Charles Vansittart: The Man With The Iron Grip

Charles Vansittart

In the late 1800s, Charles Vansittart ventured to the Klondike to dig for gold, but instead found his calling as a performing strongman. His prospecting skills were a bit lacking but fortunately his strength skills were not. In exchange for food, he began giving strength demonstrations in the Yukon saloons. His act caught on and eventually took him around the world where he was known as the "Man with The Iron Grip."

Vansittart had a pair of 18-inch biceps, 14 inch forearms and 7-5/8ths inch wrists. He could tear three decks of playing cards at once, and pinch grip a 56 pound blockweight with ease. Vansittart once won a closely contested challenge match when the great strongman "Cyclops" could not duplicate his feat of ripping a tennis ball apart with his bare hands.

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