 |
Prohibition officially began on January 16, 1920, with implementation of the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. Intended to reduce the consumption of alcohol and achieve an easing of the ills of society attributed to the easy availability of fermented refreshment, it instead spawned an era of illegal beverages. The national headquarters of crime elements engaged in marketing forbidden liquids was Chicago, Illinois. And it was there that Charles Fischer sought employment.
In 1923 Fischer worked for Henry Pfund, driving truck and making deliveries of block ice and "beverages." Charlie excelled at both but the activities were markedly varied. Icemen of the day wore a leather shell that covered the shoulders and arms. While ice blocks were supported on that part of the anatomy it was not so for those handling barrels of liquid enjoyment. True, leather was worn but as an apron for barrels were carried across hips and thighs, supported with arm, hand and finger muscles. Chicago's most famous iceman of the day was Red Grange, University of Illinois football sensation. The name of his barrel-bearing counterpart was not well known. Not yet.
The first issue of Time magazine was
published on March 2nd of 1923 and future television personality
Ed McMahon was born just four days later. Insulin, discovered
by Canadian Dr. Frederick Banting the year before, became available
for general use in April.
It is now November and we find employer Henry Pfund and employee
Charlie Fischer about to make a momentous delivery. A 1931 newspaper
article related Fischer's recollection of that day:
 |
HE'S A BORN WRESTLER
He Has Not Lost a Finish, 2-Fall Match,
and Now Holds Two Titles.
Charlie Fischer, the 1/2-pint size Samson who holds the world middle and light heavyweight wrestling championships, was born to be a wrestler. Backed by no fanfare of publicity, no background of football or other athletic honors, and possessing only a marvelously developed physique, Fischer began wrestling in 1924--at the age of 24 years--and within a month had won the Cook County Illinois, middleweight and light heavyweight amateur titles. Within three months after he had first donned wrestling tights, the Milwaukee Midget had won second honors as a middleweight in the Olympic games tryouts.
Participant in nearly 500 mat matches, Fischer never has lost a finish, 2-fall match. He also is one of the very few wrestlers ever to hold two major division titles, and the first to hold the middle and light heavyweight titles.
WORKS IN LUMBER CAMPS
Born in Butternut, Wis., of German parents, and a member of a family of seventeen, Fischer soon developed into a husky youngster. He went into the North Wisconsin lumber camps and worked there and in the forests of the Northwest until he was 24 years old. Then he went to Chicago in quest of fortune, not realizing that there, too, fame would find him.
There, one day, on a wager, he carried a 400-pound
barrel unaided to the third floor of a building. Ernst Kartge,
one-time light heavyweight mat title contender, was on the losing
end of the wager with Fischer's employer, Henry Pfund.
"And he's strong enough to throw any of you wrestlers, too,"
said Pfund, razzing Kartge over losing the wager.
 |
AND SO FISCHER BECOMES A WRESTLER
Kartge at that time was mat instructor at the Hebrew Institute in Chicago. Morris Rubenstein, a middleweight, was his star pupil.
"I'll make the same bet on Rubenstein," he offered.
Pfund snapped up the offer, escorted Fischer home and bought him a leaflet describing some of the more popular wrestling holds.
"Study this, and get one of them down pat," he told Fischer. "We'll surprise Mr. Kartge."
And surprise him they did, for Fischer tossed
Rubenstein on his shoulders in exactly 5 minutes 35 seconds.
Fischer then was properly smitten by the bug of wrestling ambition
and joined a mat class in a Swedish gymnasium where embryonic
wrestlers worked out daily upon payment of a 50-cent-a-month
fee for use of the mats. Four weeks later, Fischer possessed
the gold medals emblematic of the Cook County middle and light
heavyweight mat titles. He had
defeated sixteen middleweights and eleven light heavyweights.
Then, he won the two titles in the Central Amateur Athletic Union
meet at the Hamilton Club in Chicago, beating Charles Coleman,
the Rocky Mountain champion for the 158-pound title, and Walter
Mower, a member of Uncle Sam's 1920 Olympic team, for the light
heavyweight crown.
A LOSER ON POINTS
At the start of the 1924 Olympic Games tryouts for the American team in Madison Square Garden, a chunky, heavily muscled youngster, representing the Swedish A.C. of Chicago, appeared as an entrant. No one there had heard of Fischer. He waded through all opposition to the finals, and there was declared loser on points. Three men were to be taken in the middleweight division. In the final selection of the team members, however, he was left behind. <>Kansas City Star, Tuesday, March 3, 1931.
Granted, there are several misleading statements in the preceding article. To begin, the Fischer family would have encompassed seventeen children if stillbirths and miscarriages hadn't occurred. In addition, Charlie's age was misstated. Born on January 2, 1898, he entered organized wrestling around the time of his 26th birthday.
There can be no doubt, however, of the magnitude of his amateur athletic accomplishments in five areas: 1) Within six weeks of joining the Swedish-American Athletic Club Fischer earned both the middleweight and light heavyweight amateur titles of Cook County, Illinois: 2) Both titles were garnered only after Charlie had defeated twenty-seven men in the course of a one day tournament: 3) Less than six months after entering organized wrestling Fischer finished second in the Olympic Trials, his only loss denying him the title of National Amateur Athletic Union Middleweight Wrestling Champion: 4) In well over one hundred amateur matches, the Olympic Trials loss in New York's Madison Square Garden was his only defeat: and 5) All of this was accomplished without the benefit of a coach.
Throughout his life, Charlie would remember, relive, relate, resent and regret the loss in New York he considered undeserved. Having experienced bitter disappointment in losing the middleweight title on a decision and being denied participation in the 1924 "Chariots of Fire" Olympics in France, Fischer entered professional wrestling in 1925. A future opponent of racial injustice, Rev. Martin Luther King was born on January 15, 1929. Eight days earlier an opponent of athletic injustice in the form of fixed contests had turned the wrestling world upside down. Again we follow the text of the 1931 news article:
He returned to Chicago, continued to train and work out daily, and in the summer of 1925 engaged in his first professional match with Jack Sperling, a ranking middleweight whom he defeated in nine minutes. Then he tackled Heinie Engle of Dubuque, Ia., who had just wrestled Johnny Meyers, the champion of the division, to a 2-hour draw. Fischer defeated Engle in seven minutes.
