The golden age of the strongman

These hunks could bend iron bars with their teeth.

Alex Q. Arbuckle

1890s-1940s

Russian wrestler George Hackenschmidt pulls on a rope. Credit: General Photographic Agency/Getty Images

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, strongmen took the world by storm. Crowds filled music halls and circuses to witness spectacular feats of strength, each performed by self-proclaimed Strongest Men in the World.Audiences were unimpressed with weightlifting specifics, such as form, technique, or exact weight. They had more practical concerns:Can you carry a horse on your shoulders?Can you break a chain with your chest?Can you support a car with your windpipe?Can you carry a baby elephant up a ladder?With every strongman claiming to be the best in the world, each had to develop his own specialty to stand out.John Holtum was famous for catching a 50-pound iron ball fired out of a cannon. (He lost three fingers on his first attempt.)Alexander Zass was renowned for bending steel bars, a talent which presumably came in handy when he escaped from an Austrian POW camp.Siegmund Breitbart could pound a railroad spike through five inch-thick oak planks with his bare hands. In his final show, he pounded it all the way into his leg, leading to fatal blood poisoning.These performances inspired countless amateurs. The muscle-building systems developed and sold by famous strongmen such as Eugen Sandow eventually gave rise to the modern bodybuilding movement, which lacks the same exciting potential for death or maiming.

1894

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

c. 1896

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Eugen Sandow shows off his physique in the studio. Credit: Rischgitz/Getty Images

Strongman Eugen Sandow, considered the father of modern bodybuilding. Credit: Rischgitz/Getty Images

Galen Gotch trains for the Strongman World Championship In New York by being run over by a car. Credit: Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone/Getty Images

Greek boxer and strongman Just Lessis demonstrating his prowess by bending an iron bar around his neck. Credit: FPG/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Circus strongman Stefan demonstrates his strength by towing a motorcar with his teeth through the streets of Berlin. Credit: FPG/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Edward Reece shows his strength by supporting a troupe of four actresses while he is suspended between two chairs. Credit: Underwood Archives/Getty Images

1927

C. Attenborrow of the Royal Horse Guards, considered to be the strongest man in the British Army, holds a comrade up in the air with one hand. Credit: Fox Photos/Getty Images

1935

21-year-old Swansea tailor Harry Pelta, winner of the title of the strongest man in Wales. Credit: Fox Photos/Getty Images

Edward Reece holds up two women with his teeth. Credit: Underwood Archive/Getty Images

Lewis Clark, "the strong boy," shows off his back muscles. Credit: Planet News Archives/SSPL/Getty Images

A 14-year-old calling himself "Boy Samson" supports a 200-pound motorcycle and its rider. Credit: Fox Photos/Getty Images

J. Rolleano bears the weight of a Citroen car running over his chest. Credit: Fox Photos/Getty Images

J. Rolleano pulls a truck with his teeth. Credit: Fox Photos/Getty Images

Tom Joyce, who claimed to be the strongest man in Bristol, shows his strength by having four men pull at a rope tied around his neck. Credit: Fox Photos/Getty Images

Samson Brown, "the world's strongest man," lets a motorcycle run over him. Credit: Fox Photos/Getty Images

Aug. 14, 1934

Joe Price uses a 50-pound hammer to nail up a notice. Credit: Fox Photos/Getty Images

Sept. 20, 1941

A 60-year-old British soldier lifts 500 pounds of man and steel. Credit: Fox Photos/Getty Images

London strongman George Challard allows a companion to bend a piece of iron around his neck. Credit: Fox Photos/Getty Images

George Challard bends an iron bar with his teeth. Credit: Arthur Tanner/Fox Photos/Getty Images

Joe Smith, a blacksmith from Gloucester, picks up and balances a roadworks notice in his teeth. Credit: Fox Photos/Getty Images

Jean Challard, who claimed to be the world's champion steel bender and strong-man, supports the weight of a push-cart on his windpipe. He is a nephew of German entertainer and "physical culturist" Eugen Sandow. Credit: Reg Speller/Fox Photos/Getty Images