Librarian recalls how childhood wrestling hero Tony Atlas taught Maine kids to ‘scoop the butter’

Dec. 22, 2025

By Rich Boulet

Professional wrestler Tony Atlas. Photo courtesy of “shstrng” via Wikimedia Commons.

I was looking at the group of tweens crammed into the table booth of the YA section. There had to be about nine of them on the bench and they were wound right up, having a great time. Whatever they were talking about must have been hilarious because some were bent over in laughter, while others were essentially doing gymnastics. While we do try to keep the indoor tenor down to somewhere below a dull roar, we also try to be tolerant of kids and the energy that they bring to the library.

That got me thinking about my own youthful outlets in Winslow, Maine. We had a public library, but not one that was close to our school, serving as a handy after-school “third place.” My older brother and I were often left to our own devices, playing street hockey, man hunt, and practicing wrestling moves—mostly him on me. “Richid, get over here—I think I’ve figured out the Figure 4 Leglock.” No thanks, Mike, I enjoy walking too much.

Anyway, I was watching these kids, remembering the foolishness of my youth and texted my brother to ask if he remembered “a person with no teeth,” a running gag that was ready to take center stage whenever our mother was not looking. The whole entire bit–which you could be forgiven for not finding humor in–was putting liquid in your mouth, whether cereal milk, orange juice, Coca Cola, or whatever, and saying “a perthon wiv no teef” as the liquid dribbled down your shirt. This was peak hilarity in the 1980s Boulet household. Thankfully, Ma was more interested in her Merit 100s than helicoptering us.

That’s when Mike asked if I remembered Tony Atlas scoops the butter. We were big into wrestling and Mr. Atlas, AKA “Mr. USA”, was one of its babyface (i.e. a good guy, not a villain) stars. A gorgeously sculpted colossus, he had a running feud with future Minnesota Governor, Jesse “the Body” Ventura over who had the better physique. (Atlas all the way). Atlas’s signature move was a theatrical body slam involving great exertion as he held his victim high over his head, followed by a dramatic pause and the big drop as his opponent bounced off the canvas like a side of beef.

What I had completely forgotten was Mike and his buddy, universally known as “Bunga” (don’t ask, I don’t know), had a running gag involving similar exertion while buttering toast. It was another one of those jokes that never got old, right up there with the great diarrhea folk songs (some people think it’s funny, but it’s really hot and runny).

Back to the present day, that trip down memory lane and into the alternate universe of 1980s pro wrestling (and off-color humor) was prompted by these kids whooping it up in the YA section. It makes me really happy that they choose to hang out here, whether flopping around on the floor of the Britton Gallery, playing board games on the round couch, video games in the Wilder Room, or crowding into the YA section that we built in 2007 for this very reason—to give teens and tweens a place to call theirs.

That YA section is a great feature for our community. It was built thanks to a generous donation from a community member who also saw the need for a teen space. Now 18 years old, it’s had three or four sets of upholstery (and could perhaps use another!). Kendall, our Teen Services Librarian and herself a mother of a teen, spent time up there when she was a teen. It’s a thriving, welcoming space that teens actually want to be in, whether it’s for a teen program, to read a book, or just to hang out with friends. And, as I said, we try to be tolerant of the ruckus that comes with them. I feel lucky that we have the space and that it continues to be that great third place the kids can take for granted. It’s been a pleasure to watch generations of teens grow up there. And I am glad to see it be the site of whatever this generation’s “Tony Atlas scoops the butter” –as long as they’re not practicing wrestling moves on each other.

—Rich Boulet is the director of the Blue Hill Public Library where he often writes a brief intro for a weekly newsletter, the source for this article, which is reprinted here with his permission. You can subscribe to the newsletter at www.bhpl.net.

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