1 00:00:04,120 --> 00:00:07,480 Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Manke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of 2 00:00:07,520 --> 00:00:14,480 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio and Grimm and Mild. Our world is full of 3 00:00:14,520 --> 00:00:18,480 Speaker 1: the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, all 4 00:00:18,520 --> 00:00:22,639 Speaker 1: of these amazing tales right there on display, just waiting 5 00:00:22,680 --> 00:00:28,920 Speaker 1: for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. 6 00:00:36,720 --> 00:00:40,080 Speaker 1: Cities often seen cramped and crowded, don't they People work 7 00:00:40,080 --> 00:00:43,040 Speaker 1: and live in skyscrapers that soar over streets clogged with 8 00:00:43,120 --> 00:00:46,360 Speaker 1: taxis and pedestrians. After all, in a city you can't 9 00:00:46,360 --> 00:00:49,720 Speaker 1: build out, you build up. When you think of narrow 10 00:00:49,800 --> 00:00:53,120 Speaker 1: alleyways and densely packed streets, we often think of places 11 00:00:53,159 --> 00:00:56,120 Speaker 1: like New York City and Chicago. But one location that 12 00:00:56,240 --> 00:00:59,600 Speaker 1: isn't often talked about lies roughly four thousand miles away 13 00:01:00,360 --> 00:01:03,440 Speaker 1: the ocean, and that place is Paris, France, and back 14 00:01:03,480 --> 00:01:06,800 Speaker 1: in nineteen nineteen, one man did the impossible. He landed 15 00:01:06,840 --> 00:01:09,240 Speaker 1: a plane in the middle of the city of Lights. 16 00:01:09,800 --> 00:01:12,920 Speaker 1: His name was Jules Vdrine born in France in eighteen 17 00:01:12,959 --> 00:01:16,120 Speaker 1: eighty one. Vadrine was a hoodlum who spent much of 18 00:01:16,160 --> 00:01:18,440 Speaker 1: his youth getting in fights on the streets of Paris. 19 00:01:18,720 --> 00:01:21,200 Speaker 1: But despite his heart in nature, he also grew up 20 00:01:21,240 --> 00:01:24,399 Speaker 1: to become a skilled mechanic. Vadrine eventually found his way 21 00:01:24,440 --> 00:01:26,800 Speaker 1: to London when he was twenty nine to work under 22 00:01:26,840 --> 00:01:30,800 Speaker 1: actor and aviator Robert Lorraine. After six months, the former 23 00:01:30,840 --> 00:01:33,920 Speaker 1: street urchin earned his own pilot's license and started making 24 00:01:33,959 --> 00:01:36,920 Speaker 1: a name for himself all over Paris. He won or 25 00:01:37,040 --> 00:01:39,920 Speaker 1: placed in a number of air races, which eventually helped 26 00:01:39,959 --> 00:01:43,039 Speaker 1: him launch a political career as a Socialist candidate in 27 00:01:43,080 --> 00:01:46,840 Speaker 1: local elections. Although he was in adept pilots with numerous 28 00:01:46,880 --> 00:01:50,120 Speaker 1: trophies on his wall, he had less luck in politics, 29 00:01:50,480 --> 00:01:53,120 Speaker 1: but that didn't stop him from trying. He even used 30 00:01:53,120 --> 00:01:56,040 Speaker 1: his skills as a pilot to drop propaganda over the 31 00:01:56,120 --> 00:01:59,680 Speaker 1: Chamber of Deputies in Paris in eighteen twelve, the year 32 00:01:59,680 --> 00:02:03,080 Speaker 1: that he ran. These skills carried him through World War One, 33 00:02:03,320 --> 00:02:06,680 Speaker 1: where he ran secret service missions delivering troops over enemy 34 00:02:06,720 --> 00:02:10,120 Speaker 1: lines or getting them out of harm's way. Thedrine had 35 00:02:10,160 --> 00:02:12,840 Speaker 1: gone from fighting in the streets of