The Mad 1920s Fad of Pole-Sitting (2025)

The Mad 1920s Fad of Pole-Sitting (1)

Forget planking – or any other useless but mildly entertaining stunts you might have seen via Tik Tok for that matter. Before all that, came the strange spectacle of pole-sitting, a fad that became all the rage in the 1920s involving sitting atop a pole (usually a flagpole) for as long as possible. Some folks made a career of it, pole-sitting for hundreds of days at a time to new records. And then there was this one guy who sat on one for 36 years, way back in the 5th century, but we’ll get to that in a moment …

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We can’t talk about pole-sitting without talking about Alvin “Shipwreck” Kelly, the original “influencer” for the roaring twenties craze. The aerial stuntman dubiously claimed to have been a survivor of the Titanic and called himself “the luckiest fool in the world.” He was first dared by a friend in 1924 to sit on a flagpole and succeeded in staying up there for 13 hours and 13 minutes.In an era without television, the odd stunt attracted considerable attention, prompting Kelly to travel around America charging admission for the spectacle, as well as earning endorsements for publicity stunts. He helped inaugurate new hotels and shops; attracted crowds for movie premieres and amusement parks, and once sat on a pole for 22 days at Madison Square Gardens during a dance marathon (another endurance fad) until the last dancers dropped.

It didn’t take long before pole-sitting fever had spread across the country, prompting amateur copycats and professional pole-sitters alike to seek out similar fame and fortune….

The Mad 1920s Fad of Pole-Sitting (3)
The Mad 1920s Fad of Pole-Sitting (4)
The Mad 1920s Fad of Pole-Sitting (5)

At the literal height of Kelly’s career in 1930, he set a world record by sitting atop a 225 foot tall flagpole in Atlantic City for 49 days and one hour. 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. And to answer your burning question, to use the bathroom, “he turned away from the crowd and used a small tube that ran to the ground into a hole”.

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Alvin Kelly had numerous rivals, most notablyRichard “Dixie” Blandywho was struck by lightening several times during his career, and famously drank 92 bottles of whiskey and smoking 3 packs of cigarettes a day during a 125 day sitting, 200 feet off the ground.

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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 1970s).

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The Mad 1920s Fad of Pole-Sitting (9)

As for Alvin “shipwreck” Kelly, his life story took a sad turn that reads a bit like a tragic Hollywood drama. By 1934, a year after Dixie Blandly had stolen his title of champion pole-sitter at the Chicago World’s Fair, Kelly was making up for lost wages by working as agigolo in a “dime and dance” Broadway dance hall. Penniless and all but forgotten, at his last flagpole-sitting appearance in 1952, 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.

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In 1964 Peggy Townsend Clark set the American pole-sitting record with 217 days inAlabamaand in 1984, H. David Werder sat on a pole for 439 days to protest against the price of gasoline.

But perhaps the title of true champion pole-sitter belongs to the ancient “pillar dwellers” of yore. As it happens, pole sitting dates all the way back to the early days of theByzantine Empire, when the discipline ofstylitism or “column-sitting” could not only earn you public admiration, but sainthood.

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The first and most well-known stylite wasSimeon Stylites the Elder, a monkwho climbed a pillar in Syria in the year 423 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. He was visited by emperors and bishops. Genevieve, the patron saint of Paris, is said to have climbed a ladder to speak with him at a distance.

His pillar remained intact near Aleppo for centuries after his death until recently in 2016, when the site took a hit from a missile, reportedly from a Russian jet, leaving behind nothing but rubble.

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Simeon had numerous disciples and imitators in the region. One of them was Saint Alypius, who stood upright on a pillar for 53 years, and lay on his side for the remaining fourteen years of his life.A biblical settlement in Jordan has a preserved tower that has been interpreted as a stylite column:

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While the disciplinehas become virtually extinct in Christian asceticism, over in modern-dayGeorgia, there’s an Orthodox monk by the name of Maxime Qavtaradze, who has lived on top ofKatskhi Pillarfor 20 years, and comes down only twice a week.

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The Mad 1920s Fad of Pole-Sitting (15)

Talk about social distancing. Whether you’re trying to avoid Corona or the latest Tik Tok fads, who’s up for a revival of pole-sitting?

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The Mad 1920s Fad of Pole-Sitting (2025)

FAQs

What was the flagpole sitting fad of the 1920s? ›

Flagpole sitting was a fad in the mid-to-late 1920s. The fad was begun by stunt actor and former sailor 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.

How did flagpole sitters go to the bathroom? ›

And to answer your burning question, to use the bathroom, “he turned away from the crowd and used a small tube that ran to the ground into a hole”.

