STILT HISTORY and WORLD RECORDS

Please give credit and circulate as widely as possible!  If those of you with access to the RBBB and other old circus programs can add to the list, I would GREATLY appreciate it. Just email me with your additions and comments.  Thank You.

Walk Tall,

Bill "Stretch" Coleman
http://www.stiltwalker.com/

Astounding Stilt Walking Events

In China, there is an old custom called "walking on stilts" that it is a performance which employs two lengths of wooden sticks over three metres long to one's feet and walking on them. It is also termed "tied-on long feet".This kind of performance can be traced back to very ancient origins. It is described in "Leizi"(a book), "There was a man named Lanzi in the state of Song (circa 7th century B.C.) who entertained the first Song emperor wit his feet of walking and running with two wooden poles taller than himself attached to his lower legs.  Performers are dressed as legnedary characters and perform with long poles attached to their feet. It is a holiday folk performance, especially popular in some country areas.

• In 1891 Sylvain Dornon stilt walked from Paris to Moscow via Vilno (1830 miles) in either 50 stages (36.6 miles a day) or 58 days (31.55 miles a day).  Joe Bowen says that there were rest stops that lengthened the overall time.
• 1892 M. Garisoain of Bayonne France stilt walked  "the last 4.97 miles
  into Biarritz inm, 42minutes (7.1 MPH).
• 1894 The Landes 273 mile stilt race held in France at an average speed
  of 4.4 MPH!
• Sept 14 1860:  Across Niagara falls on stilts!
      Jean Francois Gravelet, aka Charles Blondin, "the great Blondin",  was the first and possibly the best known of Niagara's funambulists ! (tightrope walkers) and also was considered to be one of the greatest tightrope walkers of all time.  He was also known as "Daredevil wire walker" and popularly known as "the Prince of Manila" (the rope he used was made of Manila.)
  Click Here for more pictures and an Article on the life and times of Charles Blondin.
      Depending on where he mounted the rope, its length measured either 900 or 1200 feet.  "He crossed many times, at one time pushing a wheelbarrow, at another carrying a man upon his back, and again on stilts."  This last, the crossing on stilts, was "when (Albert Edward) the Prince of Wales came to Niagara to see him".
      Sources include Stretch’s copy of   THE GRAPHIC  Magazine dated February 27, 1897. And,  “Niagara: Chisholm's Complete Guide to the Grand Cataract" copyright 1891 And searching the ‘net with GOOGLE.com  .
      While searching, I noticed that many homilies, or sermons, use Blondin as inspiration.  When crossing Niagara with a wheelbarrow, he would ask for a volunteer to ride in the wheelbarrow by asking “ who believes . . .?" . And while many "believed"  he could do the stunt,  none would volunteer to be his passenger! So he would trundle his manager across in the wheelbarrow!
      Look for my own sermons, homilies, and essays on  stilt walking  at http://www.stiltwalker.com/.  I’ll be taking my inspiration from the lives of some of the folks you see here, and from my own experiences stilt walking.
• 1917 Postcard Of F. E. Wilvert Walking On Stilts from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to Panama-Pacific Exposition, San Francisco, California. Height  listed as 10 ft. 8 inches. looks about right.
  Download Old Newspaper clippings about F. E. Wilvert from the Harrisburg Telegraph in Microsoft Word format.  Many, Many thanks to Donald L. Wilver for this newspaper clipping.  Donald Wilver is the great, great grandson, of a cousin, of F E Wilvert ! You can contact him through email at dnwilver@sunhomehealth.com
• 1921 A book: "The Girls Book of Skating" by T.D. Richardson published by Burke *London lists: Sydney Charlton, 1921 -first man to skate on stilts.
• 1927? Tall Stilt Record  22 feet by Harry Yelding (Harry Sloan) or Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England.  From the 1956  "The Guinness Book of Superlatives"
  
  Note:  See photos of the Sloan family of  stiltwalkers
  
   Also a  1927 newspaper clipping of  Harry Sloan.
  
