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The Great Mighty Atom ~ The Modern Samson

Posted on Tuesday, June 25th, 2013 by John Wood

The Great Mighty Atom ~ The Modern Samson
A look at a rare show bill for the Mighty Atom’s August 12, 1934 appearance at the Saratoga Springs Convention Hall. Sharing the bill was the Atom’s 10 kids, one of whom, Mike Greenstein, is still performing feats of strength today into his 90’s!

Slim The Hammer Man

Posted on Wednesday, June 19th, 2013 by John Wood

Slim The Hammer Man

A rare shot of Slim The Hammer Man doing his thing on the streets of New York, circa the early 1970’s. During a visit to Slim’s place I had a chance to try these very same hammers without any added weight and couldn’t budge them an inch – Slim was (and is) the real deal. There’s more to “Strength” than just sets and reps. As a protege of The Mighty Atom Slim learned how to channel his mental energy into physical strength~ a pretty unique skill to have. No one else has even come close to The Hammer Man’s records so it’s safe to say this is a skill that few people are in possession of…

The Mighty Atom ~ The World’s Strongest Haired Man

Posted on Friday, June 14th, 2013 by John Wood

The World's Strongest Haired Man

Among The Mighty Atom’s many strength specialties was the ability to pull vehicles with his hair. The Atom had previously pulled cars and trucks but he upped the ante in 1934 at the Newark, New Jersey airport when he towed this United Air Lines passenger plane by a clip in his shaggy mane.

The Mighty Atom: Steel Bending

Posted on Friday, December 14th, 2012 by John Wood

The Mighty Atom: Steel Bending

Leave it up to The Mighty Atom to figure out how to bend steel in unusual ways. This style is not seen very often mostly because it is not particularly comfortable, but steel bending is all about making the mind stronger than the muscle, and when that is the case, the steel will bend. The Atom was not a large man, but the forearm development shown in this rare shot is pretty impressive.

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.

Paul Anderson, The Nail Driver

Posted on Thursday, May 24th, 2012 by John Wood

Paul Anderson accomplished many things in his life including an Olympic Gold Medal and World Records in just about every lift he tried… but I bet you didn’t know he was also an expert nail driver too… When he traveled around for speaking engagements, Big Paul figured the quickest way to get an audience’s attention was to perform an unusual feat of strength — and a man driving a nail through a wooden board with his bare hand sure fits the bill! Other great nail driving strongmen include Alexander ‘Amazing Samson’ Zass, Siegmund Breitbart, Dennis Rogers, and The Mighty Atom.

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.