Barbell Plate Archives - www.oldtimestrongman.com

Zuver’s Gym 5 lb. Barbell Plate

Posted on Wednesday, February 17th, 2021 by John Wood

We’ve covered Zuver’s Gym before. For many years, Jean Zuver, wife of the Rev. Bob Zuver was a member of my email list and would write in all the time telling us how much she enjoyed our oldtime materals. She even sent us a copy of the book she wrote and some personal pictures from the gym. One day Jean wrote in to tell us that there was a whole bunch of old barbell plates from Zuver’s gym just rusting away in the shed out in back of her house, and would we be interested in them?

Our answer was a definite yes, but since these plates held great personal meaning to her and the family, we were hesitant to take them off her hands… There are strength equipment “vultures” out there who would have handled this type of situation a whole lot differently. The “Big” Zuver plates, 50-200 pounds tend to get most of the press, but there was all different denominations. Here’s a look at a 5-pounder.

35 lb. Reading Barbell Plate

Posted on Monday, April 27th, 2015 by John Wood

A closer look at a 35 lb. Reading Barbell Company plate. You don’t see these around much any more and if you find any, you’d be pretty lucky. The Reading Barbell Company was led by Walter good of the famed Good Brothers and, according to old literature was once located at the intersection of First Avenue and Franklyn Street in West Reading, PA.

Hargitay’s Health Glow

Posted on Thursday, September 26th, 2013 by John Wood

Hargitay's Health Glow

Plenty of Iron Game fans know that Mickey Hargitay won the 1955 Mr. Universe contest and married Jayne Mansfield but almost nobody (including yours truly) knew that Mr. Hargitay had his own name brand set of weights.

There aren’t many of these around although after quite a bit of digging, we were able to find out that these weights were actually cast in nearby Jackson, Michigan, which solved the mystery of how they ended up in a sporting good store just a few miles down the road

In a stroke of luck, we managed to find near a complete set–when is the last time you saw a 15 lb. barbell plate? The “hockey puck” shape of these plates is pretty distinctive — we haven’t seen anything like them elsewhere — so some thought definitely went into their design.

Weird Barbell Plates

Posted on Saturday, August 17th, 2013 by John Wood

I’ve been around the strength biz a long time, and every time I figured I’ve “seen it all,” something crazy comes along and blows everything away.
Case in point: here’s a weird set of barbell plates, 45 lbs, yet in the approximate diameter of a 25 lb. plate as you can see in the lower right pic for comparison.

As you might expect, these unusual plates are quite a bit thicker than normal At first I thought they were simply two 25 lb. plates welded together, but that is not the case, they are, in fact, cast that way as is the “45” on the front, They have no other markings other than what is shown. I’ve never — and I do mean never — seen anything like these plates in any of the books, magazines, catalogs or price lists that I’ve come across.

Whipper Watson Barbell Plates

Posted on Friday, February 22nd, 2013 by John Wood

Whipper Watson Barbell Plates

The list of athletes who had their own line of barbells is a pretty short one, but one surprising example is the great Canadian professional wrestler “Whipper” Billy Watson. Like many “signature” plates, these were mostly available in sporting goods store ~ although they are very tough to come by these days. Watson had many side ventures, one of which was evidently the barbell business. Perhaps the idea came from Doug Hepburn, who used to wrestle and perform feats of strength at shows promoted by Watson.

Jackson Barbell Company Plates

Posted on Wednesday, January 30th, 2013 by John Wood

Jackson Barbell Plates

You are more likely to win the lottery than come across any equipment from the The Jackson Barbell Company. We are incredibly fortunate to have several full sets of Jackson Barbell equipment in our private facility. This equipment is a true joy to train with as Andy Jackson’s immense attention to detail is evident over every square inch.

York Deep-Dish 45-Pound Barbell Plates

Posted on Tuesday, May 3rd, 2011 by John Wood

This is what 45-pound barbell plates looked like way back in the day. If you have some, count yourself lucky, they started disappearing in the 1960’s when The York Barbell Company came out with a more streamlined plate (they could only fit so many of these on a bar with guys like Wilbur Miller around). Two great grip strength challenges either to lift one of these plates by the hub or pinch grip a pair of them. You’ve got a pretty strong pair of mitts if you can do either (or both.)