Human Flies and the Bizarre History of Daredevils
Kaz Rowe Kaz Rowe
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 Published On Aug 31, 2023

Head over to @wayfair 's channel and check out the new episode of A Style is Born where we explore the history of Brutalism! https://astyleisborn.link/ASIBs2e3Kaz

In the early 1900s, a number of men became 'human flies': dudes who scaled skyscrapers with no equipment, just their bare hands. The human fly craze is part of a long history of daredevils and thrill-seekers, many of whom died seeking those thrills. Come learn with me!

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Filmed using:
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Olympus M. Zuiko ED 12-40mm f/2.8 Pro– https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...
Samsung Portable SSD T5 - 2Tb– https://www.samsung.com/us/computing/...
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Sources

Skyscraper Cinema: Architecture and Gender in American Film By Merrill SchleierBuzz!: Inside the Minds of Thrill-Seekers, Daredevils, and Adrenaline Junkies By Kenneth CarterThe Thrill Makers: Celebrity, Masculinity, and Stunt Performance By Jacob SmithOral History Interview with John Frazier– Interview Conducted by Tanya Finchum and Juliana Nykolaiszyn for the Oklahoma Oral History Research Program“The Human Fly as Knecht Saw Him Yesterday,” Evansville Courier and Press, November 17, 1916““Human Fly’s” New Job,” Marysville Journal-Tribune, 05 Dec 1901“Human Fly Crawls Up Andrews Block,” New Britain Herald, 12 Sep 1917“Human Fly Only Fake Imitation of Summer Pest,” The Weekly Tribune, 24 Dec 1915“Will Defy Death for Beaver Oil,” The Allentown Leader, 18 Aug 1915“Coney Answers Nation’s Call,” The Brooklyn Citizen, 24 Jun 1918“The Acid Test of Nerve for a Human Fly,” by Samuel E. Wright, Chattanooga Daily Times, 23 Jun 1929“”Human Fly” To Crawl Up Front of Globe Building Saturday Afternoon at 2 O’Clock, Rain or Shine,” Fall River Globe, 29 Oct 1917“Human Fly Makes Good!” The Atchison Daily Globe, 02 Oct 1917“Human Fly Will Make Two Climbs Here Today,” The Albany-Decatur Daily, 12 Feb 1918“He Climbs the Beacon Building Saturday,” The Wichita Beacon, 17 May 1918“When ‘The Human Fly’ thrilled a downtown crowd” by Phil Egan for the Sarnia Historical Society https://www.sarniahistoricalsociety.c... city was popular with human 'flies'” by Tara McClellan McAndrew for the State Journal-Register https://www.sj-r.com/story/lifestyle/... on Hand to View Ascent,” Oakland Tribune, March 29, 1919“Fly Perches on Top of Tribune,” Oakland Tribune, March 30, 1919“'Nutty' Jack Medford,” Mail Tribune, November 17, 2019The City all abuzz over the "Human Fly." by the Beacon Historical Society https://www.beaconhistorical.org/shar... Legend of the Human Fly … Resolved” by Mike West, The Murfreesboro Post, September 14, 2008 https://rutherfordtnhistory.org/the-l... Take: Detecting a Daredevil by Kristi Finefield for Library of Congress Blogs https://blogs.loc.gov/picturethis/201...

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