Until the fall of 1926 Fischer engaged in nearly 150 professional matches, meeting and defeating middleweights and light heavyweights with equal ease, although at that time he weighed less than 160 pounds. Ralph Parcaut, Lou Talaber, Eddie Pope, Bobby Bylund all men who had held the middleweight crown--were defeated by Fischer. He demanded a match with Meyers, the titleholder. The event was arranged, scheduled for a Chicago arena. Meyers was injured in training and from then until 1929 refused to meet Fischer.
 |
GETS DECISION OVER MEYERS
In 1929 the Milwaukee Midget, backed by a petition with the names of more than 5,000 admirers, presented his case to the Illinois athletic commission. The body ordered Meyers to meet Fischer and the match took place in the Broadway armory in Chicago January 7, 1929, Fischer winning a decision at the end of two hours of wrestling. Two months later he met Meyers on the same mat and won in two straight falls in less than an hour. <>Kansas City Star, Tuesday, March 3, 1931
Ed White, Fischer's former manager and the undisputed czar of wrestling promotions in Chicago, had seen to it that Johnny Meyers would not be found in the same ring as "The Wisconsin Wildcat." A comparison of the physical attributes of both men revealed some of the reasons for White's hesitance in letting Fischer have at Meyers. Unfortunately, these measurements are not complete:
|
|
|
|
|
AGE |
|
|
|
HEIGHT |
|
|
|
WEIGHT |
|
|
|
CHEST NATURAL |
|
|
|
CHEST EXPANDED |
|
|
|
WAIST |
|
|
|
ARM'S REACH |
|
|
|
NECK |
|
|
|
BICEPS |
|
|
|
WRIST |
|
|
|
FOREARM |
|
|
|
ANKLE |
|
|
|
CALF |
|
|
|
THIGH |
|
|
Johnny Meyers was the more experienced man but Charlie Fischer had whatever advantage could be gained by being seven years the champion's junior. True, Meyers was taller, heavier, and larger in chest and waist measurements. But when one considers those muscles used to apply pressure, Fischer holds the upper hand in reach, wrist, forearm and calf measurements. Judging by photographs of the two men in similar poses, it is almost certain that "Midget" Fischer also won comparisons of biceps and thigh dimensions.
There were other factors which could not be so easily quantified, and it was those that Meyers feared most. Strength, skill, speed, determination, cunning and concentration: These were Fischer's major assets. There were wrestlers as strong, as skilled and as fast. But to put all three together in the far corner made Meyers' task all the more formidable. A witness of the changing of the championship in Chicago provided hometown readers with his recollection:
Emil Birkholz, former Butternut resident, but now living in Chicago, attended the wrestling match recently held in that city in which Charlie Fisher of Butternut won the decision over Johnny Meyers, and through his victory cinched his claim to the championship of the middleweight class.
Mr. Birkholz's letter follows:
Chicago, Illinois.
January 3, 1929
Editor, Butternut Bulletin:
I attended the wrestling match between Charlie (Midget) Fisher and Johnny Meyers and I would like to have the folks at home know it was some match.
It was the best Chicago has witnessed for quite a number of years. For the first hour it was anybody's match. Then Charlie put on four headlocks and it looked like good bye Meyers, when like a flash he got an arm stopper hold and Charlie had to give the fall or suffer a possible dislocated shoulder and even worse. My hopes had faded just a little bit but not Charlie's, for I talked to him in the rest period and he had just as much confidence of winning as before the match started.
After the rest period it was sure heart breaking for Charlie when he came back. It seemed as though every one wanted to be with the winner and Charlie got a few cheers out of the seven thousand people but Johnny who is usually booed was given cheers by at least six thousand present.
The next 26 minutes were the best of any wrestling match ever put on any place. Charlie was sure out there to even things up. He had at least 7 or 8 headlocks in a row before Meyers fell into a wristlock and cross body hold for a fall. Then the whole house seemed to be for Charlie. I'll bet it was the greatest applause with the exception of the one that came later when his arm was raised as the winner, that Charlie ever received. He sure is deserving of it after being side stepped and stalled off so many times by Meyers.
Charlie proved to be the man and only man that could win over Meyers in the passed 10 or 11 years.
Yours Respectively,
Emil A. Birkholz
P. S. Hello to all my Butternut friends.
Black Tuesday (October 29, 1929) was so named for the dark panic that gripped the nation on that day. While many households slipped into poverty as a result of unemployment and savings lost, Fischer's pace never slowed. The wrestling public may have seen a parallel in the diminutive lumberjack from the distant town in Northern Wisconsin and their own plight. If "Midget" Fischer could best bigger opponents, perhaps they, too, could regain their financial footing. Again we turn to the article from Kansas City:
In the Kansas City American Legion mat tournament in the fall of 1929, Fischer met Billy Edwards, the then world light heavyweight champion, and defeated Edwards in two straight falls in less than an hour. Since then, Fischer, who meets Cecil Montgomery, the navy heavyweight champion, in one of the matches on Thursday night's Legion mat show in Convention hall, has been wrestling in the three upper weight divisions. Recent heavyweight victims, to whom Fischer has conceded forty and more pounds in each instance, have been Bill Heenie, Frank Davis, Roy Gillas and George Mack. <>Kansas City Star, Tuesday, March 3, 1931
Fischer had traveled home to Butternut in the final days of January, 1929, allowing family and friends to see him perform as the Middleweight Champion of the World. Now they would see a two-division champion in action.
The match was held on the third floor of Butternut School. The room served as a classroom/study hall during school hours. With desks piled in the halls, it became an auditorium/basketball court. And, on a night in late December of '29, the site of a match with Fischer's light-heavyweight world championship at stake.
 |
Uses all his Energies to Defeat Koch Sunday
Charlie Fisher held his light heavy weight wrestling crown all right last Sunday in his match with Fred Koch of Chicago, but Charlie had to use both hands to hold the crown on. It was a great match, held in the school house of Fisher's home town. It was witnessed by the best crowd that has seen a match in Butternut at any time. Nearly 100 of the crowd was from Park Falls. Lovers of the mat game were there from Glidden, Prentice, Butternut and Park Falls, as well as other surrounding communities. Fisher weighed in at 168 and Koch at 173. When Koch first made his appearance in the ring with his bath robe on it looked like an easy set up for Fisher.
