Kanonenkönig Holtum - 1875

Cannon King Holtum. - Appearance of the world-famous athlete Cannon King and benefit for the comedian Karl Ayx. Holtum against two horses. For today’s performance Markus Uber the coachman has reported from here to Mr. Mühlbesitzer Simon Wasser, Factory Street No. 8, in order to win the mounted prize of 500 marks, which will be paid in the presence of the highly esteemed audience if he succeeds in pulling Mr. Holtum away with his horses. At the same time, repeats of the productions with 12 chairs and the catching of a 20-pound ball fired from a truly powder-loaded cannon. Come and convince yourselves of this marvel! Munich, Schuh, 14 July (1875). Poster with typographic text and 1 woodcut. On green paper. Plate size: 60 x 20 cm.
Performance of the legendary strongman and “Cannon King” John Holtum (1845-1919), who could catch a ball fired from a cannon with his bare hands. In the first performance of the trick in 1872 at the Holborn Theatre in London, he lost a finger of his left hand. The Holtum, who hailed from Hadersleben in Danish Als, emigrated to America at age 15, became a gold prospector in Nevada, then a member of a circus in San Francisco, and finally returned to Europe in 1870. His extraordinary act made him a star in European circus; his physical appeal brought him countless female admirers. Some of these “groupies” even signed a petition to keep Holtum from catching the cannonball, so that his spotless body would not suffer harm. However Holtum married a beautiful equestrienne and settled in England after his career ended. - Holtum set a high prize here for anyone who could imitate his performance; over the years 161 strong men attempted, but all failed. In 1880 he was even prosecuted in Leeds for this, since one of the test subjects, Elijah Fenton, did not survive the attempt: “The first to try to catch the ball was Mr Fenton, but when the cannon was fired it struck him on the head and knocked him down. He was conveyed to the Infirmary, where it was found that his skull was fractured, and that he had received injuries to the nose.” - The woodcut shows Holtum lying on his stomach on a bench, gripping the top with his hands; two horses, tied by reins to Holtum’s feet, pull with force and are driven forward by four men enthusiastically with whips. Holtum endures the enormous pull, but the engraver has depicted the scene comically: the upper and lower bodies are separated and kept together only by suspenders. - Left edge cut off slightly.