Chest Expansion

The Mighty Atom shows the chest expansion required to break apart jack-chain.

Arch St. Theatre

Two neat pieces from my collection-
An advertisement flyer for the Mighty Atom’s appearance at Arch St. Theatre and the original printing plate used for the picture on the promotion.  

Stronger Than Popeye

This is a photo from my collection that was taken during a photo-shoot for the April 1941 edition of Peek Magazine. The title of the article was “Stronger Than Popeye.” This particular shot wasn’t published.
 
The photo is of the Atom preparing to lift a 120 pound woman with his beard.

Mighty Blow

This photo appeared in the June 7th edition of Look Magazine in 1938. In the photo he demonstrates how he drives a 20 penny nail through multiple layers of galvanized sheet metal with a single blow of his fist.

Iron Bar Over The Nose

This is another shot that became weather faded from continuous exposure to the sun- as it was also part of the Atom’s show display.
 
The iron bar being bent over Atom’s nose appears to be much thicker than it is, due to the fact that it is faded and that there is an extension pipe on each end of the bar. These are usually referred to as cheater bars, however, in this case they we not used to cheat but rather to conserve iron. Atom found out in the early years that if he cut all of his bars in short lengths and bent them by using handles, he would not need to carry nearly as much steel.
 
Atom’s protégé, Slim the Hammer Man, began performing a similar feat of strength only with a major variation. Slim bent a 5/8” thick rebar over his nose without the help of assistants- something Atom originally felt couldn’t be done. Slim talks about this experience and others in the DVD bearing his name.

Face Shot

This is an original face shot cut into the shape of a triangle by the Atom, or a member of his family. Note the brittle masking tape on the edges. It was used in his latter years as part of the Atom’s show display.

Keep Care Of Your hair

Here are some unusual pieces from my collection: two of the Mighty Atom's hairpins and an unused label from his special hair tonic.

Atom's DC-3 Attempt

This picture, from my collection, was taken in 1939 when the Atom attempted to pull a DC-3. Ed Spielman wrote "Having failed to get it moving, he enlisted the aid of five aircraft personnel who pulled on his arms to get the silver bird to break its station. Instead, they nearly broke his neck."

If you haven't read Ed's book, you will surely want to pick it up. It is wonderfully written and inspiring.

Shimshon Agibar

When I was going through my papers on the Atom I found this copy of a poster that I made off of an original from his personal scrapbooks. The original must be from the late 1920's, as it refers to him as "The Modern Samson."

Contemplating His Next Gig?

Another “Thinker Pose”- In leopard skin trunks and wrists bands the Atom perhaps sits contemplating his next gig.