Looks like Elmer 'bit' into some 'good' candy bars...
ELMER BITGOOD
"The Paul Bunyan of New England"
excerpted from : The Search for Elmer Bitgood: The Paul Bunyan of New England John d. Fair, Ph.D. Georgia College and State University
" There may be some people who are stronger than what I am, but as yet I have failed to meet one. I have the perfect right to claim the title until someone can prove that I am not worthy of it." - Elmer Bitgood
Voluntown, a small eastern Connecticut town of just over two thousand, was once home to a national legend who is all but forgotten today. From January 1869 until 23 July 1938, it was the home of Elmer G. Bitgood, a man many locals claimed was the strongest man in the world. Elme never aspired to fame and fortune and is virtually unknown outside the “long woods” district of eastern Connecticut where he spent his entire life. Yet in Voluntown, where he is often likened to Paul Bunyan, the strength feats of Elmer Bitgood assumed larger than life proportions.
May of 1909 and 39 year-old Elmer Bitgood and his brother, Doane (Like the woman’s name Joan with a D.) are posing for a Norwich Bulleting reporter in front of 2200 pounds of rocks on top of a wooden bench that stands about waist high. Elmer stands about five feet eight inches in height. He’s got a 52-inch chest, a 50-inch waist, and he weighs about 300 pounds. Oh, and his biceps measure 20 inches in circumference. Elmer. He was born in 1869 right here in Voluntown, Connecticut. There are a bunch of Bitgoods in this region, so he comes from a BIG family. And I don’t just mean there’s a lot of them, I mean these Bitgoods aren’t small people. We already saw Elmer’s brother Doane who is almost as big as Elmer, Elmer leads a simple life. He works on the family farm here with his brother. He doesn’t drink alcohol ever. In fact the only liquids he drinks are water and milk. Neighbors who happen by the Bitgood farm can always stop and ask to see Elmer lift some weight. Elmer posted a sign by the road on his property a sign of his feats of strength challenge for all to see.
