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Feats of Strength This page is a continuation of stories told to me by family and friends. Thank you for sharing! "He'd come over on Sundays and sit in the back yard with my dad and drink beer", says my dad, Elmo Petro. Not only was he my grandma's cousin, but he was good friends with my grandpa, Carmine, who they called "Big Nick". My dad went on to say, "I remember him sitting there, his big barrell-chest and huge hands. He would crack apples in half with his fingers for us. He'd put bottle caps in between all of his fingers and would bend them." My dad also tells a story of friendly rivalry between Frank and Carmine. My grandpa was a pretty strong guy as well. He could lift about 800lbs. One day, at a tavern, where all the Italians liked to hang-out, Frank broke the bar in-half with his fist. Why? Because someone saw "Big Nick" walking by and commented on how strong he was. Hey paesan, no one was as strong as Frank! More Bar Stories When I first heard these "tavern stories" I thought they were all the same story but just remembered differently. Turns out they were all seperate occasions. One of these stories is remembered by Leo DiPietro. As told to his daughter Carla DelPapa, "Frank was in a saloon in Colorado where they sold whiskey by the gallons. He was with a friend he hadn't seen for awhile. They became a bit rowdy, so the bartender asked them to settle down. Frank then got up and with one fist hit the marble bar and broke it in half." At another bar on the corner of Cass and Chicago streets in Joliet, a policemen tried to break up some rowdiness and pulled out his billy club. The club was taken and returned to him in pieces. "Frank hit the club on his wrist and broke it", says Earl D'Amico. A milder occasion happened at Bucciarelli's Tavern in Joliet. Sandy Brandolino tells of a time when his father, Frank, and some other friends were playing cards at the tavern as they always did. "They made a bet with Frank that he couldn't rip a Chicago telephone book in half." Guess who won the bet. Need a Lift?  If you were traveling with Frank and your car got a flat tire. No need to worry about leaving the jack at home. Earl D'Amico remembers a story told by his his father Antonio, Frank's good friend. On their way to Chicago with two lady friends the car got a flat. Frank and Antonio got out of the car to fix it. The ladies were about to get out but Frank told them to stay in the car. With the two ladies in the back seat, Frank lifted the car while Antonio changed the tire.
So he could lift a car, so can today's strongmen. But have you seen them lift 30 men? In his charity shows, one of his popular acts included a 24-foot I-beam, and 30 men, 15 to his one side and 15 to his other. The men would hang from the I-beam placed across his back and Frank would lift them off the floor. ..."Many people have seen Frank lift 28 men, so allowing for an average of 125 pounds (a VERY conservative figure), this meant he lifted at least 3500 pounds. This, despite the fact he had no muscles like those seen on movie strongman Arnold Schwarzenegger..." ---Lou Gualdoni. Kids: A Welcomed Audience "He would tell stories", says Earl D'Amico. Earl recalls sitting on his lap while Frank told him the story of the three guys coming after him. As he told the story he placed 3 quarters between his fingers. When he reached the part of the story where he knocked out the men, he banged his fist against the table 3 times, opened his fist and dropped three bent quarters out of his had. "If they weren't bent all the way in half, he'd finish the job with his teeth." Don Callas, Frank's great-nephew told his son Mike, a story of when he was a small child. "He remembers Frank and his brothers singing Italian songs together at my grandmother's house", says Mike. "Frank played the piano using only the black keys, as his fingers were to big to the play the white keys without hitting two at a time." Another Donkey and Some Furniture As told to me by Eugene A. DiMonte: "Dad told me that once in Italy Pantalone overloaded a donkey with firewood he picked up in the mountains and that he carried the donkey and its load into town. He also told me that he saw him pick up a dining room table with 12 chairs on it by holding one corner in his mouth and simply using his back and neck to lift it without using his hands or arms. Also that if he tensed his arm to reveal the bicep that you could not penetrate the bicep with a pin, pretty astounding." HOME |
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