In 19. and early 20. centuries several million emigrants from German speaking countries entered the United States of America. How migrants coped with sickness, how they preserved their health and to which ressources and institutions of help they had access is yet an academic void. Using Ego-documents--letters, autobiographic texts and diaries--of near-illiterate men this paper will analyse 'healthy lifestyles' and practices of coping with sickness and contrast them with recent research findings in the field of 'mens' health'. Thereby the recent concept of ,male health-idiots' will be challenged in historical perspective.