But when he took the bathrobe off and the crowd noticed his splendid physique, it begin to say, "Well, maybe this bird can wrestle." Well, he could and did, to the effect that he won the first fall from Fisher in 42 minutes with a toe hold and face lock. There had been some whirlwind work just preceding the finish of the round. Fisher had clapped on a half a dozen headlocks in quick succession, and it looked as if he had Koch groggy, but somehow quick as a flash Koch had a toe hold and a face lock, and Fisher was pounding the mat in token of surrender. Fisher is a wily wrestler, and takes no unnecessary punishment. He saw that he was gone, and didn't insist that Koch put his shoulders to the mat.
The second fall was different Fisher winning in ten minutes, after Koch had tried the flying tackle, which was a good deal like "carrying coals to Newcastle," because Fisher next to Gus Sonneberg has that trick down better than any man in the wrestling game. Koch's try at the tackle was quite unsuccessful, and quick as a flash Fisher resorted to the same tactics and had Koch butted Koch off the mat a couple of times, after which he was an easy prey for a double bar arm hold. Koch's shoulder was so badly injured in this fall that he was unable to resume the bout and conceded the deciding fall and the match to Fisher.
Elmer Sanders the portly Sheriff of Ashland county, himself a former wrestler refereed the match. The main match was preceded by a number of preliminaries in which local Butternut boys engaged, and which Carl Benz refereed. There are a number of promising young wrestlers in and around Butternut since Charlie Fisher first made the game known to that section.
One of the features of the show was the presentation of a handsome traveling bag to Fisher by his Butternut friends. <>The Park Falls Herald, Friday, January 3, 1930
In addition to the "handsome traveling bag" (which the Fischer family still has), "Midget" received another gift that required a greater sacrifice by his admirers. Although the exact date of the presentation is unknown, it was mentioned for the first time in February of 1930.
 |
 |
 |
"Midget" Fischer, who defends his world's light heavyweight wrestling championship in Dubuque, at the Engel Stadium Friday night, has a championship belt that he will never surrender, even when his championship goes glimmering. It is a bit of personal property, presented to him by his fellow-townspeople of Butternut, Wis. It is a belt which cost $3,700 and it sure looks the part.
The belt is now being displayed in the window
of the Sibbing's jewelry store.
There are 24 diamonds in the belt, including one that is just
about three karats heavy. The engraving around the emblem includes
replicas of butternuts, in honor of the home town. The two American
flags are in colors, and the surrounding trimmings include seven
kinds of gold.
The inscriptions read: "world's middleweight
champion wrestler, Charlie Fischer. Won title by defeating Johnny
Meyers, Jan. 7, 1929. light heavyweight title won at Kansas City,
Mo., Dec. 5, 1929. Presented by friends from Butternut, Wis."
<>Telegraph-Herald and Times-Journal (Dubuque, Iowa),
February, 1930
Rarely did Fischer's name appear in newspaper articles without
mention of his beloved Butternut. And now he had further proof
of the admiration and respect he'd earned in Northern Wisconsin.
Taking the belt and diamond-studded buckle with him, Charlie
would locate a suitable jewelry store; one that had adequate
security for the safekeeping of his prized possession. Sure,
there were risks involved with transporting expensive jewels
in an era of rampant gangsters and hoodlums. But "Midget"
saw it for what it was; a sacrifice by his northwoods admirers
despite the Great Depression to assure him of their admiration,
support and well-wishes. Fischer made it exceedingly clear, in
one newspaper after another, that the belt presented by his Butternut
admirers was not at stake. Night after night "Midget"
would put his title on the line but the belt with the diamond-studded
buckle had been presented as a personal gift. He would treasure
it 'til his dying day.
Literally thousands of wrestlers made their way onto American mats and into rings. Few would leave a legacy equal to that of "Midget" Fischer. And few fans, or wrestlers, for that matter, can recall the inventor of a maneuver still in use today.
The unveiling came on January 5th, 1931, on Convention Hall canvas in Kansas City, Missouri. The opponent was "Sailor" Jack Wood, who claimed to have held championships while in the navy. Either unskilled or disinterested in scientific wrestling, Wood simply beat his opponents into submission. On this night "Sailor" would accompany "Midget" to the canvas in a manner unlike anything that had ever been seen.
Tucking Wood's head between his thighs, Fischer hoisted "Sailor's" torso to a near-sixty degree angle. Flicking his feet out in a continuation of motion, "Midget" encouraged the combined three hundred-plus pounds of the two wrestlers to come crashing down, the top of Wood's skull absorbing the impact. Yes, "Sailor" Jack had the dubious distinction of being the first victim of Fischer's invention: the piledriver.
Ed "Strangler" Lewis had summoned Charlie to Los Angeles in May of 1931, supposedly to help the heavyweight prepare for a title bout with Ed Don George. While there, "Midget" participated in matches conducted at Hollywood Legion stadium. And, while there, "Midget" became the subject of a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer movie: "The Bone Crushers."
The original intent was to have "Strangler" Lewis hold the spotlight. When that arrangement failed to be feasible, Charlie stepped in to assume the lead role. Intended to be shown before the featured film, "The Bone Crushers" ran about ten minutes.
Opening scenes showed wrestlers exercising next to the Pacific Ocean. Then the action moved indoors, showing a couple of unnamed wrestlers trading holds on a practice mat and Fischer involved in a game of handball. The remainder of the film was shot in an M-G-M studio and featured Charles "Midget" Fischer taking on heavyweight Tony Vallis, leaving "The Wisconsin Wildcat" a sixty pound weight disadvantage. During a break in the filming, up-and-coming movie star Robert Montgomery entered the ring. Posing with a "painful" hold on "Midget," promotional photos were taken.
