Meet Bernard Weiselberg, a champion watermelon-eater. In 1935, when one of our staff photographers took this photo, the 5-year-old had defeated all other contestants under age 10 in not just a watermelon-eating contest but a pie-eating contest, too.

A year later, the 6-year-old Brooklyn boy took the pie title once again in a spectacle The Times found difficult to ignore. "Champion Bernard Weiselberg ... Smears Rivals and Self," read one headline. "His Technique Flawless," read another. And finally: "Midget Conqueror of Big Cherry Confection Poses for His Picture Between Bites." The young champion asked The Times to call him "Wallace Beery Jr." - a sign of reverence for his favorite actor. "This whim is usually gratified because his record commands respect," The Times noted.