Ottley Coulter

Ottley Coulter
A rare shot of the well-known oldtime strongman Ottley Coulter as a young man.

In the early 1900s, Coulter performed for a number of years with several Circuses, Carnivals, and Vaudeville houses.

Among being a master of many traditional Strongman feats (Spike Bending, Human Bridge, Harness Lifting, Backlifting etc) he was also rather adept at Muscle Control and Hand Balancing.

Interestingly, Coulter was not large like many other well known strongmen of the day, his bodyweight during his peak was 150 pounds.

Later, Coulter, along with George Jowett and David Willoughby formed the first weightlifting governing body in the country: The American Continental Weightlifting Association.

Coulter's vast collection of physical culture books, courses, memoribilia and letters also became the corner stone of the Todd-McLean Physical Culture Collection Holdings currently housed at the University of Texas.

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Early Bodybuilder Bobby Pandour

Bobby Pandour

Bobby Pandour was an early physique superstar and Vaudeville performer during the 1900s. Pandour never trained with heavy weights but built his incredible physique with gymnastics, muscle control work, hand balancing and high-rep training with a pair of 10-pound dumbbells. At his peak Pandour weighed only 160 pounds at a height of 5'6". It was reported that he had a 42-inch chest, 23-inch thighs and 17-inch arms.

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