He was arrested for the incident but was released when the court refused to believe he worked alone. Share. With no money to see the show, Joseph attempted to sneak in. image: Joseph Greenstein breaking a chain via chest expansion. He ended up running away to join the circus and was tutored by the strongman and wrestler Volanko. The Mighty Atom was the real deal. Some of his feats of strength included: Pulling a 32 ton truck with his hair. Determined to show the world the marvels of his lifestyle, Greenstein truly began his career as a strongman. As a child he suffered from respiratory ailments, and at age 14, a team of doctors predicted he would die from tuberculosis. “The Mighty Atom,” a charming, if somewhat baggy, new documentary, available digitally, as of Nov. 14, offers an unlikely but dramatic refutation of this libel. Tags: Bob Hoffman, Dick Bachtell, Feat of Strength, Nail Biting, The Mighty Atom. Joseph L. Greenstein (January 2, 1893 – October 8, 1977), better known as The Mighty Atom, was a 20th-century strongman.[1]. [5] Two of Greenstein's feats included biting through an iron nail and bending iron horseshoes by hand. Now, almost certainly, the Atom was based on the exploits of the actual circus strongman known as the Mighty Atom! He had a strange life, including surviving a bullet wound to the forehead! Joseph L. Greenstein, better known as "The Mighty Atom", was a 20th century strongman. In 1938, again in New York, The Mighty Atom tore a sign that stated “No Dogs or Jews Allowed” from the front of a building. In case you’re not familiar with the story. Shortly after marrying, and after encountering rising anti-Semitism, Greenstein immigrated to the United States. The Mighty Atom. Home BLOG Products Online Courses Videos About Support Search. In his last public performance, on May 11, 1977, The Mighty Atom took the stage at Madison Square Garden wearing a leather vest with a golden Star of David emblazoned upon it. Determined to show the world the marvels of his lifestyle, Greenstein truly began his career as a strongman. Standing less than five foot four inches in height as a teenager, Joe was a young man of small statue but possessed colossal resolve, heart and purpose. The Mighty Atom at Zern’s Market. Joseph Greenstein as a youth, dressed in circus performer's clothes, flexing his muscles in a photographer's studio. Isometrics are one of the most IGNORED part of most peoples training. The story of his life has been told by Ed Spielman in the book The Mighty Atom and the documentary film "The Mighty Atom". And you’ll feel fresher than ever before when you finish! Info. He was nothing short of amazing! Greenstein was born to a Jewish family in Suwałki, Poland, in 1893. Alexander Zass Charles Atlas and The Mighty Atom just to name a few. Some call him the ‘The Last Great Circus Stongman’ but perhaps a more accurate title would simply be ‘The Greatest Strongman”. BIg mistake. Joseph Greenstein, better known as The Mighty Atom, was a strongman from Poland born in 1893. Joseph L Greenstein, the Mighty Atom – old time strongman that performed positively freakish feats of strength – and also one of the most spiritual men that ever lived. His various feats of strength have been featured in the Guinness Book of World Records and Ripley's Believe It or Not. The foregoing comes from The Spiritual Journey of Joseph L. Greenstein by Ed Spielman, the biography of the oldtime strongman The Mighty Atom.. He weighed only 4 pounds at birth, born prematurely with additional health issues which made doctors believe he won’t live longer than a couple of hours. Watch later. During World War II, The Mighty Atom volunteered his time to Uncle Sam’s Bond Drive. He was a sickly child whom doctors predicted would succumb to tuberculosis as a teenager. Early life. He received a proclamation from Mayor LaGuardia for his efforts. Greenstein began his career as a wrestler. www.oldtimestrongman.com <<< BLOG Home. And listen UP, fella. However, due in part to rising anti-Semitism in Eastern Europe, he then left for the United States. Available Digitally: November 14, 2017 Guest review from Reel Reviews Over Brews. In Strongman Mastery by admin August 13, 2015 1 Comment Early on in the life of the Mighty Atom he was a very sickly child. Steven Greenstein’s film about his father, Joseph Greenstein documents the life of a man who started as a sickly tubercular child and wound up as a famous strongman performer who built a career out of amazing feats of physical strength as The Mighty Atom. Later in life, Greenstein sold coconut oil soaps and health elixirs at fairs and farmers' markets. Among the onlookers are Bob Hoffman, Dick Bachtell on the bottom left and John Grimek on the lower right. His biography depicts the man that I’ve seen dozens of times. Joe and Leah Greenstein had ten children. Trivia . [6] He may be the inspiration for the fictional character of Al Pratt, a costumed crime-fighter who went by the alias of The Atom. This was Thrush’s first encounter with strongman The Mighty Atom, aka Joseph Greenstein. The Mighty Atom. He was known to bend iron bars or horseshoes with his teeth. The Mighty Atom was born a sickly child in a small village in Poland. I have always been fascinated by sideshow performers and with… The Mighty Atom was able to