Montreal Canada Archives - www.oldtimestrongman.com

Hercules Dansereau

Posted on Monday, November 11th, 2019 by John Wood

There’s no shortage of strongmen in Canada, some you know well and some you do not. Here’s a fellow you haven’t heard of: Hercules Dansereau. He was a circus strongman for a number of years but later quit that life to become a street car conductor in Montreal. Here he is bending a steel bar in his teeth around 1929.

Joe Weider, Lifting a Globe Barbell

Posted on Tuesday, September 8th, 2015 by John Wood

Here’s Joe Weider, The ‘Master Blaster’ himself lifting a pretty awesome globe barbell at a weightlifter gathering in Montreal sometime in the 1930’s. The only weight stated was “over 200 pounds.”

Victor DeLamarre

Posted on Wednesday, January 1st, 2014 by John Wood

Victor DeLamarre was another great name in the long line of Canadian Strongmen. He was one of thirteen children and built the foundation for his great strength at a young age by farming and working as a lumberjack.

When he was 14 years old, DeLamarre studied the exploits of Louis Cyr and declared that he would one day break Cyr’s records — a rather bold statement for someone who weighed all of 110 pounds at the time. Amazingly, this would come to pass on April 2nd, 1914, when, at age 25, DeLamarre bent-pressed 309-1/2 lbs at the Arcade theater of Montreal.

The Great Antonio

Posted on Monday, June 3rd, 2013 by John Wood

The Great Antonio

One of the more colorful Canadian Strongmen was “The Great Antonio” who lived most of his life in Montreal. Antonio was known to pull several city buses at once, sometimes with his hair and could lift a truck. The photo above is unfortunately cropped, otherwise you’d be able to see the other dozen or so people that Antonio is supporting hanging on the telephone pole on his shoulder.

Antonio also certainly lived up to his “Grand” nickname, usually tipping the scales somewhere between four and five hundred pounds at a height of 6′ 6″. He also toured Japan as a professional wrestler.