Strongman Sig Klein

Measurements. (Taken in 1945)

Height - 5'4.5"; Weight - 10 st. 10 lbs.; Chest (Normal) - 44 ins.; Waist - 31ins.; Thigh - 22 ins.; Calf - 15 ins.; Biceps - 15.75 ins. (flexed); Neck - 16 ins.; Hips - 37 ins.; Wrist - 7 ins.; Forearm (straight) - 12.75 ins.

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KLEIN'S physical make-up is truly remarkable when one considers his height and weight. His muscular outline is extremely clean and well defined and this is accentuated to a marked degree when aided by his natural ability to pose his body to best advantage.

Bill "Peanuts" West

Peanuts began training in Pennsylvania in 1952 at age 15, weighing a bit less than 90 pounds. It didn't take long for the iron bug to bite and dreams of Muscle Beach to swell; soon he moved to Santa Monica and in to the Muscle House, owned by Joy Crettoz, who nicknamed Bill "Peanuts" after watching him eat peanuts, peanut butter and peanut oil daily for weight gain.

Writes Dan Martin about Peanuts' Westside Gym:

"It was easy to dig the old Westside gym because it was, in fact, a home gym. Just a plain old garage. Some of the strongest power lifters, football players, and field event studs lifted there. Nothing fancy, because it really wasn't needed. Squats, box squats, power cleans, dead lifts, dead lifts off blocks, barbell rows, bench presses, steep angle bench press, and seated dumbbell presses made up the list of the exercises done there."

Muscle, Smoke & Mirrors!

http://www.musclesmokeandmirrors.com

Get the awesome new book by Randy Roach, Muscle, Smoke & Mirrors! If you are into nutrition, and Iron Game History, you'll love Vol. I. I'm looking forward to Vol. II which will come out in 2009! Nice job Randy!

• Who were the true originators of bodybuilding?
• From where did the sport arise, and how did it struggle and fight for its own identity?
• See the bizarre beginnings of the International Federation of Body Builders!
• Did the disruptive antics of the sport's early framers set bodybuilding on a doomed course?
• What exactly is Physical Culture?
• Who were the sport's early nutritional pioneers?
• What primitive cultures shared commonality with the early Physical Culturist's diet templates?
• What dietary diversity in bodybuilding maintained itself throughout the 20th century?
• What outside forces beginning in the 1950s altered the direction of the bodybuilder's diet?
• Did science ever really enter bodybuilding or simply invade Physical Culture?
• When did supplements arrive and how did they change bodybuilding nutrition?
• Vince Gironda and Rheo Blair: legend, myth, or hype?
• When did steroids actually first enter on the scene?
• What were the only 2 true ages for the Iron Game and what “Classic Era” separated them?
  
• Did the closing of the 1960s signal the beginning of the end of professional bodybuilding?

Jorma Raty

One of my favorite Muscle Builders since I was a youngster reading the Weider Mags! RIP Jorma!

The Mighty Atom

I finally got myself a hard cover copy of The Mighty Atom, by Ed Spielman. Looks like there's one left for $30.00, though who knows what kind of condition it's in? If you want to see some great Mighty Atom pictures and information, check out Dennis Rogers Blog, located here!

Cleve Dean !

One of the best Arm Wrestlers ever, Mr. Cleve Dean!!! (I believe 2001).

Pat Casey !!

Pat Casey, the 1st 600 pound bench presser, and one of the best of all time!!

Max Unger

A classic old photo of Max Unger (Lionel Strongfort).

You can find more info here!

La Culture Physique

I was finally able to acquire a couple of issues of La Culture Physique. I got this issue featuring the great Strongman Apollon (Louis Uni), I also got an issue from 1908 with George Hackenschmidt on the cover.

Reg Park Journal

As I try to build my magazine collection with older titles that I do now own, I see issues of Reg Park Journal popping up on eBay every now & then. Even more so now since Reg's passing.

The Superstar!!

Here's a great old shot of Superstar Billy Graham.
Billy used to train with Arnold, and was a WWF Superstar before Hulk & Jesse were even in the profession.

His book "Tangled Ropes" was an outstanding read.

Klein's Physical Culture Studio

Nice picture of Klein's Gym, New York. Thanks to William Moore for posting this scan on IronAge !

Just look at those awesome globe barbells, where are these weights today?