What were the weird fads of the 1920s? ›

Popular fads included crossword puzzles, mahjong, dance marathons, flagpole sitting, pogo sticks, yo-yo's, mini-golf, foreign countries, and health and fitness crazes, such as dieting and bodybuilding.

How did flagpole sitters sleep? ›

When he needed to sleep, he'd stay seated by wrapping his ankles around the pole and securing his thumbs into holes in his seat before nodding off. That's if he rested at all—he was also known to deprive himself of sleep on the pole for as long as four days.

What is the history of the flagpole? ›

In the 1500s, flags began to mark international boundaries, and flagpoles were used to indicate a nation's presence. Flagpoles were later used to hoist ship flags in the 1700s. In 1776, the first recorded flagpole in the US was erected.

What is the record for flagpole sitting? ›

Modern Flagpole Sitting

Richard Dixie Blandy was holding records until his death in 1974 when the flagpole collapsed under him. In 1982, H. David Werder started sitting on the pole as a sign of protest against the price of gas, and remained there for 439 days, 11 hours, and 6 minutes.

How did WWII bomber crews go to the toilet? ›

Bomber crew members sometimes preferred to urinate into bottles or defecate into cardboard boxes, which were then thrown from the aircraft. When such containers were unavailable, crew members would urinate out of the bomb bay or defecate into their hands and throw it out one of the waist gun ports.

Where did sailors go to the bathroom on old ships? ›

In sailing ships, the toilet was placed in the bow somewhat above the water line with vents or slots cut near the floor level allowing normal wave action to wash out the facility. Only the captain had a private toilet near his quarters, at the stern of the ship in the quarter gallery.

Who was the world record holder for flagpole sitting during the 1920s? ›

Flagpole-sitting became a staple of the endurance fads in 1924, when a former sailor and stunt performer named Alvin “Shipwreck” Kelley perched himself atop a small platform on a pole for 13 hours and 13 minutes.

What was the worst thing in the 1920s? ›

Things were exciting and fun in the Roaring Twenties, but where there is good, ultimately, there is also bad. Prohibition, murders, lawlessness, organized crime, nativism, the revival of the Ku Klux Klan, and a deep division between people took some of the shine off of this decade.

Why were people obsessed with fads in 1920s? ›

The Roaring Twenties was a time of great change. As exciting as dynamic times may seem, such turmoil generates uncertainty. Sometimes, in an effort to obscure tensions, people seek outlets of escape. Fads — sometimes entertaining, sometimes senseless — swept the nation.

What were flapper girls? ›

Flappers of the 1920s were young women known for their energetic freedom, embracing a lifestyle viewed by many at the time as outrageous, immoral or downright dangerous. Now considered the first generation of independent American women, flappers pushed barriers to economic, political and sexual freedom for women.

How did flagpole sitters eat? ›

During his flagpole sitting stunts, Kelly did not eat solid food, relying on a diet of mostly broth, coffee, and cigarettes. Like the humorous example of the pole skater in John Steinbeck's Cannery Row, a burning question in the minds of the public was how exactly Kelly relieved himself during the sittings.

What side of the house does a flagpole go? ›

Where should the flag be mounted as it relates to the front of a house? It is traditionally flown either to the right or the left of the front door. It can be on either side. When there is a choice, find a position of prominence.

On Top of the World: Remembering the Lost ...Mental Flosshttps://www.mentalfloss.com ›

Flappers and bootleggers might be the most memorable aspects of the 1920s, but there's a lesser-known, yet no less colorful, trend from that decade: flagpol...
Flagpole SittingOne of the more outlandish fads associated with the Roaring Twenties, flagpole sitting, like marathon dancing and bunion derbies, was an enduran...
Ah, the 1920s: a time of flappers, bootleggers, insidious jazz music, and of course, that “newest and cleanest of all sports,” Flagpole Sitting. Flagpole sittin...

What are the fads dance marathons and flagpole sitting? ›

Both flagpole sitting and dance marathons were a test of endurance and usually a means to obtain either money, fame, or in the case of dance marathons food and a roof to stay under. They were both very popular fads in between the 1920's and the 1930's, but both continued to happen throughout later decades.

What is a flagpole used for? ›

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.

What is the form of entertainment known as flagpole sitting who was the inventor behind this fad? ›

Lining Up to See People Sitting on Poles

The man who started the trend was a Hollywood stuntman named Alvin “Shipwreck” Kelly. In the summer of 1930, as many as 20,000 people came out to see Kelly eat, sleep and shave atop a 225-foot flagpole in Atlantic City for 49 days.

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