Danny Sailor became the World Champion Logger in 1962, wearing Dayton Boots. Sailor’s act consisted of racing up a 100 foot high fir tree, doing handstands, headstands, and sometimes the Charleston, without the benefit of a safety net.
“I put a 12-pound weight on each foot when I’m practicing,” explained Sailor, “and when I take them off I feel like I’m flying”.
Like so many Dayton wearers, Sailor was unconventional. A prairie boy who came west to British Columbia, Danny:
- was a strict vegetarian
- had a soft spot for the Dukabours – once allowing 1,300 of them to camp on his Surrey farm - while delivering them 500 loaves of bread
- stayed up a pole for 28 days in 1959 to help raise money for the poor
- was fined $25 for a missing mudguard on his truck. He was broke, so he agreed to spend five days in Oakalla Prison. Word of his imprisonment leaked out - and the fine was quickly paid by an anonymous fan.
By 1968, Sailor was making $30,000 a year, touring U.S. cities with his highflying act. His winning footwear became a source of much curiosity and the Dayton Boot Company began receiving orders from U.S. loggers. Sailor won a total of 35 logging trophies, wearing Dayton Boots. In his signature move, he would climb to the top of a 120-foot pole, do a jig, throw his tin hat in the air – and then beat it in a race to the ground.
Danny Sailor, a Dayton original.
Comments
I met Danny at A sports man show in Cleveland , Ohio , circa mid sixties and never forgot him. Danny did his beat the hat to the ground feat. I got A pair of old Bashlin climbing irons , somewhat crude by today’s standards, and learned first hand the effort involved in just slowly climbing A tree. Hats off to Danny Sailor !
I watch Danny,s performance when I was just a young boy back in Nelson, BC in the late fifties. He did a jig on top of the pole and he beat his hat to the ground, it was amazing!!! Great act!
Here is a 1966 performance by Danny Sailor https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yNzPjPOOfU (at about the 49:15 mark)