Paris to saving 36 00:02:12,880 --> 00:02:15,880 Speaker 1: the lives of his comrades and arms. Quite the journey 37 00:02:15,919 --> 00:02:18,600 Speaker 1: for a young man, but the achievement for which he 38 00:02:18,680 --> 00:02:21,359 Speaker 1: is best known was yet to come. Before the war 39 00:02:21,400 --> 00:02:23,960 Speaker 1: had started, a contest had been announced, with the grand 40 00:02:24,000 --> 00:02:27,000 Speaker 1: prize of twenty five thousand francs to be given to 41 00:02:27,040 --> 00:02:29,160 Speaker 1: the pilot who could land his plane on the roof 42 00:02:29,240 --> 00:02:33,600 Speaker 1: of Paris's Galery Lafayette department store. To do so was 43 00:02:33,680 --> 00:02:37,120 Speaker 1: quite dangerous, after all, the rooftop rows only thirty meters 44 00:02:37,160 --> 00:02:40,000 Speaker 1: above the Paris streets, with no room for a runway. 45 00:02:40,400 --> 00:02:42,919 Speaker 1: Even the police had to step in. They saw how 46 00:02:43,000 --> 00:02:46,480 Speaker 1: risky it was and issued in order forbidding anyone to 47 00:02:46,600 --> 00:02:50,280 Speaker 1: try it. But Jules Vdrine wasn't exactly someone to listen 48 00:02:50,360 --> 00:02:53,000 Speaker 1: to authority. He knew he could do it. After all, 49 00:02:53,040 --> 00:02:55,440 Speaker 1: he'd been a World War One hero, clocking in over 50 00:02:55,480 --> 00:02:59,200 Speaker 1: one thousand hours running airborne reconnaissance missions for the French Army. 51 00:02:59,480 --> 00:03:01,280 Speaker 1: Landing a place lane on the roof of a department 52 00:03:01,320 --> 00:03:04,480 Speaker 1: store would be a piece of cake. So on January 53 00:03:04,639 --> 00:03:08,520 Speaker 1: nineteenth of nineteen nineteen, Vdrine hopped into the cockpit of 54 00:03:08,600 --> 00:03:12,480 Speaker 1: his Quadron G point three, a single engine French plane. 55 00:03:12,560 --> 00:03:14,360 Speaker 1: This would have been the same plane that he'd flown 56 00:03:14,440 --> 00:03:17,720 Speaker 1: during the war. Very little about the event is known today, 57 00:03:17,840 --> 00:03:20,600 Speaker 1: save for a few photographs that remain. But what is 58 00:03:20,639 --> 00:03:23,440 Speaker 1: clear is that Vadrine successfully landed his plane on the 59 00:03:23,560 --> 00:03:26,520 Speaker 1: roof of the Gallery Lafayette, and in order to make 60 00:03:26,560 --> 00:03:28,760 Speaker 1: sure that he didn't overshoot the landing, he had a 61 00:03:28,800 --> 00:03:31,480 Speaker 1: team of men waiting to catch the Quadron by its 62 00:03:31,520 --> 00:03:35,280 Speaker 1: wings as it touched down, and his wild plan worked. 63 00:03:36,120 --> 00:03:39,160 Speaker 1: Although he won the twenty five thousand francs, six francs 64 00:03:39,200 --> 00:03:41,680 Speaker 1: were deducted for landing in a restricted area of the 65 00:03:41,760 --> 00:03:44,480 Speaker 1: roof and for any damage caused by the stunt. He 66 00:03:44,800 --> 00:03:48,080 Speaker 1: and the plane also suffered injuries as a result. But 67 00:03:48,200 --> 00:03:50,960 Speaker 1: he done it. Jules Vdrine had become the first person 68 00:03:51,040 --> 00:03:53,800 Speaker 1: to land an airplane on top of a building. His 69 00:03:53,880 --> 00:03:56,600 Speaker 1: victory was short lived, though, a few months later, while 70 00:03:56,640 --> 00:04:00,000 Speaker 1: piloting a Quadron C twenty three to Rome, his engine 71 00:03:59,880 --> 00:04:03,760 Speaker 1: failed and the aviator died trying to land his aircraft. Today, 72 00:04:03,760 --> 00:04:06,160 Speaker 1: all that remains of the event is an engraved stone 73 00:04:06,200 --> 00:04:09,360 Speaker 1: plaque on the roof of the Gallery Lafayette, burying the 74 00:04:09,400 --> 00:04:12,760 Speaker 1: face of Jules Vadrine and a description of what happened 75 00:04:12,800 --> 00:04:15,840 Speaker 1: that day. And as someone who has struggled to find 76 00:04:15,840 --> 00:04:19,240 Speaker 1: parking spots while going shopping myself, you have to admire 77 00:04:19,440 --> 00:04:38,320 Speaker 1: how Vdrine found such a curious solution. Alvin loved getting high, 78 00:04:38,560 --> 00:04:40,960 Speaker 1: but not in the way you might think. He was 79 00:04:40,960 --> 00:04:44,960 Speaker 1: born Alouisious Anthony Kelly in Hell's Kitchen, New York, on 80 00:04:45,040 --> 00:04:48,400 Speaker 1: May eleventh of eighteen ninety three. He didn't know his parents. 81 00:04:48,680 --> 00:04:51,359 Speaker 1: His mother died during childbirth and his father passed away 82 00:04:51,360 --> 00:04:54,559 Speaker 1: before he was born. He was adopted by a family friend, 83 00:04:54,839 --> 00:04:56,760 Speaker 1: but it was clear from a young age that Kelly 84 00:04:56,800 --> 00:04:59,400 Speaker 1: had his eyes on a life outside of Hell's Kitchen. 85 00:05:00,080 --> 00:05:02,520 Speaker 1: When he was thirteen years old, Alvin ran away from 86 00:05:02,560 --> 00:05:05,000 Speaker 1: home and signed up for work on a cargo ship. 87 00:05:05,160 --> 00:05:06,920 Speaker 1: As he grew older, he took on a number of 88 00:05:07,000 --> 00:05:12,520 Speaker 1: professions including steel worker, high diver, chimney and roof repairman, boxer, 89 00:05:12,880 --> 00:05:15,719 Speaker 1: and as a stunt pilot for movies. And it was 90 00:05:15,760 --> 00:05:17,880 Speaker 1: his work on films that helps him make a name 91 00:05:17,920 --> 00:05:20,400 Speaker 1: for himself outside of his old neighborhood of Hell's Kitchen. 92 00:05:20,800 --> 00:05:24,119 Speaker 1: In January of nineteen twenty four, a local movie theater 93 00:05:24,240 --> 00:05:27,400 Speaker 1: hired Kelly for a publicity stunt to help sell tickets 94 00:05:27,400 --> 00:05:30,720 Speaker 1: for an upcoming picture. His job climbed to the top 95 00:05:30,760 --> 00:05:34,120 Speaker 1: of a tall pole and sit on it. It was 96 00:05:34,120 --> 00:05:36,120 Speaker 1: apparently something that he'd been good at since he was 97 00:05:36,160 --> 00:05:38,320 Speaker 1: a boy. Kelly had climbed to the top of a 98 00:05:38,320 --> 00:05:40,800 Speaker 1: pole when he was only seven years old, at least 99 00:05:40,839 --> 00:05:43,680 Speaker 1: according to one witness. Then when he was nine, he 100 00:05:43,800 --> 00:05:46,240 Speaker 1: climbed up the side of a building all by himself. 101 00:05:46,800 --> 00:05:49,039 Speaker 1: But in the winter of nineteen twenty four, he sat 102 00:05:49,040 --> 00:05:52,000 Speaker 1: on top of a pole for over thirteen hours, all 103 00:05:52,040 --> 00:05:55,159 Speaker 1: to spread word about a new movie being released. Except 104 00:05:55,240 --> 00:05:57,720 Speaker 1: it wasn't the movie that he wound up advertising. It 105 00:05:57,800 --> 00:06:01,599 Speaker 1: was Alvin Kelly himself. He started traveling all over the 106 00:06:01,600 --> 00:06:05,240 Speaker 1: country just sitting on poles for money and attention, and 107 00:06:05,279 --> 00:06:08,640 Speaker 1: the people loved him for it. Local businesses sponsored him 108 00:06:08,680 --> 00:06:11,359 Speaker 1: and