Pole sitting
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Pole sitting is the practice of sitting on top of a pole (such as a
flagpole A flagpole, flagmast, flagstaff, or staff is a pole designed to support a flag. If it is taller than can be easily reached to raise the flag, a cord is used, looping around a pulley at the top of the pole with the ends tied at the bottom. The fla ...
) for extended lengths of time, generally used as a test of endurance. A small platform is typically placed at the top of the pole for the sitter. Led by the stunt actor and former sailor
Alvin "Shipwreck" Kelly Aloysius Anthony Kelly, popularly known as Alvin "Shipwreck" Kelly (May 11, 1893 ome accounts say 1885ref name="Toledo"> – October 11, 1952), was a pole sitter who achieved fame in the 1920s and 1930s, sitting for days at a time on elevated p ...
, flagpole sitting was a
fad A fad or trend is any form of collective behavior that develops within a culture, a generation or social group in which a group of people enthusiastically follow an impulse for a short period. Fads are objects or behaviors that achieve short- ...
in the mid-to-late 1920s, but mostly died out after the start of the Great Depression.


History and 1920s fad

Pole sitting is predated by the ancient ascetic discipline of stylitism, or column-sitting. St. Simeon Stylites the Elder (c. 388–459) of
Antioch Antioch on the Orontes (; grc-gre, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου, ''Antiókheia hē epì Oróntou'', Learned ; also Syrian Antioch) grc-koi, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου; or Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπ ...
(now
Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...
) was a column-sitter who sat on a small platform on a column for 36 years. Flagpole sitting was a fad in the mid-to-late 1920s. The fad was begun by stunt actor and former sailorBaker, Danny. "Shipwreck for ever in pole position." ''The Times'' (United Kingdom) 21 Aug. 2002: ''Newspaper Source Plus.'' Web. 22 Dec. 2011. Alvin "Shipwreck" Kelly, who sat on a flagpole, either on a dare by a friend or as a publicity stunt. Shipwreck's initial 1924 sit lasted 13 hours and 13 minutes. It soon became a fad with other contestants setting records of 12, 17 and 21 days. In 1929, Shipwreck decided to reclaim the title. He sat on a flagpole for 49 days in Atlantic City, New Jersey, setting a new record. The following year, 1930, his record was broken by Bill Penfield in Strawberry Point, Iowa who sat on a flagpole for 51 days and 20 hours, until a thunderstorm forced him down. For the most part, pole sitting was confined to the 1920s, ending with the onset of the Depression.


Post-1930 incidents and records

*In 1946, Marshall Jacobs, a 37-year-old Ohio resident who was trying to revive the fad, married his fiancée Yolanda Cosmar atop a flagpole with a roost, and a photograph of them kissing gained wide attention. *From 1933 to 1963, Richard "Dixie" Blandy claimed various records as champion at 77, 78 and 125 days until he died in 1974 when the pole on which he was sitting collapsed. *In 1964 a record of 217 days was set in Gadsden, Alabama by Peggy (Townsend) Clark. *From November 1982 to 21 January 1984 (439 days, 11 hours, and 6 minutes), H. David Werder sat on a pole to protest against the price of gasoline.


Television

*On the game show ''
What's My Line ''What's My Line?'' is a panel game show that originally ran in the United States on the CBS Television Network from 1950 to 1967, originally in black and white and later in color, with subsequent U.S. revivals. The game uses celebrity panelis ...
'', hosted by
John Charles Daly John Charles Patrick Croghan Daly (February 20, 1914 – February 24, 1991) was an American journalist, host, radio and television personality, ABC News executive, TV anchor, and game show host, best known for his work on the CBS panel game show ...
, a flagpole sitter is the first guest on the July 3, 1955 episode? *Pole sitting is worked into the plot of the season 5 episode of
M*A*S*H ''M*A*S*H'' (Mobile Army Surgical Hospital) is an American media franchise consisting of a series of novels, a film, several television series, plays, and other properties, and based on the semi-autobiographical fiction of Richard Hooker. Th ...
entitled "Souvenirs." For his latest scheme to get a section 8 discharge,
Corporal Klinger This is a list of characters from the ''M*A*S*H'' franchise, covering the various fictional characters appearing in the novel '' MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors'' and its sequels, the 1970 film adaptation of the novel, and the televisio ...
climbs a pole in the middle of camp and refuses to come down until he is granted his discharge. When
Colonel Potter This is a list of characters from the ''M*A*S*H'' franchise, covering the various fictional characters appearing in the novel '' MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors'' and its sequels, the 1970 film adaptation of the novel, and the televisio ...
learns that the Army record for pole sitting is 96 hours, he turns the tables by convincing Klinger to stay up there to break the record.


Film

In a dialog sequence early in the 1932 movie ''
The Most Dangerous Game "The Most Dangerous Game", also published as "The Hounds of Zaroff", is a short story by Richard Connell, first published in ''Collier's'' on January 19, 1924, with illustrations by Wilmot Emerton Heitland. The story features a big-game hunter ...
'', the character Zaroff introduces the protagonist Bob to his guests as a celebrity, upon which Martin guesses (incorrectly) that Bob might be a flagpole sitter.


See also

*
Tree sitting Tree sitting is a form of environmentalist civil disobedience in which a protester sits in a tree, usually on a small platform built for the purpose, to protect it from being cut down (speculating that loggers will not endanger human lives by cutt ...
* Stylites *
Planking (fad) Planking (or the Lying Down Game) is an activity consisting of lying in a face down position, sometimes in an unusual or incongruous location. The palms of the hands are typically touching the sides of the body and the toes are typically touchin ...
*
Panty raid A panty raid was an American 1950s and early 1960s college prank in which large groups of male students attempted to invade the living quarters of female students and steal their panties (undergarments) as the trophies of a successful raid. The ...
*
Goldfish swallowing The act of swallowing live goldfish was a fad popularized in American colleges in the late 1930s. History Although it is not clear how the fad emerged, various people have made claims. A 1963 letter to ''The New York Times'' claimed that it was s ...
*
Phonebooth stuffing Five people in a telephone booth Phonebooth stuffing is a sporadic fad that involves a number of people consecutively entering a telephone booth until either the phonebooth can accommodate no more, or there are no more individuals available. Comp ...


References

{{reflist 1920s fads and trends Asceticism