Brave the Cave, Face the Grave
October 7, 2022 6:10 AM Subscribe
Man in Cave - Internet Historian [YT] A man (Floyd Collins) gets stuck in a cave. Events spiral out of control quickly.
Not a fan of videos? Check out this article about Floyd Collins on Mental Floss.
Alternatively, here's what National Park Service has to say.
Not a fan of videos? Check out this article about Floyd Collins on Mental Floss.
Alternatively, here's what National Park Service has to say.
If memory serves me correctly, this event was one of the first media frenzies of the radio era; the ability to give updates more than once a day was a novelty at the time.
posted by Gelatin at 6:59 AM on October 7, 2022
posted by Gelatin at 6:59 AM on October 7, 2022
I did the the Parkay Squeeze in The Valley to see if I would like any sort of caving like stuff and god no no no no no never again.
no. no.
no.
posted by NoThisIsPatrick at 7:24 AM on October 7, 2022 [2 favorites]
no. no.
no.
posted by NoThisIsPatrick at 7:24 AM on October 7, 2022 [2 favorites]
Good God. So Alex Jones is nothing new. If I wanted to explain people to aliens, I would include this, not that I understand people.
posted by Nancy Lebovitz at 7:45 AM on October 7, 2022
posted by Nancy Lebovitz at 7:45 AM on October 7, 2022
The musical based on Collins' experience has some powerful songs, including one that Stephen Sondheim wished he had written.
posted by thomas j wise at 8:00 AM on October 7, 2022
posted by thomas j wise at 8:00 AM on October 7, 2022
I remember reading a piece of noir-ish fiction with this event as a backdrop. I don't remember much about it now, but the protagonist was a newspaper person of some sort?
posted by seanmpuckett at 8:03 AM on October 7, 2022
posted by seanmpuckett at 8:03 AM on October 7, 2022
I turned around when it got to the turnaround, which is how claustrophobic I am.
posted by MtDewd at 9:44 AM on October 7, 2022 [6 favorites]
posted by MtDewd at 9:44 AM on October 7, 2022 [6 favorites]
Way back when I was in high school, 1991 or so, my dad took my siblings and I on a spring break trip to Mammoth Cave. En route, I saw a sign for Sand Cave. I started telling my brother about Floyd Collins, how he was trapped by a rock around the size of a lunchbox that caught his foot. Told him about the rescue attempt, and how he eventually was unable to be freed because of how unstable the cave was.
After listening to the whole story, he asked me how I knew about it. I told him that I had read about it somewhere. But... damned if I know where. I still can't recall where I found the story, or why it had enough of an impact on me after reading it for me to remember the details in the first place, but just seeing the Sand Cave sign was all it took for me to reel the whole thing out for him.
Memory is a weird thing.
posted by caution live frogs at 9:48 AM on October 7, 2022 [3 favorites]
After listening to the whole story, he asked me how I knew about it. I told him that I had read about it somewhere. But... damned if I know where. I still can't recall where I found the story, or why it had enough of an impact on me after reading it for me to remember the details in the first place, but just seeing the Sand Cave sign was all it took for me to reel the whole thing out for him.
Memory is a weird thing.
posted by caution live frogs at 9:48 AM on October 7, 2022 [3 favorites]
The story and the media frenzy inspired this excellent, bleak Billy Wilder film.
posted by doctornemo at 12:39 PM on October 7, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by doctornemo at 12:39 PM on October 7, 2022 [2 favorites]
OK, I bet it was the Billy Wilder film I'm recalling. Thanks, doctornemo.
posted by seanmpuckett at 1:26 PM on October 7, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by seanmpuckett at 1:26 PM on October 7, 2022 [2 favorites]
Vernon Dalhart's "The Death of Floyd Collins," released in 1926, is a pretty good song about this event. If old-timey country blues is your thing.
posted by Dr. Wu at 2:37 PM on October 7, 2022
posted by Dr. Wu at 2:37 PM on October 7, 2022
Trapped! The Story of Floyd Collins is quite the gripping read. It’s a must in any cave book library. Roger Brucker’s other books are all well worth reading for the generalist interested in caving, too. The Longest Cave is one of the things, found on a friend’s shelf, that set me off on a life-long avocation.
posted by Devils Rancher at 4:35 PM on October 7, 2022
posted by Devils Rancher at 4:35 PM on October 7, 2022
Ted the Caver is based on this story. In fact, I'm writing this comment as I watch the video and I just saw a photo from Ted the Caver's site.
Floyd's tomb
posted by bendy at 6:15 PM on October 7, 2022 [1 favorite]
Floyd's tomb
posted by bendy at 6:15 PM on October 7, 2022 [1 favorite]
previously
TIL that Angelfire still exists.
posted by bendy at 6:17 PM on October 7, 2022 [1 favorite]
TIL that Angelfire still exists.
posted by bendy at 6:17 PM on October 7, 2022 [1 favorite]
The Longest Cave by Roger Brucker and Red Watson is one of the best books in the whole wide world, and I enthusiastically recommend it for every ten-year-old kid who loves stories of adventure and exploration, and anyone else who remembers being one.
posted by Harvey Kilobit at 8:49 PM on October 7, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Harvey Kilobit at 8:49 PM on October 7, 2022 [1 favorite]
Kudos to the creator of this video for managing to evoke visceral claustrophobia in me while I was sitting in a well-lit office.
posted by Johnny Assay at 5:13 AM on October 8, 2022
posted by Johnny Assay at 5:13 AM on October 8, 2022
« Older Tiny Japanese restaurants in 4K | Constitutional protections vs. mass incarceration... Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by fimbulvetr at 6:25 AM on October 7, 2022 [1 favorite]