break chains with his hands and by expanding his chest. He toured the city for two years giving demonstrations of jujitsu, judo, and wrestling to interest men into joining the civilian Police Force. He dazzled the audience by bending horseshoes and driving spikes through metal with the palm of his hand. He was caught, beaten and left for dead. He kept a pair of snow tires in the kitchen, an antique washboard and a fifty-year-old can opener were … In 1936 he hospitalized six disorderly longshoremen following a dramatic fight. For the majority of his childhood his constitution was poor and his body frail. In 1914, “Kid Greenstein” was shot in the head in Galvenston, Texas. His vest matched neither his pants nor the jacket that was draped over the chair. It was in America where Greenstein and the legend of The Mighty Atom truly took shape. He also wrestled professionally at this time as Kid Greenstein. Volanko felt sorry for Joseph and immediately took care of the young man. He demonstrated his strength by pulling a truck loaded with passengers and sold hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of bonds. Thrush would come back several times. The “Mighty Atom” assisted, without any compensation, in the recruitment of New York City’s Police Force. But Joseph L. Greenstein is not the start of The Mighty Atom story. He immediately felt drawn to the chiseled strongman and the feats of strength depicted on the poster. He wraps a piece of cloth around the spike in the palm of his hand. In 1914, The Houston Daily Post reported that a friend of Greenstein accidentally shot him in the middle of the forehead. Bob Hoffman listed this feat among the greatest strength feats he had ever witnessed. [8][9], Joe Greenstein depicted on a product he sold, "Bullet Flattened Out Against His Forehead", "The Real Life Inspiration for the Golden Age Atom? Joe Greenstein was only five foot four, but he soon became a famous circus strongman. Joe Greenstein "The Mighty Atom" was an old school strongman with some strange amazing strength feats. He began his career as a wrestler. He was featured five times in Ripley's Believe It Or Not[4] and in the 1976 Guinness Book of World Records. He was “The Mighty Atom”, able to break up to three chains, by expanding his chest. Legendary strongman commonly known as "The Mighty Atom." He first went to Galveston, Texas, working as a dockworker and oil field worker. [citation needed]. [2] This experience sparked Greenstein's interest in the mental powers associated with strength, and he gradually developed an array of strongman feats.[3]. He often bent half inch rolled steel rods into heart shapes and drove nails through wood with his bare hands. Gift of the Baskin and Greenstein families. He didn’t make it far before he encountered Champion Volanko himself. After this, he returned to Poland and married his wife, Leah. Little Joe Greenstein, at the time named Yoselle, before it became Americanized to Joseph, was a sickly boy that the doctors said was going to die. Photo courtesy the U.S. FDA. Strongman who became known as The World's Biggest Little Man Born: 1893 - Suvalk, Poland Died: October 8, 1977 - Brooklyn, New York Joseph Greenstein, a.k.a. Less than two years later, Joseph was a man chiseled out of stone. Joseph Greenstien, The Mighty Atom- 1930's strong man. TheHumanMarvels.com, 3 Mysterious Magic Tricks From Circus History, PT Barnum | Understanding his (In)Famous Real Life | Greatest Showman. Around that time, he became acquainted with a Russian circus strongman, Champion Volanko, who mentored Greenstein. To get back to his patriotism during World War II, The “Mighty Atom” helped, without any compensation, to recruit men for … New York City Mayor LaGuardia issued a proclamation, thanking Greenstein for showing his skills to the city's police department. The Mighty Atom exercised at Lung Time (3:00-5:00 a.m.), curing himself of asthma and lung congestion in the process. He was born Friederich Wilhelm Mueller in Königsberg, Prussia in 1867, in what is today Kaliningrad, Russia. He grew up as a sickly little boy and was not suppose to live for very long. ", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Joe_Greenstein&oldid=1019190139, Congress Poland emigrants to the United States, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles with unsourced statements from December 2013, Wikipedia articles with SNAC-ID identifiers, Wikipedia articles with WORLDCATID identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 22 April 2021, at 00:08. Yosselle "Joe" Greenstein, the Strongman known as The Mighty Atom, endorsing Pep-O-Lax. An iron nail and iron horseshoes are on display at the Weightlifting Hall of Fame in York, Pennsylvania. More than once during his childhood doctors were certain he would not survive, but he managed to make it through. Sneaking into a traveling circus, he met the show’s strongman, a Russian who went by the name Champion Volanko. Yosselle L. Greenstein was born three months premature on July 15, 1893 in Suvalk Poland into the poorest family in town. The story was on the front page of many New York papers – the headline read “Little Giant Knocks Out Six’. He could warp galvanized steel, defeat the elements with his bare hands; but he wasn't a magician, he couldn't predict the