I can tear a phone book in half...
When I was a kid, it was a really big deal.You could see in newspapers and magazines photos of 'muscle men' advertising body building products and to show off their strength, they would tear a 3" thick phone book in half !
In addition to brute strength, there was a secret to tearing a phone book that involved folding the book in the middle so when you pulled it back from the crease line (you created) it would tear the pages individually and start a domino effect. This way, you weren't actually tearing all the pages at the exact time.
There are several phone books laying around and since fewer people are listed in the phone book, they have become smaller... much smaller. I estimate them to be around 3/8" thick now.
I had to try it and it worked. I was able to use the same technique of creasing the pages and pulling back and tore a phone book in half with my bare hands !!
Comments (4)
He was incredibly strong though. Picking up large cars, bending iron horse shoes, and doing other
things that truly required great strength were no problem for him.
He didn't do it onstage. He did it in the audience and gave the results for the audience to keep.
He would start with the phonebook and then explain it to the audience.
Then he would do the real stuff.
I met him at a party in Princeton.
He called me one time to let me know, when he was on Maury Povich's show.
That was many years ago. There's been quite a few "strongest man" since.