Returning to the heartland of the nation, Fischer wrestled for the heavyweight championship in Wichita, Kansas, on May 8, 1933. John Pesek, an extremely able wrestler, provided the opposition. From all accounts, the match was exceptional in nature. Lasting ninety minutes, Pesek took the only fall in just over an hour. After the break Charlie threw caution to the wind, causing Pesek to wrestle defensively for the remainder of the time limit to avoid allowing Fischer to even the score. Although "Midget" was declared the loser, he had proven he could stay with the best of the heavyweights.
In 1934 a small article had been distributed by the Associated Press. Within its few lines is testimony of the type of entertainment preferred by Charlie. Depression-era carnivals often featured wrestling shows intended to involve area men. In this case, a local lad would win a cash prize if he could avoid being pinned during a ten-minute tussle with whichever of two carnival wrestlers he selected. That was on the surface. Carnivals made tons of money by having planted "spectators" solicit side bets with hometown folks in the crowd who were sure their favorite would avoid defeat. Charlie saw things in a different light. When "Midget" Fischer went to the carnival, he didn't ride the rides. He gave the rides.
 |
The following amusing little story, by the Associated Press and originating from Columbia, Mo., appeared in daily papers last Saturday:
"You're too small," said a carnival barker when an unassuming man volunteered to "stay 10 minutes" with either of two bulky wrestlers.
"I'll take the risk," the quiet man said.
He pinned the first wrestler in eight minutes and the second wrestler just as the 10 minutes were up.
"Who is that guy," the barker asked.
"That's Charlie Fischer," a bystander replied.
Over the course of his life, Charlie had put a substantial quantity of geography under his wheels. Before entering professional wrestling, Fischer had worked in the great grain fields along the Canadian border, with logging operations in the mountains of California, and then for Henry Pfund in Chicago. Having severed the managerial reins of Ed White, Charlie moved to Sheboygan, Wisconsin, for a time. After winning the middleweight title in Chicago, "Midget" accepted Maxwell Baumann as his manager, and the duo set up headquarters in Kansas City, Missouri. Another move came in 1934 when Charlie relocated to Columbus, Ohio. It was there that he won the trophy now residing in the Fischer Display located in the commons of Butternut Public School.
 |
TITLE BOUT SCHEDULED
WHEN "Midget" Charley Fischer of Butternut, Wis., and Jimmy Heffner of Sherman, Tex., scramble through the ropes at Columbus auditorium on next Wednesday night to battle for the world's light heavyweight mat title, they'll also be fighting for possession of the Gateway Jubilee trophy, a beautiful award emblematic of the world's 175-pound title.
This beautiful trophy will be presented to the winner immediately following the bout by the committee in charge of the Gateway Jubilee.
Heffner, riding on the crest of a great winning streak, will reach the climax of his career so far when he steps into the ring with the 175-pound titleholder and that situation is apt to inspire the Texan to the point where he'll be virtually unbeatable. <>Columbus Dispatch, Monday, October 1, 1934.
The Gateway Jubilee was the premier celebration of the year in Columbus, Ohio. With a wide variety of events scheduled to cover a nine-day span, wrestling was the only production presented precisely in the middle of the Jubilee's run. With four matches on the card, the main attraction was scheduled to last an hour and a half. It didn't.
Terminates Heated Match After 35 Minutes.
"MIDGET" CHARLEY FISCHER, brilliant Butternut, Wisconsin grappler, successfully defendid his light heavyweight title at the Columbus auditorium Wednesday night when he downed Jim Heffner with his crashing, unstoppable pile driver, 35 minutes and 35 seconds after hostilities got under way.
The bout was one of the feature events of the Gateway Jubilee, and the winner was awarded the Statue of Liberty trophy from the Gateway Jubilee committee.
The challenger with his "Indian Choker" working to perfection, had his followers in an uproar on more than one occasion when he had the champion in threatening positions.
Applies Choker Hold
Shortly before the end of the battle Heffner used his famous choker hold and it looked bad for Fischer, but he came to the front again and managed to crawl to the rope, where Referee John Collins separated them and then came the climax, with three consecutive pile driver slams which knocked Heffner unconscious for about 10 minutes.
Followers of Heffner thought he was the victim of a raw deal, as they were of the opinion that Collins did not break the hold sufficiently, and had not given Heffner a chance to get on his feet.
The crowd protested violently and several
fans even entered the ring and raised Heffner's hand as though
he had won, but the arbiter's decision prevailed. <>Columbus
Dispatch, Thursday, October 4, 1934.
Early in his career Fischer had indeed been known for his pushing,
ever-aggressive style. As the years took their toll, Charlie
evolved into a defensive master. Allowing the other man to wear
himself down, the ex-lumberjack from the banks of the Chippewa
River would suddenly transform into a double-bit axe. With cutting
edges on both the left and the right, Fischer had chopped opponent
after opponent to pieces. When facing Walter Roxy in November
of '35, however, the transformation never came.
 |
Walter Roxy, social science teacher at Hamtramck
Junior College, today claims the world's light heavyweight wrestling
championship. He defeated Charles (Midget) Fischer, Butternut,
Wis., at the Arena Gardens Monday night. Fischer won the first
fall with a grapevine toe hold in 41:17. A series of flying tackles
and a body slam gave Roxy the second in 13:10. Continuing his
flying tackles, Roxy forced Fischer to hold the ropes. He refused
to break and was counted out in 8:15. Fischer has claimed the
title since 1929 when he won the light heavyweight tournament
at Kansas City and hadn't been beaten until Monday night. <>The
Detroit News, Tuesday, November 5, 1935.
The circumstances under which Roxy was awarded the light heavyweight
title were suspicious. The match had been promoted by Adam Weismuller,
a relative of Johnny Weismuller of Olympic swimming and "Tarzan"
movie fame. Like many other wrestling promoters, Adam was not
known to be a straight-shooter when it came to staging honest
wrestling matches.
"Midget" immediately sought to regain his title by wrestling Roxy but to no avail. The title remained in Roxy's hands for the moment. Honest or not, the title was gone and, for a time, so was Fischer who took a break from wrestling. When he did return to the ring he spent the first half of 1936 in Missouri, Kansas and surrounding states, then headed east to reclaim the championship belt of the light heavyweights. But the belt had been moving as Roxy's reign was but seventy-one days before he lost to George "The Great" Mephisto. Within a short time George Dusette conquered Mephisto's kingdom and, in turn, turned the title over to San Franciscan Billy Weidner on July 6th, 1936.