even hired him to advertise for them. He gained 109 00:06:11,400 --> 00:06:13,480 Speaker 1: fans who would wait for him to climb down from 110 00:06:13,520 --> 00:06:16,599 Speaker 1: his perch so that they would meet him afterward. But 111 00:06:16,880 --> 00:06:19,680 Speaker 1: spending hours on top of a flagpole could be taxing 112 00:06:19,720 --> 00:06:23,159 Speaker 1: for the average stuntman. So how did Kelly pull it off? Well, 113 00:06:23,200 --> 00:06:26,080 Speaker 1: For one, he didn't eat much. He subsisted mainly on 114 00:06:26,160 --> 00:06:28,600 Speaker 1: coffee and broth, which he had delivered to him using 115 00:06:28,680 --> 00:06:31,280 Speaker 1: a bucket hooked to a rope and pulley. He also 116 00:06:31,320 --> 00:06:34,160 Speaker 1: taught himself to nap. Sitting up, he would stick his 117 00:06:34,200 --> 00:06:36,279 Speaker 1: thumbs into holes at the top of the pole, and 118 00:06:36,360 --> 00:06:38,960 Speaker 1: when his sleeping body would list in one direction, the 119 00:06:39,000 --> 00:06:42,359 Speaker 1: pain in his hands would snap him awake. Of course, 120 00:06:42,440 --> 00:06:44,880 Speaker 1: staying up there for tens of hours meant that all 121 00:06:44,960 --> 00:06:47,440 Speaker 1: those liquids had to go somewhere, and it wasn't like 122 00:06:47,480 --> 00:06:50,440 Speaker 1: he had a porta potty on a pole next to him. Allegedly, 123 00:06:50,520 --> 00:06:52,600 Speaker 1: Kelly had rigged up a tube system that ran the 124 00:06:52,680 --> 00:06:55,080 Speaker 1: length of the pole to a container on the ground 125 00:06:55,200 --> 00:06:58,200 Speaker 1: with which he would relieve himself into. This was better 126 00:06:58,240 --> 00:07:01,320 Speaker 1: than an alternative solution that would have required spectators to 127 00:07:01,320 --> 00:07:04,920 Speaker 1: carry umbrellas with them, and when he wasn't evacuating his bladder, 128 00:07:05,240 --> 00:07:08,400 Speaker 1: Kelly could be seen shaving or reading the newspaper as 129 00:07:08,400 --> 00:07:10,680 Speaker 1: though he were simply going about his normal day and 130 00:07:10,840 --> 00:07:13,200 Speaker 1: not sitting one hundred feet in the air on a 131 00:07:13,280 --> 00:07:17,200 Speaker 1: narrow metal pole. Kelly quickly outdid his record of thirteen 132 00:07:17,240 --> 00:07:20,320 Speaker 1: hours and thirteen minutes. In nineteen twenty seven, he sat 133 00:07:20,360 --> 00:07:22,840 Speaker 1: on a pole for one hundred and forty seven hours 134 00:07:22,880 --> 00:07:26,080 Speaker 1: in the middle of February in Kansas City, Missouri. Having 135 00:07:26,120 --> 00:07:28,640 Speaker 1: spent my youth in the Midwest, I can only imagine 136 00:07:28,640 --> 00:07:32,120 Speaker 1: how horrible that was. He battled wind and rain and cold, 137 00:07:32,200 --> 00:07:34,960 Speaker 1: only to go even longer in Atlantic City in nineteen 138 00:07:35,040 --> 00:07:37,560 Speaker 1: thirty On that occasion, he sat on top of a 139 00:07:37,600 --> 00:07:41,760 Speaker 1: pole for nearly twelve hundred hours, that's forty nine days. 140 00:07:42,480 --> 00:07:45,240 Speaker 1: He never let the weather or discomfort sway him, either 141 00:07:45,520 --> 00:07:48,440 Speaker 1: whether it was ten degrees out or blistering hot. He 142 00:07:48,480 --> 00:07:50,960 Speaker 1: would give the people what they wanted, and apparently what 143 00:07:51,000 --> 00:07:55,400 Speaker 1: they wanted to see was a man sitting on a pole. Sadly, 144 00:07:55,440 --> 00:07:57,640 Speaker 