FROM THE FERGUS FALLS DAILY JOURNAL, ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED FEBRUARY 21, 2009:
“Fergus Falls native Gus Comstock achieved a level of fame unequaled in the history of Otter Tail County. What he did required a degree of endurance other people can only dream about.
After his military service Comstock was a lost soul. He ran a small shoeshine stand, sold pop and ice cream at county fairs and did other odd jobs. None of this satisfied Gus who longed to do something great.
Being a man of large appetites, Comstock decided to put this talent to good use.
At 7 a.m. on Jan. 11, 1927, he walked into the Kaddatz Hotel with the intent of setting a new world coffee drinking record. Using regular restaurant coffee in 8 ounce cups, Gus downed 15 in the first hour. For each cup consumed, a slip of paper was placed in a sealed box. Shortly after noon, Dr. Theurer checked Gus and declared him normal except for a slight increase in temperature.
Methodically Gus drank cup after cup until 2:10 p.m. when he stopped. The final count was 85 cups of coffee in six hours — a new world record.
His feat was carried in papers throughout the United States and Europe. Gus finally had his fame; he had accomplished something no one else in the world had.
The record defined “Guzzling Gus” for the rest of his life. In 1939, he attempted to establish milk and beer drinking records. Gus Comstock died at the Minnesota Veterans Home on May 14, 1
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