People did it for free entertainment, endurance, and it was a hobby many people took upon. The main objective of flagpole sitting was to see who could sit on a flagpole the longest with a diminutive platform for support. Those who sat for a long period of time were treated as heroes. Flagpole sitting all came around in , when Alvin Kelly "Shipwreck" Kelly was dared to sit atop a flagpole. He lasted for 13 hours and 13 minutes.
Soon after, Kelly was hired all across the United States to do more of these stunts for the public. Other people began pole sitting as well, some to get fame and fortune, and the others to compete against their friends and neighbors.
The longest time someone had sat on a flagpole in the s was 21 days, followed by the next two; 17 and 12 days. If he swayed, the pain in his thumbs would force him to right himself without waking him up. Journalist H. In the s there was less tolerance for such stunts, and police took a dim view of the disruption it caused. In he attempted to break his Atlantic City record by sitting on a pole in the Bronx, but was aloft for less than a day before he was arrested as a public nuisance.
He only climbed down from the pole after police threatened to cut it down. One of his last major public appearances was on October 13, Kelly celebrated National Donut Dunking Week by sitting on a pole atop the Chanin Building on East 42nd Street in Manhattan and eating 13 donuts dunked into a coffee cup and fed to him while he stood on his head. Newer Post Older Post Home. Browse by Decades s s s s s s s s s s s. To keep himself from falling asleep, he would tie his ankles to the pole and was frequently pictured in the press hundreds of feet in the air brushing his teeth and shaving his face.
His preferred form of nourishment was liquids a lot of coffee and cigarettes, which were hoisted up the pole by assistants using rope and pails.
The novelty of pole-sitting mostly died out with the onset of the Great Depression, despite numerous attempts of a revival and an enduring audience over in the Netherlands, where sitting on a pole for hours on end is known as Paalzitten and became a highly competitive sport there in the s.
Penniless and all but forgotten, at his last flagpole-sitting appearance in , he suffered two heart attacks which forced him to come down early and was hit by a car less than a week later. For a time his body was unclaimed at the morgue. David Werder sat on a pole for days to protest against the price of gasoline.
The first and most well-known stylite was Simeon Stylites the Elder, a monk who climbed a pillar in Syria in the year and stayed there for 37 years until his death.
The idea was to find peace in prayerful concentration, but alas even back then, news of a guy living on top of a 50 foot column spread fast, attracting yet more pilgrims seeking his blessing and advice. After the successful Hollywood pole sitting, Shipwreck Kelly began to attract a gaggle of fans. For the next few years, he toured 28 cities across the United States, sitting atop poles in each city to the delight of spectators. Local companies, such as theaters and department stores, sponsored him for advertising purposes, he was paid to make public appearances, and had multiple books written about him.
Kelly sits on a flagpole in St. Louis in He sat on a cushioned seat, about 13 inches wide. He fashioned rope stirrups for his feet to help him keep his balance and protect him from falling off. Kelly did not sleep at night, but rather took quick, five-minute naps throughout the pole sitting.
During his flagpole sitting stunts, Kelly did not eat solid food, relying on a diet of mostly broth, coffee, and cigarettes. A year-old named Avon Foreman sat on a flagpole for 10 days, 10 hours and 10 seconds. It is from such boys great missionaries are made. Not unlike the planking fad of , other young people attempted their own flagpole sittings.
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