Selects: Flagpole Sitting: A Real Fad

This section explores the bizarre fad of flagpole sitting that became wildly popular in the 1920s. It traces the origins of the craze back to Alvin Shipwreck Kelly in 1924, who was the first to sit atop a flagpole for over 13 hours. Kelly's early attempts and his ability to promote himself made him a celebrity and sparked a nationwide challenge where people tried to beat his record. The segment highlights the extremes of the fad, with some sitting on flagpoles for over 200 days, often with minimal safety precautions, and their eventual decline due to societal disapproval and the Great Depression. Notable later figures, like Dixie Blandy, and incidents, including fatalities, illustrate the risks and the peak of this eccentric activity.

This section discusses how dance marathons and endurance contests like flagpole sitting reflected the restless and experimental spirit of the 1920s and 1930s. Alma Cummings' record-setting dance marathon and the subsequent waves of others attempting similar feats are examined, emphasizing how such events drew crowds and media attention. These contests often lasted weeks and could end in severe exhaustion or tragedy. During the depression, some endured these hardships out of necessity or for publicity, with stories of people dancing for weeks or sitting atop poles for months, often with little acknowledgment of the danger involved.

This section details the lives and ultimate fates of various flagpole sitters, notably Shipwreck Kelly and other record-breakers like Dick Blandy and Kenneth Gage. It describes their motivations, public personas, and the physical and mental toll of their daring acts. The tragic death of Kelly's successor, who fell from a pole, underscores the dangerous nature of the stunt. Kelly's decline from fame and his death after a final, ill-fated attempt at sitting atop a pole illustrate the hazardous obsession with the fad.

The discussion extends into more recent history, highlighting record-holders like H. David Werder of Florida, who sat atop a pole for 439 days in the early 1980s to protest gas prices. Other long-term sitters and their motivations are mentioned, emphasizing the continued allure of endurance feats but also their risks. The segment concludes with reflections on the seemingly absurd but humanly driven quest for fame, notoriety, or protest through extreme physical challenges.

Throughout the episode, the hosts ponder the reasons behind such bizarre pursuits, framing them as expressions of human curiosity, the desire for recognition, or societal discontent. They also touch on the darker side—danger, tragedy, and societal decline—yet acknowledge these acts as part of our collective history of peculiar fads and pursuits. The episode ends with a humorous note about their own exhaustion and self-awareness, tying the eccentric history back to the human desire to push boundaries, no matter how bizarre.