Apollon Cabinet Card

Here's one of my favorite Strongmen, Apollon! Real name Louis Uni. This guy just oozed power. At 17 years old, he was 6' 3" and weighed 253 pounds.

Ken Patera

This is American Weight Lifter and Pro Wrestler, Ken Patera. He is one of the strongest men who ever lived, and was a great performer in the squared circle. For a great read about Ken, be sure to get a copy of "The Ken Patera Story" by Bruce Wilhelm.

The Mighty Louis Cyr!

Louis Cyr was in his first strongman competition at the age of 17, when he faced Michaud of Quebec. The young man defeated the reigning Canadian strongman by lifting a granite boulder weighing over 400 pounds. After spending some time as a lumberjack, Cyr became a professional strongman, touring all over the United States and Europe.

At the height of his career, Cyr stood only 5'10" tall but he weighed over 300 pounds and had a 60" chest when it was expanded (55.2" normally). Several of his weightlifting feats and strongman stunts have been exaggerated over the years but some were documented and are still considered impressive today. Examples: he back-lifted a platform holding eighteen men; he lifted 553 pounds off the floor with one finger; he pushed a freight car up an incline.

One of Cyr's most-talked about stunts occured on 10 December 1891 in Montreal. Four horses were tied to his arms (two on each side) and, while the grooms whipped and urged the horses to pull, Cyr managed to restrain all of them.

Louis Cyr died in 1912 and many say he ate himself to death. The official cause, however, was listed as chronic nephritis.

Henri Toch

Here's a picture of Strongman Henri Toch, who used to shoulder a 365 Kilo cannon, and hold it while it was fired!

Now that is something that I wish I could have seen!

Reg Park - RIP

Reg Park - June 8, 1928 - November 22, 2007 - RIP Reg!

Family man, Iron Game legend, one of a kind.

He will never be forgotten!

Apollon !!!!!!

Here is an awesome, and pretty rare photo of Apollon (Louis Uni) taken by Professor Desbonnet at his Physical Culture studio in 1910.

Apollon was 48 years old here, but look at the delts, biceps and forearms of this immense man.

He was (and still is) one of a kind!!

Apollo

I found this picture of Apollo - William Bankier. He was known as "The Scottish Hercules" and used to challenge Sandow and The Saxon Trio, with only Arthur Saxon accepting the challenge, but failing to lift Apollo's 475 lb. sack of flour and Iron!

Milo Steinborn - Curling a Globe Barbell!

Henry Steinborn - known professionally the world over as "Milo" Steinborn - closed the chapter of his illustrious life on February 9th, 1989, at the grand age of 95. He was the "Dean of American Strongmen" and probably the last of the living legends from the golden age of strongmen.

In the late '80s, "Milo" was still able to squat with 300 pounds. He would defy anyone to hold him down while performing sit-ups. As a matter of fact, at the Oldetimers Reunion in New York City, on May 13, 1987, he requested to perform - having someone jump on his "abs" from the position of three tables high. To his disappointment, due to the sequences of the evening's program we denied his request. At about 170 pounds, Milo's "abs" were still rock hard. In his prime years, he performed this stunt nightly at his wrestling performances.

William Pagel - Circus Strongman!

Herr William Pagel was one of the greatest showmen of his day, and knew what the public wanted. He was German by birth (born in 1878) and after an early career at sea settled in Australia where he worked in a restaurant as dishwasher and bouncer. Extremely well-built (about 6 foot tall and between 280-300 lbs, with enormous forearms), he soon joined a circus as strongman and eventually made enough capital to buy his own tent, holding 200 people. In February 1905 he sailed for Natal, and began touring South African centres. He developed his own animal training capabilities, particularly with lions, and carried the scars to prove it. Pagel was also famous for his tug o' war acts with four horses or alternatively with two elephants.

He was renowned for carrying no stick or whip when in the ring, relying, as he himself said, on "no more formidable instruments than patience, kindness and love, to gain a high degree of ascendancy over the minds of the most savage of the beasts of prey. Many people imagine that when an animal is taught to perform a feat, it is coerced into doing something foreign to its instincts and nature. This is not so. Animals possess aptitudes just as human beings, and they vary almost as greatly. The trainer observes some peculiar aptitude in an animal and guides and develops it carefully, encouraging him by every imaginable means until he is able to perform what is for that species of animal an unusual feat."

