES; PUBLIC DOMAIN
would become the basis for the gym-
It wasn’t until the Renaissance nastics we know today, such as the
parallel bars, rings, pommel horse,
that gym culture started to have a re- vaulting horse, beam and high bar.

naissance, as people began to reread Jahn’s ‘Turner system’ encouraged

Greek texts on exercise. Italian physi-

cian Girolamo Mercuriale’s 1569 book

De Arte Gymnastica, featuring draw-

ings of muscular men working out,

helped revive interest.

But while these books were studied

by doctors, who recommended exer-

cise for health benefits, it remained a

purely academic curios-

ity, the ancient equiv-

GYM alent of watching an

JUNKIES

Over the
years

ANCIENT GREECE 19TH CENTURY 19TH CENTURY

TRAINING CENTRES HEALTH BENEFITS FREE WEIGHTS

96 may 2022

The Gym

copy-cats in England, France, Italy, Physical Culture, it was modelled on a
Spain, and, in time, the US. gentlemen’s club, with wood panelling
and Persian rugs marking each exer-
Also muscling in on the action was cise station.
Swedish educationalist Pehr Henrik
Ling, whose system, later known as Sandow would also stage one of
‘Swedish gymnastics’, promised to the first physique (bodybuilding)
improve people’s health. The Swed- contests in 1901 in London’s Albert
ish and Turner systems remained the Hall. Sandow’s remarkable physique
heavyweights of gymnastics from the and that of his mentor, ‘Professor At-
mid-19th century to the opening dec- tila’, who also operated a famous New
ades of the 20th century. York gym, would see a boom in gyms
populated by ‘muscle men’ – which
At the end of the 19th century, an made them slightly intimidating to
imposing figure would flex his in- their less-built brothers – and sisters.
fluence on the gym scene – circus While women were never excluded
strongman Friedrich Wilhelm Müller. from the 19th and early 20th century
Dubbing himself the apparently more gymnasia, they weren’t specifically
virile-sounding Eugen Sandow, he catered for either.
was an early adopter of weight train-
ing. He was also a shrewd entrepre- What was missing were gyms for
neur, marketing various physical people who didn’t want to resemble a
culture publications, exercise devices circus strongman but simply wished
and dietary products. Sandow opened to work out.
a gymnasium in London in 1897 at a
time when YMCA gyms were emerg- Stepping in to fill the void was fit-
ing in Britain and the US, making the ness legend Jack LaLanne who, in
idea of going to the gym more accept- 1936, opened one of the first modern
able. Called the London’s Institute of fitness centres, catering to ‘ordinary’
men and women. Fellow bodybuilder

1970s 1970s TODAY

BODYBUILDING NAUTILUS TREADMILL

readersdigest.com.au 97

READER’S DIGEST

Vic Tanny then raised the bar by Providing them with some strong

opening the first large-scale health competition was Arthur Jones and his

centres in the US during the 1950s Nautilus system, which fostered a new

and 1960s, which offered ‘luxury’ interest in exercising with machines.

workouts with health spas and tennis After the aerobics revolution, gyms

courts attached. really had to lift their game. Along-

The late 1960s were a pivotal mo- side the more traditional resistance

ment in the fitness industry, with more training activities, they needed to

people becoming interest- offer cardio equipment

ed in exercise. The follow- such as bikes, treadmills

ing two decades would and cross trainers, along

see the peak of the YMCA with exercise classes.

(and its accompanying These extended from

song and dance), as well aerobics to yoga, Pilates,

as more diversity when dance classes, cycling

it came to health studios, classes and more.

gyms and fitness centres. With health and fit-

Meanwhile the aerobics ness continuing to thrive

boom, spearheaded by a The aerobics today, competition in
leotard-and-leg-warm- boom the gym sphere at the
ered Jane Fonda – and brought start of this decade had
aided and abetted by Ol- never been higher, with
ivia Newton-John’s Physi- women into more and more players
cal music video – brought gyms bringing exciting new
women into gyms in large developments – CrossFit,

numbers. Zumba, boxing studios, aerial yoga,

But that didn’t mean the muscle- to name but a few, as massive-scale

bound powerlifters had withered gym complexes went bicep to bicep

away. Did somebody say Arnold with smaller boutique gyms.

Schwarzenegger? As Mr Universe The Covid-19 pandemic has seen

and Mr Olympia contests grew in the gym industry take a big hit to the

popularit y, so did bodybuilding, belt, with many g yms collapsing

with Arnie as the impressive poster permanently under the weight of

boy. Powerhouse gyms such as Gold’s lockdowns and people turning to PHOTO: PUBLIC DOMAIN

Gym and World Gym, both founded home workouts and streaming ser-

by bodybuilder Joe Gold in ‘Muscle vices to get their sweat on. But if any

Beach’, aka Venice Beach, Califor- industr y is strong enough to rise

nia, were soon sprouting around the above the challenges brought to

world. bear on it, it’s this one.

98 may 2022