   Photos and clipping  supplied by  Bobby Hakes.
  http://members.tripod.com/HAKES/WELCOME.HTM
  
  Bobby states that  Harry Sloan regularly stilt walked the streets of London and the circus Hippodrome  on his tall stilts. Yikes!  Which was worse: cobblestones, kids, wind or dogs?
• 1927  "pivoting flat foot rest" stilt patented 1927 by Lloyd Root in North Tonawanda, New York
• 1932?? "Hi Jack" France Redmond, "Nationally known advertiser" walks all over the United States on stilts.  Click the links below to see some old photos and cards of his.
  
  The first card reads..."Nationally Famous and only long distance stilt Walker.  Over 30 years a National Advertiser, and hiked 55,000 miles along highways - thru U. S.A. - delivering messages for friends, relatives and officials along routes on stilts.  Now enroute Hollywood, California, to New York City, Atlantic City and return- a 10,000 mile hike.  Favors appreciated. Yours truly, J. France Redmond"
  
  The second card reads..."Over 40,000 miles walked on stilts.  27 years a stilt walker - age 49 years.  Human Skyscraper 11 1/2 feet to top of hat. "Hi-Jack Redmond the world's most famous long distance stilt walker and motion advertiser.  Atlantic City, N. J.  to California to New York City and return my longest and last hike" 
  
  The large photo shows Jack in front of the Busy Bee restaurant in a white chef's costume.  Bearing a sign that reads breakfast 25 cents.  On the back of the photo is written in pencil 7960 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood, California.  And an additional address in LA, CAL.
  
  On one small photo I can make out on Jack's sign "rib steak 20 cents. On the back I can make out The Cat's Whiskers Hollywood California.
  
  
  Included in this material is a christmas card with his photo and a photo of his daughter Mrs. A Eugene Aycock, dated 1932.
  
• 1954   Professional acrobats  Bill Gaffney and Tom Weaver demonstrate their  pogo stilt  invention.  Published in Life magazine, August 9, 1954.   Photo credit Robert J. Smith from B.S.
  
• From the World of Ripley's, Believe it or Not! 1999 edition pg. 50:
  Angelo Corsaro of Catania Italy stilt walks 558 miles to the Vatican, where the Pope granted him an audience. "A total of 558 miles, "on 10 foot high stilts!"  February 13,  1958.   The photo clearly shows him on stilts approximately 5 foot tall!  Making him a total of about 10 feet tall.  This is not the first time I have seen this kind of confusion.
• 1963  Gary Ensmenger hired as fruit picker.  Uses stilts 7 feet in height to pick peaches at the orchards of Darrell Hurst in Sebastapol, Ca. . Darrell Hurst had purchased 50 pairs of "Orchard Stilts" built by Wayne (father) and Dan (son) Demmings from Clovis, CA.   The orchard stilts only came in two sizes,  4 1/2 feet and 7 foot tall. In those days the stilts sold for $100 a pair and that was considered expensive.  Orchard Stilts are 10 time faster than any other method of picking fruit or pruning fruit trees. See their photo in LIFE magazine Feb. 29, 1960.
• 1969 edition of the "Guinness Book of World Records" continues to list Harry Sloan as the tallest stilt walker.  With stilts measuring 22 feet "from ankle to ground."   I wish I knew why they measured from the ankle and not the sole. Also note that  in the accompany photo the stilts do not look to be 22 feet tall.
  
