Gentlemanly Pursuits: The Gymnasium

Before iPods gauged your progress and overly complicated exercise programs became all the rage, the gymnasium was a place for good friends, good health, and good old-fashioned calisthenics. There was no posing or preening, and certainly no exaggerated grunting. Going to the gym was a simpler affair then. Jumping rope, trading jabs with the guys, and working the pommel horse were the order of the day, and the cleanup afterward -- jovial and free in the wood-paneled locker room, smelling of aftershave and musk -- gave fit guests time to unwind before getting back to doing what they did best: being men.