There was scarcely a type of circus animal which Herr Pagel didn't train. In 1910, a list of animals he brought into Natal from Transvaal included 5 horses, 9 ponies, 2 zebras, 1 camel, 4 elephants, 6 tigers, 3 lions, 5 leopards, 3 polar bears and a kangaroo.

Pagel married Mary DINGDALE, a Yorkshirewoman some years older than himself, who kept her eye on the box-office and vied with her husband for colourful and courageous personality. She had a pet black-maned lion which travelled with her wherever she went, ensuring good publicity for the show. Madam Pagel died aged 74 in 1939. William Pagel had retired in 1933 after wounds sustained during his animal act had become infected, and when he died in 1948 at the age of 70, his name had been synonymous with circus in South Africa for decades.

Happy Birthday Jack LaLanne!!

He's 93 years young today!!

A real Iron Game forefather!!

Date of Birth: 26 September, 1914!

Talk about Hard-Core!!

Check out this scan from the booklet I bought from Bill Hinbern's site! Bob Peoples gym, which he dug out himself under his house. Heavy, Hardcore and basic!! Bob has the first 700 lb. deadlift!

Matysek Makes an Attempt At 252 Pounds, From "Strength Magazine "Jan. 1915

Scan courtesy of Reuben Weaver.

Anton J. Matysek attempts a 252 lb., one hand overhead lift, on Dec. 18th, 1914. He was barely unsuccessful on that day, which Alan Calvert thinks is because of the thin 1" bar he used. He spent a lot of energy trying to keep the bar balanced, as to not roll out of his hand. Alan wrote that he thinks if he used a thicker bar, he may have succeeded.

Arthur Jones, 80, Exercise Machine Inventor, Dies

Arthur Jones, a wild-animal enthusiast, filmmaker and entrepreneur whose Nautilus fitness machines helped to transform the fitness industry and the way ordinary people exercise, died on Tuesday at his home in Ocala, Fla. He was 80.

Mr. Jones died of natural causes, his son William Edgar Jones said.

Mr. Jones was a rough-and-tumble character who had six wives, a nearly lifelong smoking habit and an affection for exotic animals like rattlesnakes and crocodiles, which he kept at his farm, the younger Mr. Jones said.

He tinkered with exercise equipment for more than 20 years before creating his first Nautilus machine, called the Blue Monster, in the late 1960s. Mr. Jones presented the equipment at a Mr. America contest in California and started Arthur Jones Productions to sell the equipment. The company’s name was later changed to Nautilus, because the cam, or gear, that was crucial to the machine’s success resembled a nautilus.

Mr. Jones’ invention led to the “machine environment” that is prevalent today in health clubs

Cool Arthur Jones pic!

A cool picture of Arthur Jones (Nautilus fame) feeding one of his elephants! A unique man indeed.

Beyond the Universe!!!

The Bill Pearl story, an awesome read by one of the greats of the Iron Game! You can buy this book here!

Bill Pearl - Plate Ripping!

This is one of my favorite pics of Bill Pearl. He, along with Dave Draper, is what muscle and bodybuilding is, was, and should still be, about. To me its a bit sad as to the state it is now in, but guys like Pearl, Draper, Grimek and guys of that era are the ones to listen to, and look to for advices. :>)

Apollon - Louis Uni

This is Louis Uni, also known as Apollon. There were a great number of men known as Apollon, but this was the original. Notice the immensely thick arms and forearms. This man was insanely strong!!

Apollon - Powerful Grip!

Here's a nice magazine, now on eBay (I hope I win it) with Apollon, one of my favorite Oldetime Strongmen!

Joe Rollino

Here's a few pictures of Joe Rollino. Joe is now 102 years old, and still going strong! I met him at the 2007 AOBS, and that is where he gave these pictures to my friend Reuben Weaver, Iron Game collector.

Another Tony Massimo Picture!

An excellent picture of Tony holding, what appears to be a very heavy Kettlebell!

Raw Power!

Sandow Poster...

Very nice, old Sandow poster for JohannHoff's Malt Extract!

Hans Beck

Hans Beck was the winner of the second German weightlifting Championship in 1895, the third German Championship in 1897, and the European Championship in 1896.

Standing but 66.5 inches, he weighed 242 pounds, and was as rugged as they come.

