Harry Gardiner
Encyclopedia
Harry H. Gardiner better known as the Human Fly, was an American
man famous for climbing buildings. He began climbing in 1905, and successfully climbed over 700 buildings in Europe
and North America
, usually wearing ordinary street clothes and used no special equipment.
A story which may refer to Gardiner, is told to law students concerning the “Human Fly.” Supposedly a tavern owner known as Jimmy Lake, owned a tavern close to the Washington Monument
. Lake told the Fly that if the latter would climb the Washington Monument, then Lake would pay the Fly $1,000. Lake promoted the event, resulting in a large crowd at the tavern. When the Fly was almost to the top, Lake, shouting through a megaphone, told the fly “I revoke my offer,” which he could do because there had been an exchange of a promise to pay in return for full performance, as opposed to a promise to pay in return for a promise to perform. Apparently Lake managed a saloon at 9th Street NW in DC, and a Georgetown Law student, after hearing the story from Prof. Walter Yeager, actually contacted Lake, who was by then elderly, with a white beard and red bow tie, and used him as a witness in a mock trial. see oral history of Patrick Atridge, http://www.dcchs.org/PatrickJAttridge/attridge_transcript.pdf
Gardiner is mentioned in a story of present day skyscraper climber Alain Robert
. The New Yorker magazine, April 20, 2009.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
man famous for climbing buildings. He began climbing in 1905, and successfully climbed over 700 buildings in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, usually wearing ordinary street clothes and used no special equipment.
Climbs
Some of the famous climbs Gardiner performed:- October 7, 1916 in Detroit - The Detroit NewsThe Detroit NewsThe Detroit News is one of the two major newspapers in the U.S. city of Detroit, Michigan. The paper began in 1873, when it rented space in the rival Free Press's building. The News absorbed the Detroit Tribune on February 1, 1919, the Detroit Journal on July 21, 1922, and on November 7, 1960,...
had hired Gardiner to attract attention to the News' ad-taking office by climbing up the 12 story Majestic Building at 12:15 PM. He wore all white, tennis shoes and rimless spectacles. - January 30, 1917 in Birmingham, AlabamaBirmingham, AlabamaBirmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
- Gardiner scaled the 16-story "Empire Building" at the so-called Heaviest Corner on EarthHeaviest Corner on EarthThe Heaviest Corner on Earth is a promotional name given to the corner of 20th Street and 1st Avenue North in Birmingham, Alabama, United States, in the early 20th century...
. - November 11, 1918 in HamiltonHamilton, OntarioHamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Conceived by George Hamilton when he purchased the Durand farm shortly after the War of 1812, Hamilton has become the centre of a densely populated and industrialized region at the west end of Lake Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe...
- Gardiner climbed the Bank of HamiltonBank of HamiltonThe Bank of Hamilton was established in 1872 by local businessmen in the city of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada under the leadership of Donald McInnes, the bank's first President. Like the other Canadian chartered banks, it issued its own paper money. The bank issued notes 1872-1922...
building to celebrate the end of World War IWorld War IWorld War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. While climbing the side of the building, Gardiner stuck his head into one of the open windows and signed some insurance papers. He also purchased a $1,000 bond. The 47-year-old professional Fly admitted that he had to try for insurance at the Bank of Hamilton because it had so far been impossible for him to gain insurance elsewhere, since he was considered a high risk. This spectacle brought much attention to the Bank of Hamilton.
- 1918 in VancouverVancouverVancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
- Gardiner climbed up the outside of the 17 story World Building known today as the Sun TowerSun TowerThe Sun Tower is a 17 storey Beaux-Arts building at 100 West Pender Street in Vancouver, British Columbia. It is known for its faux-patina steel dome painted to imitate copper cladding. Nine nude muses, the "nine maidens" supporting the cornice line can be seen...
. The Vancouver World newspaper was published in this building at the time.
A story which may refer to Gardiner, is told to law students concerning the “Human Fly.” Supposedly a tavern owner known as Jimmy Lake, owned a tavern close to the Washington Monument
Washington Monument
The Washington Monument is an obelisk near the west end of the National Mall in Washington, D.C., built to commemorate the first U.S. president, General George Washington...
. Lake told the Fly that if the latter would climb the Washington Monument, then Lake would pay the Fly $1,000. Lake promoted the event, resulting in a large crowd at the tavern. When the Fly was almost to the top, Lake, shouting through a megaphone, told the fly “I revoke my offer,” which he could do because there had been an exchange of a promise to pay in return for full performance, as opposed to a promise to pay in return for a promise to perform. Apparently Lake managed a saloon at 9th Street NW in DC, and a Georgetown Law student, after hearing the story from Prof. Walter Yeager, actually contacted Lake, who was by then elderly, with a white beard and red bow tie, and used him as a witness in a mock trial. see oral history of Patrick Atridge, http://www.dcchs.org/PatrickJAttridge/attridge_transcript.pdf
Gardiner is mentioned in a story of present day skyscraper climber Alain Robert
Alain Robert
Alain Robert , is a French rock and urban climber, from Digoin, Saône-et-Loire, Bourgogne, France...
. The New Yorker magazine, April 20, 2009.
See also
- Dan GoodwinDan GoodwinAmerican Dan Goodwin is a building, rock, and sports climber, as well as a stage-four cancer survivor, originally from Kennebunkport, Maine, United States, and living as of 2010 in Lake Tahoe, California.-Building climber:...