  Also mentioned are hop pickers use of stilts up to 15 feet tall. See a photo here, provided by Roy Lambeth.  The picture is from a book that  is a reprint of "Pictures from the past - Rural Life"  by John Seymour.   First Published by Collins & Brown Ltd in 1991.   This edition published 1993 by The Promotional Reprint Co exclusively for Selecta Book Ltd. ISBN 1 85648 127 1
    
  
  Also listed is the Landes 273 mile stilt race held in France in1894 at an average speed of 4.4 MPH!  This is astounding.  I have done 12 miles in 3hours 2 minutes or a little less than 4 miles an hour.  But 273 miles!! I wish I had more info on this race. Joe Bowen of distance stilt record fame tells me that he averaged 28 miles a day, with some days hitting 40 + miles, but no hourly figure is given.  Also, see the book "Stilt Walk" by Joe Bowen.
• 1971  Eddy Wolf, age 10, starts stilt walking at his dad's sawmill.
• 1975  "Steady Eddy" Wolf age 14 stilt walks the Loyal Corn Festival Parade.
• 1975 Patent date for "pivoting flat foot rest" stilt with adjustable telescoping tubing for variable heights. By Raymond Emmert of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
• 1976 Edition Guinness Book of World Records  (GBWR)  In this edition, Harry Sloan's stilts are listed as being  21 feet from ankle to ground.  Did they round down the measurement instead of rounding up?
  
  Also listed are distance and speed records.  In 1891 Sylvain Dornon stilt walked from Paris to Moscow via Vilno  (1830 miles) in either 50  stages  (36.6 miles a day) or 58  days (31.55 miles a day).  Joe Bowen says that there were rest stops that lengthened the overall time.
  
  And in 1892 M. Garisoain of Bayonne France stilt walked  "the last 4.97 miles into Biarritz in 42minutes  (7.1 MPH).   I wonder if this was part of the "Landes race" mentioned earlier.  Was this an annual event? Perhaps these links:  http://www.ciger.be/namur/folklore/stilts/en/ and  http://lous.tchancayres.free.fr/index-eng.html will lead to something?
• On Aug19, 1977 Emma Sian Disley stilt walks Mt Snowdon in Wales. (1981 GBWR).
  Click Here for the article (high resolution jpeg)
• On May 18, 1978 Joe Long (a.k.a. Kenneth Caesar) stilt walks on 24 foot tall stilts.  No distance listed.  From the 1981 edition GBWR.
• 1979  Gary Ensmenger starts quest for the ultimate stilt, testing 28 different stilt designs.
• In 1980, Joe Bowen, stilt walks 3008 miles to raise $100,000 to benefit Muscular Dystrophy. Learn more about Joe at this link, http://Stiltwalker.com/bowen.html, and see a Photo here.
• March 30, 1980  Masahami Tatsushiko (Japan)  age 28, stilt runs 100 meters on one foot high stilts in 14.5 seconds.
• The 1980 edition GBWR  lists "Steady " Eddy Wolf  of Loyal, Wisconsin as the record holder with aluminum stilts of 30 feet, 3 inches tall.  At this time the GBWR folks require the use of a safety wire and 25 steps to constitute "mastery". The 30 foot, 3 inch record was set inside a silo due to high winds. This was May 18, 1978.  At age 18? The 1981 edition lists 51 feet as the distance covered, and the location as Loyal, Wisconsin.  November, 2001 Steady Eddie and his whole family of stilt performers were featured on Ripley's Believe It or Not TV show.  All five kids perform on stilts.  Son Travis is prominently featured breaking his dad's old record.  (but not by much!)
• The 1981 edition also mentions Joe Long (ne~ Kenneth Caesar), "who had
  suffered 5 fractures, mastered 56-lp 24 foot stilts at the BBC TV Centre, London,
  on December 8, 1978.
  