Reentering the Ohio River Valley, Fischer sought a match with each man who had claimed the title but the crown had always moved to another head before the contest took place. That series was broken when Weidner entered an Ohio ring to face Fischer in 1937.
The duration of Weidner's reign (206 days), nearly equaled that of Roxy, Mephisto and Dusette combined (238 days). Yet, occupying the throne for six months and a few days pale in comparison to Fischer's nearly six year (2,529 day) reign from December of '29 to November of '35. And it was Weidner who would enter the ring showing more strain after defending the title for six months than Fischer had after six years.
At last Ohio wrestling fans read the headline they'd been expecting as the former champion wasn't content with the title "former." The buzzing of the wrestling bugs before the match was but a mild murmur when compared to the raucous racket resounding within Columbus Auditorium during the contest.
Midget Fischer Regains Grappling Title
in 42 Min. 39 Sec.
By ROBERT BEACH,
State Journal Sports Writer.
With 5000 madly cheering fans screaming their hearty approval and congratulations for his success, Charles "Midget" Fischer, Butternut, Wis., regained the world's light heavyweight wrestling championship at Columbus Auditorium last night by defeating the defending title holder, Billy Weidner, San Francisco, with a crashing pile driver that left the loser limp and unconscious for nearly five minutes. The time was 42 minutes and 39 seconds.
Only the fondness of Weidner for the ropes kept him from being a beaten man much before he was. He constantly fell through the twine enclosures when unable to break Fischer's holds, which was pretty frequent. At no time during the entire bout did Fischer appear to be in the slightest danger of losing and his victory proves the stories of his perfect condition were no bunk.
Hammer locks, leg splits, wing-locks and toe holds all were a part of Fischer's offensive repertoire. He bounced off the ropes, chased him through them and in one instance over them. He followed a crafty plan of battle and pursued it with hairline closeness. His defense was nearly impregnable. What few holds Weidner did apply, the champ found it necessary to break when Fischer applied the proper counter lock.
The finish, too, was dramatic. Weidner, his attack completely folded up, resorted to blows to end the battle. Fischer retaliated with the same medicine and added a few flying blocks for good measure.
 |
One of these Weidner ducked and Fischer's hurtling body struck Referee Clete Kauffman, blasting him out of the ring while the battle continued to rage within the ropes. While Kauffman was still on the floor, Weidner went for Fischer's legs, got 'em and spilled the new champion, falling on top of him for what might have been a pin had a referee been present. There was none, however.
Fischer was content to rest there until a referee appeared on the scene and when Kauffman finally returned to the ring holding his right arm, Fischer heaved Weidner off the canvas and set about applying two pile drivers, the first of which was unsuccessful, but the second doing the job and doing it well.
The match was an excellent one and kept the
spectators on the edges of their seats continually. <>The
Ohio State Journal, Friday, January 29, 1937.
Reinstalled as the light heavyweight world champion after defeating
Weidner, Fischer would retain that title and his middleweight
world's championship until his retirement.
Fischer was an unusual athlete in several ways. Some sportswriters labeled "Midget" a "freak" because of his height-reach proportion (63"-71"). Charlie had no control over his arms growing while his legs didn't. But Fischer had unbelievable control over that nemesis of all athletes who must compete in strict poundage divisions: weight.
The Kentucky Derby of 1937 is an exceptionally memorable chapter in horse racing history. Participation in the Derby is by invitation only for horses of a specific age. Passed over when he was eligible, "Man O'War" was not allowed to enter. A vindication of sorts came in '37. Although "Pompoon" had been declared the pre-race favorite, it was "Man O'War's" son, "War Admiral," who won in the second fastest Derby to date, "Twenty Grand" having established the record a few years earlier.
On the night before "War Admiral's" victory, a wrestling program was presented in Louisville on the day after the German zeppelin Hindenburg burst into flames at Lakehurst, New Jersey. Four matches were listed, each one a title affair in a different division. Interestingly, the classification of "junior middleweights" was practically unheard of in professional grappling. Fischer's opponent was Billy Thom, currently the wrestling coach at the University of Indiana. Held in the Jefferson County Armory during the evening of Friday, May 7th, the match was the only one of the four to go to a draw. Fischer netted a relatively plump purse of $150.00 for his efforts but the most amazing aspect of the match was not disclosed to the public.
Known throughout his career for his ability to fluctuate his body weight at will, Charlie's weight had been reported at 175 pounds for a Kansas City match on the 4th of May. In the space of seventy-two hours, Fischer had driven over five hundred miles and supposedly dropped twenty-four pounds to come in one pound below Junior Middleweight Champion Billy Thom's weight of 152. Whether Charlie's weight was accurately reported is questionable. What is established is that "Midget" could manage his weight rather well, to say the least.
 |
Champion Is Adept In Keeping Proper Weight
Many wrestling fans have expressed wonderment over how Charles Fischer, the world middle and light heavyweight wrestling champion, trains for his title bouts when he is required to make 160 pounds.
Fischer, possessing the build of a heavyweight, the shoulders of a "Strangler" Lewis, the arms of a Georges Hackenschmidt, and legs like Stocher's, usually appears fully capable of tipping the beam at 190 pounds or more. But the truth is that Fischer rarely ever scales above the 170-pound marker. More than likely, when he enters the ring for a match with a heavyweight, he is weighing not to exceed 168 pounds.
"I never have been forced to take off more than six or seven pounds," he says, "and I can do this by varying my diet slightly. I never have to resort to steaming or sweating off poundage and as a result am able to enter the ring at any weight required with my full eral days and taking brisk walks of fifteen to twenty miles daily, enables Fischer to cut off poundage to the required mark. Several months ago, Fischer signed up to meet a formidable opponent at the middleweight limit in Chicago. He had just been through a tough series of matches at catch weights and took a lay-off, going to his farm near Butternut, Wisconsin, for ten days. When he arrived finally in Chicago, to the consternation of his manager, Maxwell Baumann, Fischer tipped the beam at 172 pounds.
"Don't worry," Fischer told Baumann. "Give me three days' time and I'll make 160 pounds."