Beck was one of the first lifters to perform a continental clean and jerk with 300 German pounds (equal to 330 English or U.S. pounds), and eventaully managed 374 (English) pounds in this style.

Among his most outstanding feats, however, were his barrel lifts.

On September 25, 1896, Beck manhandled an 18 3/4 gallon beer barrel that weighed 249 pounds. He PRESSED the barrel overhead not once, not twice, but THREE (!) times in succession.

Beck followed this feat by tackling a 21 3/8 gallon barrel, which weighed all of 275 1/2 pounds. Beck jerked this massive and unwieldy load overhead.

Galen Gough

Here's a photo of Galen Gough, in a publicity shot for Oertel Beer. There's a book by Greg Travis (Galen Gough: The World's Miracle Strong Man) which I am still trying to locate a copy. A very interesting Strongman (and more).

You can read more about Galen here:

Galen Gough article:

Apollon (Louis Uni)

Thanks to my friend David Horne - The Grip-Master!!

Apollon's accident whilst holding back two automobiles in Vichy.
p.28. La Culture Physique magazine, July 15, 1913

Emil Bregulla !!!

This is Emil Bregulla. Pictures of Emil are exceedingly rare. Emil was a wrestler known as "The Terrible Pole." Like many old time wrestlers, he appeared in sideshows where he wrestled anyone who dared. These challengers were typically the biggest, strongest, and sometimes the meanest folks in town. They included lumberjacks, farmers, long shore men, and other assorted men confident in their strength. They did not stand a chance against the likes of Emil, as he was known as "Ursus the Strong" because he also wrestled bulls by the horns. Even at a late age he continued training, using thick handled dumbbells and barbells well into his 70's.

Old Time Louis Cyr Poster

The gentleman Strongman, is faithfully represented in the Humpty Dumpty Circus. Louis Cyr is shown lifting a weight quite similar to the 200 lb Schoenhut weight.

Old photo from Tom Lincirs' prized weightlifting memorabilia.

(Ivanko Barbell)

Look at those beautiful Globe Barbells and Dumbbells! I would love to find something like that around these days to start a collection!

The Inch Dumbbell

Force or Farce ?

Famous for his "unliftable" Challenge Dumbbell and Challenge Hand Gripper, Thomas Inch was Britain's Strongest Youth at 16, the first official Britain's Strongest Man and at one time had the largest physical fitness correspondence school in Great Britain! At 5'10 l/2" and 210 lbs., he could Two Hands Anyhow 356 1/2 lbs. and Bent Press 304 l/2 lbs. At age 68 he could Dead Lift 540 lbs. The famous name Thomas Inch brings to mind one thing, grip strength. He made a name for himself by offering £200 to anyone in the world who could lift his "unliftable" Challenge Dumbbell. Many a strength athlete tried but failed.

Sandow's Schools of Physical Culture

An old ad from Sandows schools...

Pierre Gasnier

A circus strongman from the 1890's who inspired many early Bodybuilders.
Gasnier performed with the Barnum and Bailey Circus.

Moerke

This is the famed early weightlifter Moerke, performing the final stage of the clean and jerk.

Though John Davis was known mainly for Olympic Weightlifting, look at this awesome display of pinch gripping!!

Carl Linich - Friend in Iron !

A cool pic of my friend Carl, a classic Strongman! At Sig Kleins Gym !

More Hepburn!

Doug Rules !

Doug Young Info..

A bona fide powerlifting legend from Brownwood Texas, Doug Young did some of his best lifting as a 242 and 275 lber during the late 1970's. He was particularly renowned for his upper body strength and had a physique to match his lifts. He was profiled in Terry Todd's Inside Powerlifting (1978) and was a Powerlifting USA coverman as well. A partial resume of his best lifting achievements include:

1975 Sr. National Champion @ 242: 705-534-688=1929

1975 IPF World Champion @ 242: 699-529-699=1929

1976 Sr. National Champion @ 242: 710-555-735=2000

1976 IPF World Champion @ 242: 705-562-738=2005

1977 Sr. National Champion @ 242: 722-556-738=2017

1977 IPF World Champion @ 242: 699-545-710=1956

Doug Young also made a 612 lb bench press record in 1978.

Legendary Big Jim Williams!

Another man ahead of the times!

Doug pressing 160 lb. dumbbells overhead..

What's Your Best ?!?!

Hepburns 1/4 ton bench press...