1: his days of flagpole sitting came to an end in 145 00:07:57,720 --> 00:08:01,520 Speaker 1: nineteen thirty five, at least profession. He was one day 146 00:08:01,560 --> 00:08:04,520 Speaker 1: into an attempt to break his Atlantic City record when 147 00:08:04,520 --> 00:08:07,240 Speaker 1: the police forced him to get down. After that moment, 148 00:08:07,560 --> 00:08:10,200 Speaker 1: he went in got a regular job to make ends meet. 149 00:08:11,120 --> 00:08:13,480 Speaker 1: A New York Dunkin Donuts hired him in nineteen thirty 150 00:08:13,560 --> 00:08:16,120 Speaker 1: nine to do headstands on the fifty fourth floor of 151 00:08:16,160 --> 00:08:20,120 Speaker 1: the Channon Building in Manhattan for National Donut Week. He 152 00:08:20,160 --> 00:08:24,600 Speaker 1: performed while eating donuts and drinking coffee upside down, but 153 00:08:24,680 --> 00:08:27,280 Speaker 1: soon after the Sea called him back for duty. He 154 00:08:27,320 --> 00:08:30,080 Speaker 1: served during World War II as a merchant marine before 155 00:08:30,120 --> 00:08:33,160 Speaker 1: returning to his old life without a penny to his name. 156 00:08:33,720 --> 00:08:36,440 Speaker 1: He tried flagpole sitting again in nineteen fifty two, but 157 00:08:36,559 --> 00:08:38,880 Speaker 1: a stunt in Orange, Texas proved to be too much 158 00:08:38,880 --> 00:08:41,080 Speaker 1: for him. He was sixty five feet in the air 159 00:08:41,120 --> 00:08:43,679 Speaker 1: when he suffered a series of heart attacks. They did 160 00:08:43,760 --> 00:08:45,960 Speaker 1: not kill him, though, but they did force him to 161 00:08:46,040 --> 00:08:49,640 Speaker 1: retire from flagpole sitting forever. Kelly went back to Hell's 162 00:08:49,679 --> 00:08:51,800 Speaker 1: Kitchen to live out the rest of his days, and 163 00:08:51,920 --> 00:08:54,760 Speaker 1: I do mean days. While walking down the street in 164 00:08:54,840 --> 00:08:57,920 Speaker 1: his old neighborhood. Soon after his return, he collapsed on 165 00:08:57,960 --> 00:09:00,720 Speaker 1: the sidewalk and died. He had no more and no 166 00:09:00,800 --> 00:09:03,440 Speaker 1: family to claim him from the morgue. He was eventually 167 00:09:03,520 --> 00:09:07,600 Speaker 1: laid to rest at Long Island National Cemetery Alvin Shipwreck. 168 00:09:07,679 --> 00:09:11,080 Speaker 1: Kelly accomplished a lot during his relatively short life. He 169 00:09:11,160 --> 00:09:13,719 Speaker 1: may not have been blind or been given superpowers in 170 00:09:13,760 --> 00:09:16,719 Speaker 1: a freak accident, but he'll always be remembered as the 171 00:09:16,760 --> 00:09:24,960 Speaker 1: original Daredevil of Hell's Kitchen. I hope you've enjoyed today's 172 00:09:24,960 --> 00:09:28,600 Speaker 1: guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free 173 00:09:28,679 --> 00:09:31,360 Speaker 1: on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about the show by 174 00:09:31,440 --> 00:09:36,560 Speaker 1: visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show was created by me, 175 00:09:36,760 --> 00:09:40,360 Speaker 1: Aaron Mankey in partnership with how Stuff Works. I make 176 00:09:40,440 --> 00:09:43,959 Speaker 1: another award winning show called Lore, which is a podcast, 177 00:09:44,080 --> 00:09:47,040 Speaker 1: book series, and television show and you can learn all 178 00:09:47,040 --> 00:09:51,120 Speaker 1: about it over at the Worldoflore dot com. And until 179 00:09:51,160 --> 00:09:54,800 Speaker 1: next time, stay curious.