After having spent time in Berlin he visited London in 1905 where he joined the Hippodrome accompanied by his wife and young child.

He then toured the United States in 1906 where he met President Roosevelt as well as actor and fellow giant George Auger.

[nb 1] Throughout his tour his promoters exaggerated his height, and he was usually accredited with a considerably inflated stature as high as 9 feet 3 inches (282 cm) and billed as "The Russian Giant.

Machnow's wife, Efrosinja wanted to correct the incorrect figure on the monument, but was prevented from doing so because of the beginning of the First World War and then the Revolution of 1917.

This exaggeration may have been because he wore a huge Cossack fur hat, and tall boots which added a foot to his height.