future. Without a doubt, the Atom was the strongest haired man in the world. He weighs but 148 pounds and is only 5 feet 4 inches tall and yet he can drive a spike through ten layers of sheet metal and then through a two-inch plank. Soon, the 5'5, 145 lb Greenstein was traveling the country as a strongman under the pseudonym of The Mighty Atom. Not even a jack. [7] Joe Greenstein's life and career are also the subject of the 2017 documentary The Mighty Atom. The report states the bullet did not enter his skull, and "flattened out against his forehead". He had to have been close to 80, still bending horse shoes, driving spikes through metal and breaking chains with his chest all the while preaching the gospel of healthy living. Greenstein was born in Suvalk, Poland in 1893. Joseph L. Greenstein (January 2, 1893 – October 8, 1977), better known as The Mighty Atom, was a 20th-century strongman. © 2014 Cool People Productions After stunning the audience by still bending horseshoes and driving spike with his hands, The Mighty Atom took the opportunity to wish his great-grandchild a happy first birthday. Greenstein traveled with Volanko and the Issakoff Brothers Circus for eighteen months, learning the strongman's training regimen. Volanko, who was Jewish, felt sorry for … All Contents, … Joseph Greenstein, the Mighty Atom. He was featured in Ripley’s Believe It Or Not several times. The Mighty Atom draws a crowd while biting a nail in half. He was shot between the eyes at close range with a .38-.40 caliber revolver in his twenties, and he simply walked … Mike Greenstein was born in Wichita Falls, Texas on December 6, 1920 at a time when his father, legendary strongman Joe Greenstein ("The Mighty Atom"), was working in the oil fields in Texas. Greenstein succumbed to cancer on October 8, 1977, at age 84. The Mighty Atom, the Strongest-Haired Man in the World, always acted to help and defend others, as if he was still Greenstein the bullied Jew. “Believe It or Not” by Ripley had featured this superman many times over the years. Weighing less than 4 pounds, “Joseph” Greenstein was fortunate to even survive his infancy and his early tribulations certainly tempered his determination and fortitude. The Might Atom was a true superhero, and he was best known for fighting intolerance. … Shopping. Only 5’4″-inches tall, he could bend horseshoes and drive nails with his bare hands. STRONG: The Mighty Atom and Slim the Hammer Man teaser for upcoming film by Cool People Productions, LLC. Following a lengthy conversation, Volanko offered to show the feeble Joseph how to properly eat, train and harness his determination into overcoming physical limitations. The Mighty Atom was able to break chains with his hands and by expanding his chest. Tap to unmute. The gunman had fallen for his wife and now the strongest man on Earth was on the wrong side of a pistol, powerless. [8], Joe's 93-year-old son Mike Greenstein appeared on America's Got Talent in 2014 and successfully pulled a 3,500-pound (1,600 kg) car with his teeth. A wall plaque with the Hebrew word Shalom hung over a kitchen table cluttered with jars of pens, sheaves of Yiddish poems, and mail orders for Mighty Atom products from the one-man health company he had operated for fifty years. Many strongmen past and present were very big believers in isometrics for building strength. He learned the secrets of “low and high breathing” as a teenager from the Russian strongman Champion Volanko and the Punjabi wrestler The Great Gama. Greenstein had volunteered to teach jujutsu techniques to members of the New York City auxiliary police during World War II. Photographer: A. Zilbershteyn Studio. Thus began the career of one of the greatest strongmen, in history. The #1 Source For Oldtime Strongman Training Secrets. While still a young man, Zass’ strength training included. Known as “The Mighty Atom,” Joseph Greenstein was, indeed, the greatest and perhaps most unlikely strongman who ever lived.Born three months pre-mature and diagnosed with tuberculosis, Greenstein wasn’t expected to live past his teens. Under the tutelage of the circus strongman, Volanko, he became healthy and strong. It was many years before the technique was known to most Americans. Before Fame. Greenstein continued to perform well into his eighties. Zass was born in 1888. He traveled in an old Model A truck with panels that opened to show his extensive collection of newsclippings and citations from civic leaders and organizations. Greenstein left the hospital the same day convinced that his physical conditioning saved his life. Morris "Mike" Greenstein, also known as the Mighty Atom Jr., (December 6, 1920 – February 16, 2016) was an American strength athlete.. When the beating had finally ceased, Joseph tried to crawl home. In the Victorian era, Eugen Sandow must have physically appeared godly. He once tied his hair to a plane and held it to the ground as it attempted to lift off – the September 29th, 1928 headlines read “ The Mightly Atom – Super Strong Man Pits Brawn Against Plane, Wins!” and the feat was featured in “Believe it or Not”. He remains the mightiest little man to have ever walked the earth. Copy link. If you haven’t heard of this man, here’s the short version of his life. 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