14-year-old William Ruppert breaks pole sitting record in front of home

Flagpole sitting is not new

In an era without television and radio, people often looked for means of entertainment outside of the home. Such was the case in The Roaring Twenties with an odd but not new spectacle of “flagpole sitting”. Pole sitting is the act of sitting on a pole, typically a flagpole, for as long as possible. Sometimes a small platform is placed at the top of the pole but often the pole sitter rests upon the pole unassisted making it a stunning act of endurance. Pole-sitting is related to the ancient discipline of Stylitism, or column-sitting. Famous column-sitters include St Simeon Stylites the Elder (c. 388-459) of Antioch (now Turkey) who sat on a column for 30 years. Stylitism was often a religious or meditative experience for the sitters.

Alvin “Shipwreck” Kelly and the flagpole sitting fad of 1924

alvin shipwreck kelly atop a flagpole june 7 1927

The flagpole sitting fad began in 1924 when a friend dared actor Alvin “Shipwreck” Kelly to sit on a flagpole. Kelly took on the dare and commenced sitting on a flagpole for 13 hours and 13 minutes. The odd spectacle set off a series of imitators who sought fame and money and a chance to beat Kelly’s record. During the next five years, flagpole sitters set records of 12 days, 17 days, and 21 days.

avon o foreman fifteen years old baltimore 1929

Kelly continued sitting on flagpoles, often as paid publicity stunts. He travelled across America setting up poles and platforms for flagpole sitting demonstrations. Sitting atop the flagpole, his only form of nourishment was liquids hoisted up the pole by assistants using rope and pails. To use the bathroom, he turned away from the crowd and used a small tube that ran to the ground into a hole. He learned how to take naps sitting upright and was secured by nothing more than a leg strap. In 1929, Kelly again broke the record for flagpole sitting in a stunt that lasted 49 days in Atlantic City, New Jersey. His record lasted only a year though. In 1930, Bill Penfield sat on a pole for 51 days and 20 hours in Strawberry Point, Iowa. He may have sat longer but a thunderstorm forced him down. By 1930, the Great Depression gave people other things to think about. The flagpole sitting craze ran its course becoming little more than a bizarre sidenote in history.

Post-1930 incidents and records

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.

Image Credits

In-Article Image Credits

Alvin Shipwreck Kelly atop a flagpole June 7, 1927 via History Daily with usage type - Fair use with modification
Avon O. Foreman. Fifteen years old, Baltimore, 1929 via Wikipedia Commons by Evening Star with usage type - Public Domain. Library of Congress
14-year-old William Ruppert breaks pole sitting record in front of home via Wikipedia Commons by Harris & Ewing with usage type - Public Domain