Monday, January 25, 2010
Stefan Siatkowski - The Man of IronStefan Siatkowski a.k.a " The Man of Iron" was a Polish Strongman who excelled in bar bending, nail bending, scrolling and anything else that involved bending metal. He was active as late as the 1960's.
Labels: Bar Bending, Performing Strongman, Polish Strongman, Steel Bending, Steel Bending Strongman, Steel Scrolling, Stefan Siatkowski
www.oldtimestrongman.com
All Contents, Including Images and Text, Copyright © 2010 by John Wood and Thunderdome Media Inc., Not to be reproduced without permission, All Rights Reserved
Thursday, January 07, 2010
The Amazing Samson!Many strongmen performed The Human Link Feat but around 1920, The Amazing Samson upped the ante by a bunch. He not only held back a pair of draught horses, he also bent a steel bar over his leg at the same time! Amazing indeed. It should also probably be mentioned that he accomplished this feat as a result of a bet.
Labels: Alexander Zass, Amazing Samson, Bar Bending, Classic Strongman Feats, Human Link
www.oldtimestrongman.com
All Contents, Including Images and Text, Copyright © 2010 by John Wood and Thunderdome Media Inc., Not to be reproduced without permission, All Rights Reserved
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Galen GoughBilled as "The World's Miracle Strongman," Galen Gough from Howard''s Grove Kentucky certainly lived up to his title. Gough was terribly injured while serving in World War I, but built himself back to health and strength through physical training. His results were so dramatic that a career as a performing strongman soon followed.
Gough performed feats of strength in carnivals, fairs and vaudeville houses all over the country. In addition to "traditional" strongman feats such as The Human Link, Nail Driving, and bar bending, Gough came up with many of his own including dangling from a rope tied to an airplane by his teeth, with a 50 pound weight in each hand, biting keys in half, juggling a 300-pound anvil!
One of his many adventures was to perform feats of strength as publicity stunts for the Louisville, Kentucky- based Oertel Brewing Company which is the origin of the Barrel barbell pictured above.
Labels: Anvil, Anvil Lifting, Bar Bending, Barrel, Barrel Barbell, Barrel Lifting, Feats of Strength, Galen Gough, Human Link, Jaw Strength, Kentucky Strongman, Nail Driving, Oldtime Strongman, Teeth Lifting
www.oldtimestrongman.com
All Contents, Including Images and Text, Copyright © 2010 by John Wood and Thunderdome Media Inc., Not to be reproduced without permission, All Rights Reserved
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Dennis Rogers' Steel ScrollingA few years back Dennis Rogers performed in Detroit and gave me the piece of steel he bent during the show. If you look closely you can see that it is dated 11/06/2005 and signed by Dennis.
Labels: Bar Bending, Bending Feat, Dennis Rogers, Steel Bending, Steel Scrolling, Strength Feat
www.oldtimestrongman.com
All Contents, Including Images and Text, Copyright © 2010 by John Wood and Thunderdome Media Inc., Not to be reproduced without permission, All Rights Reserved
Friday, July 10, 2009
Harry Luft, The Brooklyn SamsonShown here is Harry Luft, age 17, performing his own specialty of tearing not one but TWO 2000 page telephone directories in half. Harry, who weighs but 142 pounds, stand 5 feet 4 and does other strongman feats such as bending iron bars in his teeth, is one of the "Samson Twins" of Brooklyn New York. The other twin is his 15 year old brother Sol who also bends iron bars in his teeth and who emulates his older brother's book tearing stunt by destroying Red Books, which are about 1/3rd as thick as the directories.
Labels: Bar Bending, Brooklyn Samson, Brooklyn Strongman, Feats of Strength, Harry Luft, Oldtime Strongman, Phonebook Tearing, Samson Twins
www.oldtimestrongman.com
All Contents, Including Images and Text, Copyright © 2010 by John Wood and Thunderdome Media Inc., Not to be reproduced without permission, All Rights Reserved
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Felice NapoliOne of the earliest of the Oldtime Strongmen, Felice Napoli of Italy was performing incredible feats of strength in Wallshlager's Circus in the 1850's. Napoli dressed as the mythical Hercules as he performed and certainly lived up to it: Napoli's act consisted of his having a cannon shot off while held on his shoulders, bending iron bars, lifting heavy weights while hanging upside down from a trapeze, The Tomb of Hercules, and performing feats while hanging on a vertically suspended rope, a type of feat known as "The Spanish Web'. Plus, he had an excellent goatee.
Labels: Bar Bending, Cannon, Circus Strongman, Felice Napoli, Hercules, Italian Strongman, Oldtime Strongman, The Spanish Web, The Tomb of Hercules
www.oldtimestrongman.com
All Contents, Including Images and Text, Copyright © 2010 by John Wood and Thunderdome Media Inc., Not to be reproduced without permission, All Rights Reserved
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Joan RhodesThe lovely Joan Rhodes looked every bit the blonde bombshell but could perform incredible feats of strength that most men twice her size could not even dream of accomplishing. She left home at the age of 13 to join the circus where she was "adopted" by the Strongman who taught her how to build her strength.
She was featured prominantly in magazines articles and newsreel clips bending iron bars, breaking nails, and tearing phonebooks as shown in this classic shot from the 1950's.
Labels: Bar Bending, Circus, Joan Rhodes, Nail Breaking, Phonebook Tearing, Strongwoman
www.oldtimestrongman.com
All Contents, Including Images and Text, Copyright © 2010 by John Wood and Thunderdome Media Inc., Not to be reproduced without permission, All Rights Reserved
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