The List: 7 Crazy Stunts That Have Taken Place in Atlantic City

Thinking about doing something crazy?

An amazing stunt maybe?

Head to Atlantic City - that's where all the crazy stuff is done!

Get our free mobile app

Seven Crazy Stunts That Have Happened in Atlantic City

There used to be a parade on the boardwalk where nice looking women rode by in convertibles and waved their feet at the crowd.

It was the Miss America "Show Us Your Shoes" Parade. Held annually on the Boardwalk, all the Miss America contestants dressed up - and the star attraction was their shoes!

While that was "on the surface crazy", it doesn't compare with these crazy things that have happened in Atlantic City:

1. Diving Horses.

Almost everyone is familiar with this one. Went on for years. What would PETA say about this one?

2. Diving Elk

Apparently before they settled on horses, they tried other animals like elk. We actually found a reference to a diving buffalo, but we haven't been able to totally confirmed that actually happened.

An article in the Philadelphia Enquirer says that in the 1920s, before the horses, diving elk were used in a diving act on Atlantic City's Million Dollar Pier.

3. Pole Sitting

Sitting on top of a flagpole used to be a daredevil-type thing one hundred years ago. Alvin "Shipwreck" Kelly (no relation to me!) was among the most famous flagpole-sitters of the time. According to Wikipedia, ol' Shipwreck set a record in 1930 sitting on a pole 225 feet above the Steel Pier for - get this - 49 days and one hour! (No, I don't know how handled the bathroom-thing.)

4. Harry Houdini Escape

Houdini was a great magician - an escape artist. In 1915 he went into the water in Atlantic City in a box under the Garden Pier. Reportedly, 10,000 people watched him escape from the box in about two minutes.

5. Annie Oakley Shooting Demonstration

We found several sources that say Annie Oakley, the legendary sharpshooter, was the first headliner to appear at the Steel Pier when it opened in 1898.

6. Nik Wallenda's Wheel of Death Performance.

In 2011, Wallenda walked, jumped rope, and climbed on a giant steel wheel - all on a tightrope high over the boardwalk.

7. Premature Babies On Display

This might be the weirdest one yet.

A guy named Dr.Couney set up on the boardwalk, Couney's Premature Infant Exhibit. Premature babies in incubators were set up as a tourist attraction.

This happened starting in the early 1900s when premature babies didn't have a very good survival rate. It went on for decades! People paid money to look at babies in glass incubators. The money went for care of the infants - their parents weren't charged.

What happened to that kind of health care?