{"id":3396,"date":"2016-07-07T09:15:08","date_gmt":"2016-07-07T13:15:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/?p=3396"},"modified":"2016-07-10T09:28:32","modified_gmt":"2016-07-10T13:28:32","slug":"sitting-atop-the-worldon-a-flagpole","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/sitting-atop-the-worldon-a-flagpole\/","title":{"rendered":"Sitting atop the world\u2026on a flagpole"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"A<\/a>
A flagpole sitter named John Reynolds balances on his stomach in 1924. (Library of Congress)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We all know that flags fly from flagpoles<\/a>. But, in the 1920s, flagpoles often came with something else attached: human beings!<\/p>\n

How the Roaring Twenties\u2019 fad of flagpole sitting began is lost to history, but many men, women and children called attention to themselves by climbing up poles and sitting there. And sometimes standing on their heads or shaving.<\/p>\n

For example, a 1920 newspaper article reported how \u201cJohn Reynolds, \u2018human fly,\u2019 attracted a large crowd to the vicinity [of a downtown hotel] when he\u2026climbed to the top of the flag pole.\u201d Once there, Reynolds \u201cdid numerous balancing stunts with chairs and other articles which\u2026looked reckless.\u201d<\/p>\n

Two years later, Reynolds, who called himself \u201cDaredevil Johnnie,\u201d showed up in a Michigan town and eyed the flagpole atop the town\u2019s courthouse. His goal was housekeeping: He had placed a new American flag<\/a> there two years earlier and said it was time for a replacement.<\/p>\n

\"Crowds<\/a>
Crowds stare up at a flagpole sitter in Los Angeles ca 1920s. (Digital Public Library of America)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One of the most renowned flagpole sitters was Alvin Kelly, known as Shipwreck Kelly because he said he had survived an accident at sea when he was a sailor. He seems to have preferred danger above the ground, rather than deep in the ocean.<\/p>\n

His 1923 tour included a stop in San Francisco, where he clambered up a flagpole at the city\u2019s newspaper building. For 13 hours, as thousands watched, he sat and then laid prone on the ornamental ball at the peak of the pole.<\/p>\n

\"Twin<\/a>
Twin photos of Shipwreck Kelly, atop poles in San Francisco in 1923, capture his bravado. (San Francisco Chronicle)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In an article in The Miami Herald in 1927, a jaded journalist termed flagpole-sitting \u201cabout the laziest occupation known to man\u2026.There he sits between heaven and earth for hour after hour, day after day. He doesn\u2019t do a thing.\u201d But Kelly inspired a Baltimore teen named Azey Foreman, who stayed atop a flagpole for ten days and became an instant national celebrity. The mayor praised Azey for his \u201cgrit and stamina.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kelly\u2019s life, which he risked many times, didn\u2019t end until 1952, when he was 67. His demise was prosaic: He collapsed on a New York City street while carrying some of his scrapbooks. His obituary in The New York Times ranked \u201chis greatest feat\u201d as the time in 1930 when he stayed on a flagpole in Atlantic City, N.J., for 49 days.<\/p>\n

\"With<\/a>
With a flag behind him, a 14-year-old Maryland youth attempts a pole-sitting record in 1929. (Library of Congress)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Five years after that, as he was balancing on a pole in the Bronx, the police sent a written message up to him. It was a summons and a notice that the era of flagpole sitting was ending. Kelly estimated that he had whiled away more than 20,000 pole hours in wind, snow and rain.<\/p>\n

When police searched Kelly\u2019s room after his death, they found more newspaper clippings and a duffel bag filled with ropes, the prosaic tools of his unusual profession.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We all know that flags fly from flagpoles. But, in the 1920s, flagpoles often came with something else attached: human beings! How the Roaring Twenties\u2019 fad of flagpole sitting began is lost to history, but many men, women and children called attention to themselves by climbing up poles and sitting there. And sometimes standing on… continue<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":3399,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[140,365],"class_list":["post-3396","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history-lessons","tag-flagpole","tag-flagpole-sitting"],"yoast_head":"\nSitting atop the world\u2026on a flagpole - Gettysburg Flag Works Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/sitting-atop-the-worldon-a-flagpole\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sitting atop the world\u2026on a flagpole - Gettysburg Flag Works Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We all know that flags fly from flagpoles. 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