My Visit to the Stark Center and the Ongoing Mystery of the Jowett Anvil

[Eric Roussin]

This past week I was on vacation in Austin (Texas) and Denver. The main purpose of my trip to Denver was for the Shaw Classic – both to compete in the Armlifting contest and watch the pro strongmen compete for the title of the Strongest Man on Earth. The reason I went to Austin first was the visit the Stark Center. For those of you who don’t know, the H.J. Lutcher Stark Center for Physical Culture and Sports is part museum, part research center. It is located at the University of Texas and houses the largest collection of materials related to strength history. It was founded a few years ago by Terry and Jan Todd, and it’s nothing short of amazing. Believe it or not, it’s free and open to the public!

One of my hobbies is researching and writing about armwrestling history. I’ve discovered a ton about it over the past dozen years, but I knew I would very likely learn something new by digging into the archives of the Stark Center. I had been wanting to visit for years, and I finally decided to make it happen this summer. Boy, was I not disappointed. I came across hand-written correspondence between some of the early figures of the sport (e.g. Mac Batchelor, George Jowett, Ed Jubinville) – really special stuff. I was the only visitor in the Stark Center for the entire first hour, so I had immediate assistance from the staff on hand, plus basically a private visit of the museum. There’s one room in particular that I loved the more than the rest. It featured one of Louis Cyr’s historic dumbbells, the 300-lb Mark Henry bell, and the famous Jowett anvil, among many other artifacts. The Jowett anvil was of particular interest to me, because I had heard various figures quoted about its weight…

The Jowett anvil is a Peter Wright anvil. On such anvils, the anvil’s weight is listed on one of its sides. The first number represents an amount in imperial hundredweights, the second number represents an amount in quarter hundredweights, and the third number represents an amount in pounds. Add them together and you get the total weight of the anvil. A hundredweight equals 112 lbs, and a quarter hundredweight equals 28 lbs. The numbers on the Jowett anvil are “1”, “2”, and “10”. This means the total weight is 178 lbs (1x112 + 2x28 + 10). I was surprised, because the highest figure I recalled hearing for this anvil was 173 lbs. Now, the listed weights are not always exact – in my experience, they can be off by a pound or two. But five pounds is a lot. At the Stark Center I uncovered various accounts of the weight of the anvil that Mr. Jowett had famously pressed overhead with one hand, ranging from 137 lbs to 168 lbs. In his later years, Jowett said the weight was either 150 lbs or 168 lbs – he wasn’t sure which. All this leads me to conclude that the anvil on display at the Stark Center may have belonged to George Jowett, but it was NOT the one that he pressed. There are few pictures of Jowett holding an anvil. There is one where he’s holding one by the horn and another where he’s holding one by the face (top part) at his shoulder (anvil upside-down). You can tell from these pics that these are two different anvils, and I’m not even sure if they were taken when he performed the feat or if they were taken afterwards. 

Mr. Jowett has long been suspected of exaggerating his feat, but based on the materials I’ve come across, I don’t think the blame necessarily lies with him. I’ve never seen anything where he wrote that he lifted the anvil by one hand, flipped it over and caught with one hand by the face at his shoulder, and then proceeded to press it overhead. Few descriptions from others recount this as a single movement. Rather, they were most likely two separate feats. The description of the anvil press rarely mentions how the anvil got in this position, so I strongly suspect George got it up there with two hands.

Those most familiar with elite levels of grip strength agree that picking a 168-lb anvil by the horn, swinging it up flipping it upside down, catching it with one hand, and then pressing it overhead is beyond the limit of human ability. I wholeheartedly agree, but I do think it could be done in two movements, and George Jowett may very well have done this.
My visit to the Stark Center was very memorable – I strongly recommend checking it out!

By the way, if you want to see someone perform the anvil clean (the flip in mid-air version) with a 95-lb anvil, check out this amazing video of Clint Ziegler!
 

 

[jchapman]

Nice writeup, thanks for the perspective.

[deadgrip]

You made me pull out an old book my friend…  sounds like a place I’d like to visit one day.

 

[Blacksmith513]

Thank you for this write up @Eric Roussin as a wanna be blacksmith and grip guy, it’s extra awesome for me.

I tend to agree with you, it could be done in two parts. He probably could do the feat with a lighter anvil. I believe he George Jowett had a stint as a smithy. So he probably had an assortment of anvils to practice with. What a nice Peter Wright that is also.

it’s so cool a lot of these feats we do now where inspired by tradesmen fooling around on the job. 

[Boulderbrew]

On 8/20/2024 at 1:27 PM, Eric Roussin said:

the 300-lb Mark Henry bell

Great write up! I’m happy to have the little brother to the Mark Henry bell.
 

Myers metal works allegedly made the Mark Henry bell too heavy so it was deemed “The Mistake bell” by Terry Todd. My friend Mike asked Terry if he could have Myers Metal works make a 200lbs version of the dumbbell. They went ahead and made it for him. I bought it from Mike years ago. It’s super tough. I want some more people to come out and try the “Myers Dumbbell”. It’s one of a kind. So far only me, Adam and Morgan Choi have lifted it.