  Also listed is Emma Sian Disley (b May 17, 1965)  who stilt walked the 3560 foot tall Mt. Snowdon in Wales.  Covering 2500 vertical feet in 4 hours, 5 minutes, 45 seconds to benefit the International Fund for Animal Welfare.  Date given is Aug. 19,  1977.  No mention is made of the amount of funds that were raised.
• December 4th, 1981 Eddy appears on a "Guinness Spectacular" television show in Hollywood California..  He stilt walks on 40 foot, 2 inch tall stilts.
• May 21 1981 RBBB Circus performer John Russell claimed a new world record in New York for walking on stilts 33 feet high. He managed to take 34 steps before becoming completely exhausted. Did Steady Eddie get the record before him?
  You can see several photos of John on his tall stilts in the 1981, 111th edition of the Ringling Brothers & Barnum & Bailey circus program. John is a native of Appleton,
  Wisconsin.  He designed and crafted his 35 pound, 16 gauge aluminum stilts, complete with guy wires !
• Nov 14 1981 Joe Long, who held the record before Steady Eddie plans to take back the record with 35ft, 6in from the ankle stilts. The article says that Steady Eddie's record earlier that year was only 30 ft from the ankle, not 40ft, 2in. So John Russell really did get the record! 
• The 1982 edition reports ( with photo!)  of Steve McPeak carrying Celeste Starr while on stilts, while on a high wire!!!!   In the photo the stilts appear to be about six foot from foot to high wire and Celeste is standing on McPeak's shoulders!  This appears to have been in Las Vegas. See this photo of Shawn Graf on 7 foot stilts on the High Wire.   No date given.
  
  Joe Bowen is credited for his 3008 mile stilt walk from Los Angeles , California to Bowen, Kentucky, Feb 20-July 26, 1980.
  
  And  Masahami Tatsushiko (Japan) age 28 is credited  for his March 30, 1980  stilt run of 100 meters on one foot high stilts in 14.5 seconds.
  
  No mention in this or following editions of Emma Sian Disley who  stilt walks Mt. Snowdon in Wales on Aug19, 1977  (1981 edition)
• 1983  One year old Travis Wolf starts walking on two inch tall stilts.
• 1983 Patent applied for the "Toe Articulated stilt".  Gary Ensmenger demonstrates his orthopedically correct design by dancing through the U.S. Patent Office's huge main floor lobby doing the dance of "We're Off to See the Wizard, The Wonderful Wizard of OZ!".  Followed by a 3 minute tap dance routine set to "Yankee Doodle Dandy".
• The 1984 edition of GBWR lists hop pickers as hop stringers. And height
  and distance measurements are given in both English and metric denominations.
  
  In the only other change the 1984 edition of the GBWR lists "Steady Eddy" Wolf , stilt walking on  "40 foot, 2inch  (12,24M) from ground to ankle" (!) stilts.  Each stilt weighed 40 pounds,  18.1Kg .  He walked 31 steps in Hollywood Calif on Dec. 4th, 1981.  There is that "ankle" measurement again.
• 1984 Bigfoot stilt patent granted to Gary Ensmenger. Information from "The Essance of Stilts" by Gary Ensmenger published in Volume 9, #6, 1990 Laugh Makers magazine.
• On March 8, 1986  Steady Eddy Wolf again appears in a "Guinness Spectacular" filmed in Tokyo.   Adds 4 inches to his tall stilts for a total of 40 feet, 6 inches. From "Country Life" newspaper clippings graciously supplied by Mr. Wolf.
• In 1986 Brent Van Rensburg and Charlie Stron worked at the Ringling Brothers Clown College as teachers.  See photos and read about their amazing high wire stiltwalking at this link: http://www.stilwalker.com/charliestron.htm
• The 1986 edition of GBWR  reverts back to hop "pickers" and their 15 foot tall stilts.  And measurements are again given only in English denominations.
  
