Oldtime Strength Blog - www.oldtimestrongman.com

Frans De Haes

Posted on Monday, June 21st, 2021 by John Wood

Franciscus “Frans” De Haes was a Belgian weightlifter who won the very first gold medal ever awarded in the featherweight class at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp. 1920 was the first time that weightlifting was divided into weight categories. In those days, International weightlifting competition consisted of three events, but probably not the ones you are thinking of: the clean and jerk, the 1-hand snatch, and the 1-hand clean and jerk. The weightlifting event was held outside on the infield of the stadium under a tent where it was cold and dark. The loose cinder surface also made footing difficult. De Haes took the gold with a 220 kg total.

The Arco Brothers

Posted on Monday, June 21st, 2021 by John Wood

Otto Arco began his vaudevill career with an old family friend Emil Von Mogyorossy as the duo “The Crotton Brothers. They performed feats of strength, muscle control, and hand balancing, dressed as Roman gladiators. Eventually Von Mogyorossy got married and and left the group but Arco’s own brother Peter (right, above) stepped in to replace him without missing a beat. “The Arco Brothers” would go on to perform in the Folies Bergere in Paris, the Hippodrome in London, the Winter Gardens in Berlin, and the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.

Raicevich’s Neck Bridge

Posted on Thursday, June 17th, 2021 by John Wood

We’ve covered Giovanni Raicevich before. Raicevich was known for his thick, strong neck — which is obviously of great use in the mat game for a variety of reasons. Here, Raicevich performs a wrestler’s bridge with at least 200 lbs.

Bob Hoffman Products Dugout Jacket

Posted on Tuesday, June 15th, 2021 by John Wood

Bob Hoffman is well-known as the father of American Weightlifting. What is not as well known is that Hoffman also had a tremendous hand in popularizing the sport of softball. At one point in time, Bob wanted to make York, Pennsylvania “The Softball Capital of The World, and for a short time, it was. The National Softball Hall of Fame was once housed at the York Barbell facility. Bob didn’t just sponsor “a” softball team, he sponsored ELEVEN: including the Bob Hoffman Products Red team, the Bob Hoffman Products Blue team, the York Barbellettes (women’s) team, and the York City police team. They all brought home many championships. Today you can find many softball fields and facilities named in Bob’s honor around the York area. Above, a rare Bob Hoffman Products dugout jacket.

Paul Belling

Posted on Tuesday, June 15th, 2021 by John Wood

Paul Belling was billed as the national champion wrestler of Austria in the late 1800’s. He scrapped with the best of them including: Alex Aberg, George Lurich, Ursus Jankowsky, Stan Zbyszko, Ivan Poddubny, John Pohl, Tom Cannon, George Hackenschmidt, Magnus Bech-Olsen, Jess Pedersen, and Franz “Cyclops” Bienkowski. When his competitive career came to a close Belling took his winnings and opened a cafe on the west end of London (which was eventually raided for being an illegal casino.)

The Bullworker!

Posted on Friday, June 11th, 2021 by John Wood

Here’s a rather impressive Bullworker advertisement from a South African magazine from 1976. Although the Bullworker literally came out of the back of a comic book, it was one strength gizmo that lived up to the hype. They were also surprisingly well made, you can still find Bullworkers made forty or fifty years ago that are still just as stout.

George Jagendorfer Gives Two Buddies a Lift

Posted on Friday, June 11th, 2021 by John Wood

George Jagendorfer gives two buddies a lift, circa 1880. You figure that a very conservative estimate of their bodyweights would be around 150 lbs. so this is a pretty impressive overhead support.

James Calabrese – The Italian Hercules

Posted on Thursday, June 10th, 2021 by John Wood

Now THAT”S an Indian Club! — The relatives of James “The Italian Hercules” Calabrese contacted us recently to see if we had any further info in our files. Unfortunately we did not, but they did provide us with this most excellent and very rare image which ran in the Police Gazette at the turn of the century. Calabrese evidently began his strongman career in Boston and later moved to New York City — which were, appropriately enough — the two hotbeds of Strongmanism in those days due to being the locations of Henry Higgins’ Gymnasium and Professor Attila’s Studio.

Ivan Shutov

Posted on Wednesday, June 9th, 2021 by John Wood

Ivan Shutov was a strongman in the Russian Circus for twelve years. His nicknames (fittingly) were “The Man with Iron Hands”and “The King of Nails” since he could bend an 8-inch nail into a knot or pound a nail into a wooden board with nothing but a blow from his bare fist, as he is demonstrating above.

Vulcana ~ Kate Roberts

Posted on Wednesday, June 9th, 2021 by John Wood

Another look at the lovely Vulcana, also known as Kate Roberts. She was sometimes called “The Female Sandow.” Once, when a pickpocket made the unfortunate decision to attempt to make away with her purse, the strongwoman grabbed the lout by the arm with a grip of iron and knocked him cold with one blow of her mighty right fist. Learn more about Vulcana here and here.