Wolfing down scalding hot biscuits and other weird contests from 1897

Do you fancy climbing a greasy pole to grab a leg of mutton? Grinning through horse collars? Wolfing down scalding hot biscuits? I'd watch these over the Olympics any day.

Wolfing down scalding hot biscuits and other weird contests from 1897

The Strand Magazine, 1897

This 1897 Strand Magazine article, written by Framley Steelcroft (that's gotta be a fake name), covers unusual competitions that brought joy and excitement to working-class East End Londoners at the turn of the century.

Do you fancy climbing a greasy pole to gra…