Fischer eased up on his eating and reeled off thirty miles in Sheridan park the first day. He lost six pounds. He lost four the next and on the fifth - the day of the match - he entered the ring weighing 158 1-2 pounds. Proving he had lost none of his strength, he won the match in straight falls in a total of 14 minutes 6 seconds!
Recognized wrestling critics agree Fischer is a dangerous title contender in the heavyweight division and can defeat with ease 90 per cent of the big fellows. The popularity of Fischer is due wholly to his willingness to meet any and all opponents selected for him, and "phoney" claimants for his titles always are on the run when asked to face him in the ring.
Champions of the caliber of Fischer are largely
responsible for the popularity of wrestling today. <>The
Sports Reporter, Tuesday, June 27, 1933.
In the July, 1933, issue of The Ring, a letter asking
editor Nat Fleischer why there had not been any articles on Charles
Fischer was printed, as in that day The Ring covered both
boxing and wrestling. Fleischer's reply simply stated that "Midget"
wasn't worthy of an article and would probably have a difficult
time getting under 160 pounds for a middleweight contest. The
only favorable comment-that Fischer was "once" a formidable
middleweight-was more than a bit premature. The truth was that
middleweights had given up trying to wrest that crown from the
ex-lumberjack's balding pate.
Coincidentally, also in July of 1933, The Butternut Bulletin carried a lengthy article on Fischer. Among a rainbow of topics was documentation of "Midget's" amazing weight control.
Throughout his career, wrestling insiders marveled at Charlie's ability to lose substantial poundage in a short period of time without losing strength, stamina, or both. Nestled within this article is Fischer's own account of a trap that had been laid by unscrupulous souls. Purposely misleading him to think he would be facing a light heavyweight, "Midget" prepared to wrestle well above the middleweight limit.
Learning of the deception but a few hours before match time, "The Little Demon" must have appeared to be just that as he became a whirling dervish in a gymnasium. Endeavoring to detach himself from the excess weight that would, were he to carry it into the ring, warrant a forfeiture of his middleweight championship, Charlie demonstrated his amazing ability. Fischer also mentions Hugh Nichols, National Wrestling Alliance light-heavyweight champion. Nichols was high on "Midget's" list of undesirables.
 |
Charlie Fisher came home this week for a visit at his place on the Chippewa near Bear Lake. Charlie is home for a rest after a strenuous season's wrestling. Charlie takes them all, big and little and the oftener the better, and he has thrown all the worthwhile wrestlers excepting the top-knotch heavyweights, who, while they are out of his class, he would be more than pleased to take a crack at.
There is one thing about Charlie Fisher that every Butternut resident appreciates in him, and that is the fact that although he has risen to the heights in this wrestling game, he is not ashamed that his home is up in the woods of Northern Wisconsin at Butternut. He never fails to connect Butternut with his wrestling exploits. He is known as the Butternut flash, the Butternut midget, and by other titles and he never fails to tell them that Butternut is where he hails from.
Recently in Milwaukee a sport writer, observing the great range in weights that Fisher has to make in order to meet all comers, large or small, wrote an article with reference to his wonderful ability to make such weights and at the same time wrestle with the same great ability and stamina he always displays. The following is the article, which appeared in the Superior Telegram on Monday.
If there is anybody around who wants to wrestle Midget Fisher of Butternut, Wis., he can set the weights to fit his own poundage. It can be 158, 168, 178, give or take a pound either way. This Fisher, who looks as sturdy as a butcher's block, is a human balloon. He can expand or contract at will. He is something like the freak who used to entertain vaudeville audiences by growing three inches in about five minutes. There was a trick to that growing business and there is a trick to Fisher's uncanny ability to make weight. The trick, scheme and device, to use a legal phrase, consists of drinking much water.
"I drink two or three gallons of water every day and never a drop of anything else," Fisher explained. And from all accounts, this Wisconsin athlete is a champion in the matter of clean living. He lives to wrestle and permits nothing to interfere with his regimen.
Not so long ago, Fisher was billed to meet a light heavyweight in Topeka, Kan. He was training at his Butternut ranch to take on additional poundage. Upon his arrival at Topeka the day of the match he was informed he would meet Ernie Stevens, the 158-pound champion of Kansas. Fisher weighed 166. It seemed to be the general idea that when Fisher knocked off eight pounds he would be so weak that Stevens would win the middleweight title. The Butternut boy donned a rubber sweat shirt and started to run around the gymnasium. In one hour he had lost the eight pounds and that night he took Mr. Stevens over the jumps in two straight falls.
"I've done better than that in reducing," Fisher explained. "In 1928 I wrestled Gus Kallio in Chicago. At 3 o'clock the day of the match I weighed 155 1/2 and at the ringside I weighed 159. We wrestled two and one-half hours and I weighed 146, a loss of 13 pounds. I felt fine.
The Butternut balloon began life as a lumberjack and in 1924 he became an amateur wrestler, making the U.S. Olympic team three months after his first appearance on the mat. He turned professional in 1928 and the following year won the middleweight title from Johnny Meyers in a match at Chicago.
Fisher, the best man of his pounds in this country, is a Wisconsin product. His father, Berthold, was brought from Germany to Menomonee Falls 58 years ago. The father later took out a homestead and reared a family of 17 children, including Charles, then the runt and now the balloon. At the age of 33, Fisher has a distinction most of us would enjoy: his waistline has not increased one inch. In the last three years Fisher has made good money in the mat game (away from Wisconsin) and has acquired 120 acres on Bear Lake were he spends his idle moments.
"I will wrestle any man in the world,
regardless of weight," is the way he words his challenge.
"For two years I have been trying to get a match with Hugh
Nichols, claimant of light heavyweight title. I offered to bet
him $500 I could throw him twice in 75 minutes, but he ducked.
Later in Topeka I offered to wrestle him for charity and a $500
side bet, half to go to charity. He ducked. In May I posted $1,000
with the Missouri athletic commission along with a challenge
for a championship match. The money remained on deposit during
June, after which the commission declared his title vacant in
that state. So you see it's hard to get matches. That's why I
will take on anybody-Sonnenberg, Goldenberg, Reynolds-at any
weight. <>The Butternut
Bulletin, Thursday, July 20, 1933.
