Journal

Carriage Notes

Movement history, method deep-dives, studio stories, and the small things that make a class click. Brewed in Atlanta, written for anyone who’s ever stepped onto a reformer.

Issue 9 Jul 11, 2026 · 9 notes · 5 topics

Browse: All Pilates History of Pilates Fitness Studio Stories Pilates History

★ Featured · History of Pilates

Contrology is What Will Save America”: Joseph Pilates’ Unsuccessful Quest to Pitch His Fitness Method to U.S. Presidents

If you were to step into Joseph Pilates’ original studio at 939 8th Avenue in New York, you would find a man who looked like a mythic figure come to life. Described later in his obituary as a “white-maned lion,” he possessed a deeply tanned, mahogany skin and remained as limber in his eighties as...

4 min read · Jun 17, 2026 ·by thestudioatl

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Recent notes

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Studio Stories

Juneteenth at The Studio: a little history, a vendor day, and a reading list

Juneteenth is Friday, June 19, 2026. Here is a short history, what is happening at both studios that day, our June 19 class pack…

5 min read · Jun 16, 2026

Studio Stories

Pride Month at The Studio: Pilates for Queer Bodies and a raffle for Lost-N-Found Youth

Two community classes, body-neutral and sliding scale, taught by Laura Caffrey, plus a raffle benefiting Lost-N-Found Youth Atlanta. Here is everything happening for Pride…

3 min read · Jun 9, 2026

History of Pilates

Joseph Pilates’ Pre-War Circus Life (1912–1914) | The Acrobat Who Became a Teacher:

Before Pilates became the global movement system we know today, it was part of something much bigger — a 19th-century fitness revolution across Europe.…

6 min read · Oct 6, 2025

History of Pilates

The Roots of Pilates: From European Gymnastics to Contrology

Before Pilates became the global movement system we know today, it was part of something much bigger — a 19th-century fitness revolution across Europe.…

8 min read · Oct 6, 2025

History of Pilates

Joseph Pilates and the Original Reformer | History of Leather Straps

Joseph Pilates, the founder of the Pilates method, designed a unique exercise apparatus known as the Universal Reformer. One distinctive feature of his original…

19 min read · Oct 5, 2025

Pilates