  Steady Eddy is given credit for his December 4th, 1981 effort of 31 steps with stilts weighing 40 pounds and 40 feet 2 inches tall in Hollywood, Calif.
• 1988:  On August 3rd, at Loyal, Wisconsin.  Steady Eddy Wolf  age 27, adds 7.5 inches of wood to his aluminum stilts.  The stilts now weigh 57 pounds and are 40 feet, 9.5 inches tall.  He sets a new record with 25 steps totaling about 35 feet on his tall stilts.  He repeats the event several times that day for spectators and film crews.  From the Sept 7, 1988 edition of Country Life newspaper.
• 1989 Gary Ensmenger stiltdances the "Bogie Woogie Tap Dance" in Wierd Al Yankovich's movie "UHF".
• 1992:   May 28, 1992 Roy Luiking stilt walks 328 feet on one foot tall stilts in 13.01 seconds at Didam, Netherlands.
• In the 1994 edition of the GBWR Roy Luiking is credited as "the fastest stilt-walker".   328 feet in 13.01 seconds at Didam, Netherlands on one foot tall stilts.
  Steady Eddy is credited for his Aug 3, 1988 record breaking effort. His stilts are the heaviest stilts ever mastered.
  No mention of hop pickers or stingers.
  
• In 1995 STILTZ, a commercial stilt making company launched their product in Doncster, England.  In a television interview at a toy fair, the designer said it took 40 prototypes to get a marketable product.  They were on sale just in time for Christmas 1995.  To see photos, click the links below.
  
• 1996 - PowerSkip spring stilt development commences in Germany by Alexander of
  Alexander Boeck Sportartikel GmbH  http://www.powerskip.de/
• 1997 and 1998 editions GBWR  No changes.
• 3-10-1998  "Tiltin" Travis Wolf, age 16,  breaks his dad's world record for tall stilt walking by taking 25 steps on  40 foot, 10.5 inch tall stilts at Universal Studios, Orlando Florida from the Universal Studios "Backlot Bulletin". The News-Herald of Fort Lauderdale, Fl. gives credit for " 26 steps" to "Tremendous" Travis. http://www.stilt.com/4thstory.html
• 9-23-98 Doug  "The Great Entertainer" Hunt of Brantford Ontario, Canada sets a new world record for tall stilt walking and heavy stilt walking: 54 steps on 50 foot, 5 inch tall stilts weighing a combined total of 126 pounds. He raises about $40,000 for charity. Each Stilt is made from two carbon fiber sailboat masts bolted together. Due to a "blown" knee, he wears a knee brace. He repeats the event several times at later dates as a charity fundraiser. http://www.execulink.com/~stilts/
• Sept/Oct 1998  Toby "Twist"  Johnson age 40 stilt walks 333 miles in 33 days across the state of Illinois for the American Heart Association. He raises about $10,000. 
• 1999  PowerSkip spring stilts patent issued.  Currently patented in France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Spain and the USA.  Still the premier spring stilt manufacturer.  Since then first Korean (PowerRiser) and Chinese knock offs of lesser quality have come to market.  While these spring stilts share some common features the German made PowerSkips are made to much higher quality standards.   With prices to match!  Even so, there is a thriving niche market for hot rodding these stilts and their knock offs, to extend performance and durability for performers working the cruise ship and amusement park markets.  The young acrobats perform to the limits and beyond; pounding steel, aluminum, plastic and nylon to destruction with runs, leaps, bounds and double flips! http://www.powerskip.de/
• 1999,: In 129th edition of the  RBBB circus performer Zou Yan, of  the Wuhan Tetterboard Troupe ,  “wearing a pair of five foot stilts, nails a double twisting somersault” for “the first time anywhere” as listed in the circus program.
• 1999  In contrast, the Belrussian troupe  member Andrei Mishin performes a classic double back somersault while strapped into a single stilt for the 129th edition of the  RBBB circus.
• October 25, 1999  Bill "Stretch" Coleman,  age 46 , Denver, Colorado,
  stilt walks the 26.2 mile Dublin, Ireland Marathon as a fund-raiser for the Arthritis
  Foundation.  He raises over $6500. http://www.Stiltwalker.com/marathon.htm
• October 29 2001 Bill "Stretch" Coleman again stilt walks the Dublin Ireland Marathon.  http://www.Stiltwalker.com/marathon.htm
• 5-28-02  Bill "Stretch" Coleman completes his 5th Bolder Boulder 10K race on stilts.  
• On Saturday, September 14, 2002 Doug Hunt took 29 independent steps, on stilts made of Carbon Fiber, measuring 50 feet 9 inches in length and weighing 137 pounds combined. Doug broke his old record of 50 feet 5 inches and 126 pounds combined.
• April 4, 2003 Colin Tschida ‘05 holds a Guinness, and it’s not the bottled, alcoholic kind. Tschida has a Guinness World Record for Climbing a Mountain on Stilts.
  Read the Article here.
• Moscow Times.com  June 3, 2003  pg 4 reports:
  Actors Take High Steps
  YEVPATORIA, Ukraine (AFP) -- Six actors from Yevpatoria claim to have established a stilt-walking record in a race organized as part of the 2,500th anniversary celebrations of the founding of their Black Sea town.
  The six, perched on the one-meter-high stilts, managed to keep their balance for the 72-kilometer trek from Yevpatoria to Simferopol on Sunday.
  The stilt-walkers -- all theater actors -- each covered about 10 kilometers in the relay marathon and took just over eight hours to complete their journey.
  http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2003/06/03/031.html
• Oct 1, 2003  Samat Imin of China set a "24 hours on stilts" record on 73cm high stilts and a distance of  79.6 km.  He says he is just preparing to beat Joe Bowen's record by stilt walking 5000 km in 150 days.  This event is planned for March of this year.  If you would like to contact him or lend support you can email him at smileworld@263.net