Having worked through the 1936-'37 wrestling season, which began
in autumn and yielded to outdoor sports the following spring,
the time to go home was at hand. One can only imagine the singleness
of purpose seated behind the wheel. Notable calamities, conflicts
and accomplishments were occurring at an ever faster pace but
Fischer paid them little more than passing notice.
On the 21st of May a huge dust storm engulfed Clayton, New Mexico. An engulfment of another nature occurred five days later in Michigan at Ford's River Rouge plant when a riot ensued after labor leaders were beaten by company security guards. And on the following day the Golden Gate Bridge opened. June 22nd saw Joe Louis score a knockout over Jim Braddock in the eighth round at Chicago's Comiskey Park. The "Brown Bomber," an acquaintance of Charlie's, would retain his heavyweight boxing title until his retirement in 1949.
Louis and Fischer were justifiably proud of their world titles but Charlie was about to assume a title of a far different nature. A title that went with a ring unlike those in which he'd faced aggressive competitors. A ring that came with a friendly face. This time the trip home meant much more than just a break from the grind of grappling night after night and driving mile after mile. Now there would be a match of a much different nature, for the matchmaker's name was Cupid.
 |
A wedding of considerable interest in this community was performed by the Rev. Fr. Pax at the Butternut Catholic Church, 9:00 a.m. Saturday, June 26th. At this time, Miss Olga Jarasz became the bride of Charles Fischer. Attendants for the bride, who was attired in the traditional white, were Miss Joan Tubilewicz, dressed in pink, and Miss Mabel Meyer, in blue. The groom's attendants were Chester Jarasz, brother of the bride, and John Meyer, Jr.
Following the quiet, private ceremony, a reception was given at the home of the groom's sister, Mrs. John Meyer. The newlyweds entertained their many friends at a wedding dance at Idlewild that evening. For the present, the young couple will make their home at Bear Lake.
The bride is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs.
Walter Jarasz of Butternut. The groom is well-known in athletic
circles as the light heavyweight champion of the world. <>The
Park Falls Herald, July 2, 1937.
It had been so long since Fischer's world middleweight crown
had been challenged that both reporter and reader were likely
to forget that the lighter title also belonged to Charlie. Bluntly
put, middleweight wrestlers had long ago given up their attempts
to overcome the speedy, muscular, "Midget."
Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan were reported lost in the Pacific on the day Charlie and Olga's wedding announcement appeared in The Herald. And less than two weeks later a Russian pilot and two companions flew nonstop from Moscow to Riverside, California, via the North Pole. Future famous Americans born in the latter half of 1937 included entertainer Bill Cosby on July 12th, baseball immortals Orlando Cepeda on September 17th and Juan Marichal a month and a week later on October 24th.
While the British were busy appeasing Hitler, Japanese bombers attacked United States and British ships on China's Yangtze River on December 12th. Known as the Panay Incident, it was but another indicator of what was about to come, for the next day Nanking fell to the Nipponese invaders. Four days before Christmas Walt Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was released in Los Angeles and one day after the Yuletide celebration the Fischers observed six months of marriage. It would soon be time for Charlie to go back to work. Only this time he wouldn't go alone.
Mr. and Mrs. Fischer traveled the wrestling circuit until her time was near. On April 29, 1938, Olga provided Charlie with another title: Father. Honoring the father Charlie never got to know, he named his first son Carl Walter Fischer. (It should be noted that on February 5, 1960, Carl had his name legally changed to Charles Fischer, Jr. At that time the family name was also altered to "Fischer" to include the letter "c.")
Now a party of three, the Fischers resumed
their travels in early May. During the last full week of that
month "Midget" wrestled in Milwaukee, Rockford, Chicago
and Dubuque, then closed his logbook. For all intents and purposes,
it was over.
There were five matches (all of them in Wisconsin) in 1939 and
then nothing for fifteen years. During the interim Charlie became
an elected official. serving on the boards of the Town of Chippewa,
Bruch School, Butternut Public School and Ashland County in various
capacities. And another son and two daughters had been added
to the family: Walter, Helen and Rita
A singular honor was accorded Fischer, apparently late in 1947 but possibly during the first weeks of January, 1948. Charles Fischer had first been referred to as the "Butternut Midget" in an article appearing in The Park Falls Independent on Thursday, September 16, 1926. Twenty-one years and some months later, the name would be changed to plural and represent thousands of Butternut students. For a brief moment the name appeared in print, only to disappear for many months. But that lone instance gives us a slim clue as to the date of its origin.
Hello Everyone,
Old B. H. S. is really busy this week. There are only 3 months and 16 days left till graduation. Plans for our annual are nearly completed. Mr. Wyman was here yesterday and took the group pictures. If you would like to buy an annual, see Pat Murphy about it. The price is $1.25. You may pay $.75 down and $.50 when you get it or the $1.25 at once. The Seniors are tearing their hair out trying to get things done. They have a class play to put on, the annual to get out, and the girls have to worry about what they're going to wear graduation night.
Speaking of Seniors, two of the class took the Pepsi-Cola Scholarship Test and guess what! Violet Schultz was in the top 9 per cent and Pat Murphy in the top 10 per cent. So you see, we do learn more than basketball and track up here as 1287 students entered the competition.
Mr. Stevenson, Federal Conservation Agent, spoke for an hour before the entire assembly Monday noon on Conservation. Then he very kindly agreed to talk before the Agriculture class also and gave a constructive talk on soils and methods of retaining fertility.
Due to the fact that one of the players had been sick for the past two week, we took another defeat from Prentice last Friday night. Although it was a close game throughout 15 to 14 at one time, Prentice came through in the last quarter to defeat Butternut 31 to 47. We did have the satisfaction of defeating their B team with a score of 25 to 9.
Tuesday night the Butternut Midgets played Iron Belt here. The Butternut B team won with a score of 25 to 31 and the Butternut A team won with a score of 35 to 31.
Next Tuesday night Draper is playing here. We won by a score of 15 to 16 when we played at Draper so you see it was a very close game and one that should prove to be exciting.
Tonight we are playing at Glidden with our
B and A teams. It should be a hotly contested game as we defeated
Glidden by only 2 points on the Butternut floor in the overtime
period. As I understand, this is the State Centennial game and
an appropriate exercise will be held during the game period.
