Turner History

Few postage stamps in U.S. history had to fight their way into existence quite like US #979, the commemorative issued in honor of the 100th anniversary of the American Turners.

On March 4, 1948, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a joint resolution authorizing the issuance of a special 3-cent stamp commemorating the centennial of the organization’s founding. But Acting Postmaster General Joseph Lawler pushed back, citing a longstanding policy against issuing stamps for fraternal, religious, or sectional organizations — a policy that had previously denied stamps to the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, the YMCA, and the Veterans of Foreign Wars. Congress wasn’t deterred, and responded with an even stronger resolution backed by both the Senate and House, essentially directing the Postmaster General to issue the stamp.

The finished stamp featured a torch (symbolizing enlightenment), hanging rings, the dates 1848 and 1948, and the organization’s logo with the motto, “Sound Mind Sound Body.” Critics were not kind — Life magazine later described it as overcrowded, stating, “Now, to get all that on one stamp…was a great accomplishment; it must have destroyed the retinas of a dozen steel engravers.”

When we think of Turner gymnastics, the mind often jumps to parallel bars, vaulting horses, and the rigorous apparatus work that defined the movement. At its heart, however, were exercises that strengthened the core through the use of light weights and stretching.

This film, showing a New Jersey Turner doing a wand exercise, dates from February 1894. It is one of the earliest motion pictures made in the United States, using a technique called Kinetoscope developed by inventor William Dickson. He brought his process to Thomas Edison and established America’s first motion picture studio in West Orange, New Jersey.

Wand exercises involved coordinated movement drills using wooden or iron rods, typically performed in unison by groups of Turners. Positioned between pure calisthenics and heavy apparatus work, they built coordination, posture, flexibility, and upper-body strength.

Wand exercises were inclusive. Because they required no heavy apparatus and could be adapted for all ages and abilities, they were accessible to women and children as well as men. This made them a staple of the mass public displays and Turnfeste that were so central to Turner community life.

The Turner tradition of hand-apparatus work helped lay the foundation for what would eventually evolve into rhythmic gymnastics, and wand exercises played no small part in shaping physical education programs in American schools.

The Syracuse Turners offered classes for boys and girls. This 1910 postcard shows some of the classic exercise equipment, including the tall climbing poles, the pommel horses, and several students hold light weights.

In the foreground, four girls are showing of the Rundlauf. The word means “run around” in German. The Rundlauf was first mentioned in the book, “Die weibliche Turnschule” (The Female Gymnastics School), published in 1875. At first it was used as an exercise for women, and included routines with marching, hopping and running.

The Cleveland Eastside Turners closed this past year. To carry on the work of the American Turners, its members graciously donated $197,000 to the national organization.

In 1982, the National Turner Auxiliary published a cookbook. At a time when women could not join most Turner societies, the auxiliaries played an important role in supporting Turner activities. Today, we offer a recipe for scalloped turkey, submitted by Kay Erwin of the Moline Turners Auxiliary.

As a research project, we are collecting Turner cookbooks. If you have one, let me know.

Daniel Hoisington, National Historian, nationalhistorian@amturners.org