The "Shipwreck Kelly Gains Fame On A Pole" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Standing on Atlantic City's Famous Steel Pier trying to picture what it must have been like to stand at the same site in 1930 and watch a fellow known as "Shipwreck Kelly" sit on a 225-foot pole for 49 days while 20,000 onlookers watched.  His special feat was the beginning of many unusual feats that graced the pier such as "Rex" the water-skiing "wonder dog"; "Jojo, the boxing kangaroo"; and the city's infamous diving horse which my wife, Carol and I did get the chance to see in the mid-1970s while on vacation at the time.  The story all began in January of 1924 when a former sailor, boxer, steelworker and stuntman named Alvin "Shipwreck" Kelly was hired by a local movie theater to sit on a pole outside of the theater for as long was possible to drum up publicity for a new movie that had just opened.  

Kelly high above New York

Alvin Kelly was a New York City native whose nickname was supposedly inspired by his claim that he was a survivor of the Titanic.  For years he wowed crowds by perching himself on a pole for a remarkable 13 hours and 13 minutes.  The stunt actually worked and when it was published in newspapers all over the United States, offers starting pouring in from other businesses to perform pole-sittings.  Kelly gained fame in no time!  Not only did Kelly gain national fame, but men, women, and children all over the United States were climbing poles of their own.

Kelly sitting on his platform, reading the newspaper

Bobbie Mack, a young woman from Los Angeles sat on a pole for three-weeks; Joe "Hold 'en Powers" sat on a pole in Chicago in 1927 for 16 days and when he came down the pole he was missing six teeth due to a storm that threw him against his pole, knocking out six of his teeth.  Then there was Bill Penfield who sat on a pole for 51 days at Strawberry Point, Iowa before a storm forced him to slide down the pole.  Avon Foreman, a 15-year-old from Baltimore, Maryland established a record for juveniles by sitting on a pole for 10 days, 10 hours, 10 minutes and 10 seconds.  He claimed that he had practiced on an 18-foot hickory tree in his backyard.  Baltimore Mayor William F. Broening declared that Avon exhibited "the pioneer spirit of early America" with his tremendous effort.  But, it was Kelly that was making the money by pole sitting.  He actually turned pole sitting into a sport!  He toured 28 cities, attracted huge crowds that filled the streets and lined rooftops just to get a glimpse of the daredevil, all to see a guy who would sit on top of a pole!  I lived at the wrong time in history!  Other notable feats for Kelly included an 80-hour sit in New Orleans and then a 146 hour sit high above Kansas City's Old Westgate Hotel.  His largest scale stunts were a 312 hour sit on top of Newark Street's Francis Hotel in 1927; 22 days on a pole above a dance marathon in Madison Square Garden; and 23 days in 1929 in Baltimore's Carlin's Park on a pole that was 60feet high.  

Newspaper article telling about Kelly's feats.

Kelly estimated that he spent close to 20,613 hours pole-sitting during his decade long career.  He believed his peak came in 1930 when he sat on a 225-foot pole for 49 days and one hour on Atlantic City's Steel Pier.  20,000 people witnessed that feat.  Kelly's fees ranged from $100-$500 a day throughout his career, paid by whatever outlet needed the publicity as well as crowds who spent a quarter to get a chance to see the daredevil.  And what did all those people see for their money?  Well, a man on a circular padded seat high above the crowd below him.  Sometimes he would read the newspaper while other times he would enjoy a shave.  He mostly stuck to a liquid diet of broth and water along with cigarettes which were lifted up to him in a bucket.  To sleep he would stay seated by wrapping his ankles around the pole and securing his thumbs into holes in his seat before closing his eyes.  But, most times he stayed awake.  One time he stayed awake on his pole for four days.  After his big stunt at Atlantic City, his money began to dry up.  The Great Depression arrived and with over a quarter of the population unemployed, people weren't interested in watching a guy on a pole.  Shipwreck Kelly's career in pole-sitting was killed by the Stock Market crash.  Kelly ended up penniless and stripped of his daredevil veneer.  He died in 1952 of a heart attack at the age of 59.   Under his arm at the time of his death was a scrapbook of newspaper clippings detailing his accomplishment as a once-champion flagpole sitter.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.