The golden era was never natural and the nostalgia is doing revisionist history

Every few months a thread pops up worshipping the physiques of the mid twentieth century as proof that you built a great body on food and bench press alone, and it deserves a reality check. Testosterone was already being experimented with in sport and physique circles well before most fans realize, its effects on muscle were described in medical writing in the thirties, and by the fifties its use among serious competitive bodybuilders was an open secret rather than a rumor.

That does not diminish those physiques, they achieved remarkable things with far weaker and cruder tools than today's compounds, which honestly makes the old school more impressive, not less. But the fantasy that the baseline was pure steak and grit gets used constantly to shame modern naturals for not looking like bodies that were chemically assisted.

Rewriting that history helps nobody. Who else thinks the honest version of the golden era story is more inspiring than the myth?