Well, see you at the game tonight.
Your Senior Reporter.
As much as it is taken for granted today, the name adoption was not a "big deal" at the time. Not until some years later did it become commonplace for newspaper articles to refer to the "Butternut Midgets" in reporting athletic events.
The Mellen Lions Club promoted several wrestling cards in early 1954 and "Midget" participated in two of the programs. His final match came later that year during a specialcelebration to dedicate the new gymnasium in Butternut.
Scheduled for the Fourth of July weekend in 1954, the festivities began on July 2nd, a Saturday. That evening more than three hundred and fifty persons attended a Homecoming Banquet in the new structure. Sunday's celebration centered on an evening dance, again in the gymnasium. Co-queens Darlene Holt and Blondell Wiedenhoeft reigned over the large crowd in attendance.
Monday, the final day of Butternut's Fourth of July observance, included a "Grand Civic and Patriotic Parade" that wound it's way from the school to GAR Park, followed by a band concert. A firemen's water fight kicked off the athletic portion of the program. After the hoses had been put away it was show time for Butternut's champion, a title that meant as much or more to Charles "Midget" Fischer than any other.
As waves of immigrants blended into the Great American Melting Pot, they naturally tended to seek earlier arrivals of the same nationality. It is not surprising then, that wrestlers were often known as much by their ethnic origins as their names. Not so with Fischer. Rarely were his Germanic bloodlines mentioned. Whether living in Chicago, Kansas City or Columbus or wrestling in New York, Wichita, Hollywood or Dubuque, Fischer preferred to have his beloved Butternut mentioned as his home. The circle that had been opened twenty-nine years ago in Butternut on August 1, 1925, with Fischer's first professional bout, was about to be closed in the same community. It also seemed fitting that Charlie would wrestle his last match as a middleweight, coming in at 157 pounds. Ironically typical, his opponent outweighed him by thirty-six pounds.
And so it was that middleweight Charles "Midget" Fischer closed his career at the age of 56 by wrestling heavyweight Adolph Havista, the "Flying Finn" of Owen, Wisconsin. Held inside the new gymnasium, Havista took the first fall in twenty-five minutes and Fischer the second after thirty more minutes of action. Try as they might, neither man was able to secure a deciding fall in the five minutes remaining and the match was declared a draw.
"Midget" had met his last opponent
on a mat. The only matches ahead for him were those Charles "Midget"
Fischer relived in his mind as he told all who cared to listen.
And those contests "The Wisconsin Wildcat" re-wrestled
in his dreams.
"The Little Demon" withstood the ravages of age better
than most men. Still, each life has a beginning and an end. Twenty
years, four months, and a few days after Olga closed her eyes,
Charles followed her into eternity.
 |
 |
Funeral services for Charles "Midget" Fischer, 84, Butternut, who died on November 16 at Community Memorial Hospital, Cloquet, Minn., after a lingering illness, will be held on Saturday, at 10 a.m., at the Immaculate Conception Church in Butternut, Father Charles Froelich will officiate.
Burial will be in St. Cecilia Cemetery in Butternut.
There will be a visitation today, after 3 p.m., at the Novitzke Funeral Home in Park Falls, with a parish rosary service to be held at 7:30 tonight.
He was born on January 2, 1898 in Butternut, where he had his early life and schooling. He was a lifelong resident of Butternut.
He was married to Olga Jarosz on June 26, 1937, in Butternut. She died in 1962.
He won the World Middleweight Wrestling Championship on January 7, 1929, by defeating Johnny Meyers in Chicago. He won the Light Heavyweight Wrestling Championship on December 5, 1929, by defeating Billy Edwards in Kansas City.
He placed second in tryouts for the U.S. Wrestling Team for the 1924 Olympics and was undefeated during his career.
He was formerly president of the Ashland County Insurance Co. He was a civic leader in Butternut, and served as Chippewa Township chairman, town treasurer and assessor, Butternut School Board clerk, and was a member of the Ashland County Board.
He was a member of the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Butternut and the Knights of Columbus.
He is survived by two sons, Charles, Jr.,
Delafield, Wis., and Walter, rural Duluth; two daughters, Helen
Larson, Minnetonka, Minn., and Rita Smith, Elko, Nev.; 13 grandchildren;
and a sister, Mary Wagner, Milwaukee. <>The Ashland
Daily Press, Friday, November 19, 1982.
Once again Charlie came home. Only this time he wasn't doing
the driving. "Midget" came home this time to be laid
within an arm's reach of Olga. "Midget" came home this
time to be laid within Butternut's embracing soil.
The community that "Midget" had steadfastly claimed as his home would now serve that purpose without interruption. There would be no more early-morning departures for next-day matches in Kansas City or Columbus. "The Little Demon" had come to rest just a few miles from where his life had begun in a log cabin four score and four years earlier.
The trail had been long and winding. More winding than most. From one coastline of this wide nation to the other. And back again. And again. In lantern-illuminated logging camps and beneath big-city lights. Through countless small towns and a myriad of sprawling cities. Onto mats and into rings.
Over ninety-three percent of "The Little Demon's" opponents had found themselves defeated despite their best, and sometimes worst, efforts. Participating in more than one thousand five hundred matches, no man, neither amateur nor professional, had pinned "Midget's" shoulders for the count of three. As a result, Fischer's name had been splashed across numerous newspapers in letters as bold as the heart that beat within the "Champ of Champions." Behind it all had been an athletic ability beyond compare, an unfathomable fearlessness and the unflagging integrity of an honest man in a dishonest business.
Charles Berthold "Midget" Fischer, the man, was gone. But memories of "Midget" Fischer, preserving his unwavering integrity, athletic excellence and insistence to always perform to the best of his ability, would not die. Butternut students as yet unborn would adorn themselves with the name, "Midgets".
Having embraced Fischer's nickname as their own for forty years at the time of "Midget's" passing, Butternut High School sent a bouquet of flowers with the following tribute:
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Texts of newspaper articles have been purposely presented unedited. Spelling, grammatical, and other errors are included as they appeared in original publications.
Text courtesy of Kenneth R. Boness. All rights
reserved 2002.