It’s National Walk on Stilts Day

July 27 is National Walk on Stilts Day!

There’s not tons to be said on the topic; you may be astonished to learn that there’s anything to be said at all. But we’ve had occasion to refer to this art form from time to time, so we offer these few items:

• stilt walking goes back to Ancient Greece

• clown George H. Adams(1853-1935) was known as “The King of Stilts”

• Pallenberg’s Bears walked on stilts, among other feats

• Blondin, the great daredevil, walked a tightrope over Niagara falls on stilts

• circus impresario John Robinson started out as a stiltwalker

• young acrobat Archie Leach (Cary Grant) worked a season as a stiltwalker on the Coney Island boardwalk!

• Coney Island USA founder Dick Zigun once wrote a play called The Three Minute Manifesto for an Uncle Sam on Stilts that starred our mutual friend Nick Fracaro

For more on the variety arts, please see No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous