Joseph Greenstein Archives - www.oldtimestrongman.com

The Mighty Atom at Zern’s Market

Posted on Wednesday, December 5th, 2018 by John Wood

“For six months of the year, Joseph Greenstein of Brooklyn, New York parks his battered 1937 Dodge truck at Zern’s, a farmer’s market in rural Gilbertsville, Pennsylvania, where locals trade and sell everything from farm products to cattle to old postcards and used cars. In this setting, he is counselor, physician, hero, and even “saint” to the country people who spend their hard earned money on his wares.”

The Mighty Atom Supports 14 People

Posted on Thursday, October 15th, 2015 by John Wood

Here’s Joseph “The Mighty Atom” Greenstein supporting what looks like 14 people on his chest while lying on a bed of nails. Doesn’t look like The Atom is even breaking a sweat.

Joseph Greenstein ~ The Mighty Atom

Posted on Saturday, May 26th, 2012 by John Wood

His real name was Joseph Greenstein but he was better known as “The Mighty Atom” …and he became one of the greatest known “Strongmen” of all time despite the fact that he stood only 5 feet 5 inches tall and weighed in at 140 pounds. As a young boy in Poland, young Joseph Greenstein was befriended by a Russian champion named Volanko, who taught him the secrets of strengthening his mind. as well as his body.

The Mighty Atom bent horseshoes, broke chains by chest expansion, bit nails in two, held back airplanes and even once stopped a bullet… The Atom’s student Slim “The Hammer Man” Farman also went on to perform strength amazing feats of strength, many of which will never be duplicated.

Pulling a Fire Truck, Mighty Atom Style

Posted on Wednesday, April 25th, 2012 by John Wood

The Mighty Atom Pulls a Fire Truck with his hair.

“The Mighty Atom” Joe Greenstein had unusually strong hair and frequently demonstrated this fact by using it to lift or pull very heavy objects. Shown here, The Atom pulls a fire truck loaded with people down the street sometime in the late 1920s. In case you are keeping score at home, the fire truck was an Ahrens-Fox (famously made in Cincinnati, Ohio) — you can tell by the large distinctive chrome sphere at the front which housed part of the pumping mechanism.