Years ago, at the Allentown Fair, as one would push through a sea of carney delusion, tucked back by the 4H animals, was an island of reality. There, in an old battered truck, an ancient Jewish strongman performed incredible feats of strength, to sell only homemade kosher soap. Standing on a platform on the rear of his truck, flanked by photographs from his performing youth, he would bent horse shoes and bite through nails. Many years earlier, my mother as a little girl in Bethlehem, saw him pull a truck uphill with his hair. Even as an old man, like a reincarnation of Samson, his grey hair was still long.
In the summers of 1964 and 1965, myself and a friend,(Fred Schoenk, retired Allentown art teacher) made and sold printed tee-shirts at the fair. We had the honor to know Joseph Greenstein(The Mighty Atom) and his wife. For those interested, there are various articles on the Mighty Atom and even at least one book. Enjoy the fair!
post reprinted from Aug.24,2007 and Sept.2, 2009
Hey Michael, I just read your article on Joseph Goldstein the Might Atom. I Googled his name and found a very interesting article on Wikipedia. Are you a member of Wikipedia? If not you might enjoy it. By joining (which is free) you can create articles of interest and edit ones already created. This particular article on Joseph Goldstein needs more information and pictures of him. Check out my contributions to Wikipedia on Marvin Israel, Marge Ponce Israel, Mary Frank (wife of Robert Frank). Let me know what you think.
ReplyDeletei don't especially like wikipedia. i seen it used for the dissemination of misinformation, there's no accountability.
ReplyDelete