PHOTO COURTESY Esplanade Arts and Heritage Centre
A 1951 Stampede postcard advertises Vera Allen, the Miss Flagpole Sitter at the Medicine Hat Exhibition & Stampede's 1951 Stampede.
Captivating international attention, the most successful publicity stunt ever showcased in Medicine Hat materialized in 1951 thanks to the Medicine Hat Exhibition and Stampede.
Faced with increased rodeo costs, the Stampede Board needed a promotional gimmick to encourage larger crowds.
Destined to be an attention grabber, “Miss Flagpole Sitter of 1951” was the Board’s solution.
That year, the Stampede ran from July 5-7. To promote the event, Vera Allen, a former British show girl and war bride living in Ottawa, was hired to spend a two-week period, June 23 to July 6 in a six by seven-foot cubicle atop a 45-foot-high pole located at old City Hall (today BATUS park). Vera Allen was about to become the first female flagpole sitter in the world.
The flagpole perch was built by the Stampede construction crew, under the supervision of Stampede Managing Director Dirk Scholten, a qualified engineer. A 1500-pound cedar pole was embedded into a concrete pad and fastened by iron brackets to the city hall building, directly across from Mayor Wilson Riley’s office.
With tremendous fanfare, Vera Allen arrived in Medicine Hat via the Flagpole Special, CPR train #7.
Promoting the Stampede enroute, Vera met with reporters and dignitaries from several localities. Accompanying her from Moose Jaw, was a local Medicine Hat News reporter.
With a crowd watching, Vera was hoisted up to her “penthouse,” by an aerial fire ladder. Comfortably furnished, the cubicle included overnight sleeping quarters, plus an electrical line, a CHAT-Radio broadcast loop and a telephone line. Food from local restaurants and flowers from a local greenhouse were hauled up daily.
Vera wore cowgirl togs provided by a local retailer. From her perch, Vera completed trans Atlantic phone calls with London newspapers including News of the World. In the United States, Associated Press published photos in their American papers, and a front-page story in the Japan News reached the UN troops in Korea. Locally, Vera broadcast daily weather reports and her everyday observations were published in a newspaper column titled, “Flagpole Fancies.”
During the kick-off Stampede parade, 15,000 parade goers, about the entire population of Medicine Hat, lined the parade route that passed by “Vera’s Venue” to receive a salute from the flagpole sitter.
Despite some rain and wind which caused the perch to sway, Vera weathered the conditions and slept soundly in the cubicle for 13 nights. At the end of her stint, Vera was given time for recuperation, exercises and a bath before making an appearance at the Stampede grandstand.
When the entertainer married RCMP Staff Sergeant Roy Allen in London in 1941, her stage name was “Snowy Maurice”. Additional monikers were “Bubbles” and “Sunshine.” Another show biz fabrication was her age. Reportedly age 29, Miss Flagpole Sitter of 1951, was pushing 36.
Vera Allen was paid $300 for the stunt, about $3600 today. A record crowd of 35,300 attended the Stampede in 1951 due to extensive publicity given the flagpole sitting queen.
Sally Sehn is a past member of the Heritage Resources Committee, City of Medicine Hat.