• Ashrita Furman                                                                                                               http://www.ashrita.com/records                                                                                                                            Fastest 8 kilometers  (4.97 miles)                                                                                                                        39 minutes 56 seconds                                                                                                                        December 2004 in China.                                                 http://www.ashrita.com/stories/never-give-up/document_view                                                                             Ashrita used modified Powerskips, or Power Risers.  I believe these are                                                             'Skips.  At http://www.ashrita.com/stories/never-give-up/document_view                                                             I was confused by his mention of a Guinness requirment of 40 inches                                                                    when Powerskips and 'Risers give but only about 18 inches of elevation.                                                               In any case an outstanding acchievement! Bill
• Nov. 26, 2005   Samat Imin, a 28-year-old teacher of physical education,  stands on two  16.14-meter-high stilts in Urumchi,  northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Saturday Nov. 26, 2005. ( Center and Right)  The stilts are made of stainless steel and weighs 29.4 and 24.9 kilograms respectively. Samat Imin walked for 49 steps, breaking the Guinness World Record set by Canada's Doug Hunt, who on September 14, 2002 walked 29 steps, measuring 50 feet 9 inches in length. Picture taken on November 26, 2005."  There is some contraversy regarding this claim.  A question of wheather his safety wires were slack, or if they were in fact offering suport and balance.  The photos published were uninformative on this question. Bill           http://www.chinanews.cn/news/2005/2005-11-28/14946.html

•  1/31/07  *Equipment failure leads to death of stilt skater
  *Sacramento, CA :  George Sommerdorf, 50, drowns while stilt skating on Lake Donner
  
  http://www.news10.net/storyfull2.aspx?storyid=23968 

• Oct. 28, 2007     Neil Sauter of Blissfield, MI walked the Grand Rapids Marathon on stilts on October 28, 2007                                                              in a total time of 7 hours 23 minutes.         

                  

•   March 26, 2008     JCC faculty member to make trek on stilts  Wednesday, March 26, 2008

•  April 13, 2008      

• May 15, 2008

For more historical Stiltwalking information in French, Spanish and English , Visit Lous Tchancayres, Folk and Artistic Group of People on Stilts from the Landes and the stiltwalkers and stilt fighters of Namur.
http://www.echasseurs.org
http://lous.tchancayres.free.fr/index-eng.html

Also visit the website of  'The Royal Stilt Walkers - Merchtem, Belgium'  , which is
one of the biggest historical groups practicing Stiltwalking all over the world.
These folks will be at the Texas State Fair in Dallas the end of September 2002.
Read the latest article about them HERE.