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Sig Klein's Gym (Exterior)
I've shown plenty of shots of the inside of Sig Klein's Gym but here's a rare shot of the exterior. Klein's Gym was located at 717 Seventh Avenue in New York City and was hard to miss with the huge...
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Carl Hempe
Carl Hempe, of Easton, Pennsylvania, won the Medium class of the 1939 "America's Finest Physique" contest. A year later he competed (but did not place) in the 1940 AAU Mr. America contest. This led to...
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Nino The Carousel
The Italian strongman "Nino" figured out very early on that making a lift impressive went far beyond mere poundage, "what" was lifted was a big part of it too, and he had a flair for making his feats...
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Fyodor Bogdanovsky
The great soviet Fyodor Bogdanovsky graces the cover of the November, 6, 1957 issue of Health and Strength Magazine above. At the time of this publication, the 1957 World Weightlifting Championships...
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Rolandow The Jumper
The great strongman G.W. Rolandow was very well known for his traditional feats of strength and the oldtime equipment that bears his name but he also excelled at feats of jumping prowess. Here,...
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Joseph Barton Kohen "The American Hercules"
Joseph Barton Kohen "The American Hercules" (also sometimes known as "The Allegheny Hercules" based on his hometown of Allegheny, PA), was a well known feature in Bernarr MacFadden's early Physical...
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David P. Willoughby
Strength author and historian David Willoughby gracing the cover of the January, 1936 edition of the British physical culture magazine "Superman." Willoughby was the AAU Southern California AAU...
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Sergio's Other Job
Sergio Oliva's "real" job was a Chicago police officer, a position he held for 27 years. With a 60 inch chest and 20 inch arms, unsurprisingly, his uniforms had to be custom made. You'd probably think...
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The 13th National Japan Athletic Meet
Each year, Japan holds a country-wide Sport festival which takes place in three stages: skating and hockey taking place in January, skiing in February and the main tournament taking place in...
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Gotch vs. Hackenschmidt
The greatest pro wrestling match ever held is undoubtedly on April 3rd, 1908 when the Frank Gotch and George "The Russian Lion" Hackenschmidt stepped in the ring to face each other after years of...
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Edward Aston
From 1911 to 1934, Edward Aston held the title of 'Britain's Strongest Man' and judging by this picture, it's not hard to see why. One of Aston's "Secrets" was to pay particular attention to...
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The Farmer Burns School of Wrestling and Physical Culture
It had to be quite an experience to train at the Farmer Burns School of Wrestling and Physical Culture. Farmer Burns believed that every athlete should train like a wrestler - and I agree. The bulk of...
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George Levasseur
George Levasseur was the strongman for the Ringling Bros. Circus in the early 20th century. Here he is bending a horse shoe, circa 1905.
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"The Brooklyn Strongboy" In Action
A look at "The Brooklyn Strongboy" Charles Phelan in action in mid-two-hands-anyhow with an excellent globe barbell and kettlebell. Phelan held five world records in his day: a one-finger lift of 506...
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Arthur Saxon's Incredible Plank Feat
As if you needed further proof that Arthur Saxon was one of the strongest men who ever lived, behold the following: Arthur and the other members of the Saxon Trio used to perform several supporting...
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Milo Lifts an Elephant
In August of 1950, Milo Steinborn attended the Chicago fair and the AAU Mid-States Weightlifting championships which was going on as a featured attraction during the Chicago fair. During a break in the...
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Dennis Rogers' Steel Scrolling
A few years back Dennis Rogers performed in Detroit and gave me the piece of steel he bent during the show. If you look closely you can see that it is dated 11/06/2005 and signed by Dennis.
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The Michigan State Normal School Gymnasium, Ypsilanti, Michigan, 1894
A look at The Michigan State Normal School Gymnasium in Ypsilanti, Michigan, circa 1894, the year it was built. This impressive red brick building was located across the street from the Water Tower in...
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Mr. America '68, Jim Haislop
Jim Haislop, the popular bodybuilder from Tampa, Florida, shows the foundation of his development: squats. Haislop had quite a career, winning Mr. Florida in 1965, Mr. North America in 1966, Mr....
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Ironman Magazine April, 1952: Cover Man Zabo Zoszewski
Irvin 'Zabo' Koszewski on the cover of the April, 1952 issue of Ironman Magazine. He finished 5th at the 1952 Mr. America Contest although to no ones's surprise, took home the 'Best Abs' subdivision....
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