A Congress of Japan’s Famous Strong Men
Posted on Wednesday, December 31st, 2014 by John Wood
Here’s a pretty interesting item, a poster from the Barnum and Bailey Circus advertising “A Congress of Japan’s Famous Strong Men.” Based on the attire, I would expect to see sumo wrestling and/or grappling such as is pictured in the top half of the poster.
The bottom illustrations are intriguing though: Sumo wrestlers engaging in stone lifting, steel scrolling, live animal wrestling, horseshoe bending, chain breaking… and of particular interest is the gent in the bottom right holding a kettlebell in each hand. This poster is from the 1921 Circus season.