Valley Girl Views: When The Tightrope Walkers Came To Williamsport

A Tightrope Walker on West Third Street, Williamsport PA

When I came across this photo on an auction site, I assumed it would be easy to find out more about it. It was labeled "Tight Rope Walker, W. 3rd Williamsport". Look close - that's not a smudge at the top, but rather a tight-rope walker, between the buildings.

How hard can it be to track that down, surely tight rope walkers were a rarity in Williamsport?

Uhm, no, actually they were not. Not at all. It was actually rather rare for there to be an event in the 1880s through early 1900s, without a tight rope walker in attendance. And in addition to those scheduled performances, during this time, amateur tight rope walkers would travel the country and just show up in a town, performing for donations.

The Peg Legged Rope Walker, 1876

In 1876, Prof. Daniel De Houne, (The Corsica Rope Walker) gave a performance at the east end of Market Square, in Williamsport. The professor was a soldier in the late war, and gave a leg in defense of his country. Using his gymnastic skills and his experience as a child in a German circus, he learned to walk the slack wire and tight rope, aided by a notch cut into the bottom of his wooden peg leg.

De Houne was actually Joseph Berg, but he went by the name De Houne for almost all of his performances. In 1884, De Houne fell from a rope he was crossing in Corsica Texas. Knowing his injuries were severe, he asked for a rabbi, As Corsicana had no rabbi, the owner of a downtown grocery store, Bernard Simon, came to him and the man painfully whispered prayers with him in Hebrew. He would not reveal his identity or history to Mr. Simon. The only thing he supposedly said, also in perfect Hebrew, was to ask that he be “buried with my people.” Three days later, his remaining leg was amputated, and a week later he died, with his identity unknown. His grave stone in Corsica read simply, "Rope Walker". (It was years later, when newspapers were digitized, that his identity was discerned)

The Annual Turn Verein Picnic, 1890

At the annual Williamsport Turn Verein picnic, at Union Park held in August of 1890 "Joseph Losch will walk the tight rope, and he wants it to be fully understood that those interfering with the supports of the ropes while he is abroad of it will make a terrible mistake, as he proposes to carry with him, during the performance, in lieu of a balancing pole, two 42-caliber revolvers, one in each hand."

Turnverein Societies were German-American gymnastic clubs, known as Turners. They promoted German culture, physical culture, liberal politics, and supported the Union war effort during the civil war. Their picnics and events by 1890 sound like carnivals, but the group came from a series of political upheavals, and the original German Turnen movement in the United States was brought here by political refugees. Like all ethnic groups escaping to America, they faced hostility from those who did not approve of the high rate of immigration into the country. Turners were physically attacked on several occasions, and were taught to take up self defense in the forms of shooting "and other military exercises". Self defense in the form of fencing was part of the Turners culture, and became a large part of their yearly picnics. 1

The 1890 picnic in Williamsport was to include the following exercises:

Turning, Climbing a slippery pole, tug of war, a jumping match, sack race, wheelbarrow race, and a baseball game. In addition to Losch's tightrope walk, John Hadler "will swing a fifty six pound weight, and after it has reached the requisite propelling force he will hurl it over the top of the grove into an adjoining field" George Zercher was to perform upon a trapeze, and George Neuschafer was to climb the tallest tree in the park. Additional feats were also mentioned, with much hyperbole and jesting.

1904 Home For The Friendless Fete

In 1904, Williamsport's Home For The Friendless hosted a Fete.

The line up of entertainment appears to be very similar to that of the Dime Museums, as if included Lady Samson, The $10,000 Beauty, the Snake Charmer, A Tattooed man, and, or course, a tight rope walker.

The 1911 Y.W.C.A. Dime Museum

In the early 1900s, Dime Museums were all the rage.

"Dime museums, a nineteenth century urban American phenomena, were large-scale venues dedicated to the exposition of human curiosities, or 'freak shows,' under the guise of being an educational bourgeois form of entertainment."

In Williamsport, The Y.W.C.A. held a Dime Museum in February of 1911.

There was to be a glass eater, a strong woman (who could balance a piano on one finger), the Wild Woman From Boreo (a hairy woman, who was to be chained and guarded "for your protection"), a $10,000 Beauty, a fortune teller, an organ grinder with a gorilla, a snake charmer, a pair of Siamese twins, and, of course,

"A tight-rope walker who will walk a tight rope in a way never before witnessed"

1914 Fall Merchants Display Week

In September of 1914, Williamsport was observing their annual merchants Fall Display Week. During this week the windows of many stores were unveiled, to "show the skills of the decorators, making wonderful displays of their merchandise"

A tight rope walked performed every day during the week, making trips from the highest points of one building to another.

On Tuesday, in addition to the tight rope walker, Mons Hammon jumped from the top of the first National Bank into the street below, using a parachute.

More About Tight Rope Walking Across The Country

Tightrope walking was extremely popular in the 1800s. Every Funambulist wanted to walk across Niagara Falls, and The Great Blondin (Jean Francois Gravelet) was the first to do so, in 1859. He paused half way across, pulled up a beer on a rope from the Maid Of the Mist, sat down and drank it, then continued across.

The stunts only got larger and larger, riding a bicycle across, cooking an omelet in the middle, going across on stilts, and even carrying his manager across on his back.

In 1860, The Great Farini (William Leonard Hunt) crossed the falls with a washing machine strapped to him. He stopped in the middle, washed several handkerchiefs, and then finished walking across to hand the handkerchiefs out to his admirers.

Hot Air Balloons were popular around this same time, and most of the early balloonists were first tight rope walkers. Ivy Baldwin was an experienced daredevil balloonist. He walked a tightrope across the Eldorado Canyon numerous times, including on his 88th birthday. 2

Tight Rope Walking still happens today, it's just not nearly as common. Nick Wallanda, a 7th generation circus performer, has walked across the Grand Canyon, Niagara Fall, and Manhattan - all on wire rope made in Williamsport Pa. The Wire Rope Company in Williamsport began in 1886, and although the name has changed a few times, they are still making wire rope in the same town.

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