Collecting Wrestling Cards
These cards come from a collection of 42 wrestling cards. Many of the wrestlers worked in the Niagara area from the 1930s through the 1960s.
Earl McCready (1905-1983) was born in Lansdowne, Ontario and won three straight NCAA wrestling championships in the 1920s. He was dubbed the greatest amateur wrestler Canada ever produced. He went on to compete for Canada at the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam. He later became a pro-wrestler.
This is the Masked Marvel. There were several wrestlers who used the Masked Marvel identity through the years. This individual cannot be identified.
Maurice "The Angel" Tillet (1903-1954) was born in France and moved to North America to start a wrestling career. He suffered from acromegaly which is caused by a benign tumor on the pituitary gland causing bone overgrowth and thickening. He was twice named World Heavyweight Champion by the American Wrestling Association.
"Whipper" Billy Watson 's real name was William John Potts. He was born in East York, Ontario. He was a two time world champion and is in the Canadian Wrestling Hall of Fame. He was born in 1915 and died in 1990.
Bronislau "Bronko" Nagurski (1908-1990) was born in Rainy River, Ontario. He played football for the University of Minnesota from 1927-1929 and went on to join the Chicago Bears in 1930. He wrestled from 1939 to 1960 and became an inaugural inductee into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1963.