Talk:Robert Wadlow/Archive 1

Something is Missing in Article
The article starts off with "Later Years", and does not mention anything about his life before "Later", other than his place and date of birth. - Mdriver1981 (talk) 04:10, 1 June 2011 (UTC)

Two Liter Bottle Line
The text in the article that refers to Wadlow being able to "easily hide a 2-Liter bottle inside his hand" is nonsense as he died in 1940 and there were no 2-Liter bottles sold anywhere in the United States until sometime in the 1970's. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.161.33.225 (talk) 04:05, 14 February 2009 (UTC)

2-Liter bottle article mentions invention in 1970s. Removed comparison. twimoki (talk) 04:55, 2 March 2009 (UTC)

Metric?
Shouldn't this article made more metric? Nobody except some Americans and Brits find all those inches, feet and pounds very informative.

Leg braces
Given that there is evidently disagreement, I thought we should discuss here whether or not leg brace is an article that should be linked to. The first thing I wish to clarify, which may have been too abbreviated in my edit summary, is that it is generally encouraged to link to articles that don't yet exist, as long as they someday might. This allows people who find the "red link" to follow it, create the page, and immediately have other articles pointing there. You will note that International Shoe Company is also linked; one day, maybe someone will write an article on it.

The question is therefore whether there should be an article on leg brace. It seems like a reasonable enough term to want to look up in an encyclopaedia - in reading that "he had to use leg braces", one might easily be interested as to what these were, and when and why they are used. Thinking about it, though, the article is likely to be more inclusive: Brace, I note, lists multiple meanings, including Brace (orthopaedic); perhaps we should link the phrase "leg braces" to that (as yet non-existent) article instead. What do you think? - IMSoP 16:07, 22 Apr 2005 (UTC)

He was a Freemason.
He was a Freemason. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 132.241.245.49 (talk • contribs) 13:31, 19 July 2005 (UTC)


 * FreeMason? Please tell us where you got the idnformation that he was a freemason. That sounds interesting if it is true. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 216.99.204.122 (talk • contribs) 18:02, 29 July 2005 (UTC)


 * An Alton, Illinois history page states that he was a member of DeMolay and, presumably shortly before he died, a Mason. &mdash;rebug (talk) 00:07, 25 October 2005 (UTC)


 * I know this hasn't been discussed in ages, but his gravestone (seen in the article and here) clearly shows the Square and Compasses symbol of the Freemasons. Nightrose (talk) 05:33, 12 September 2009 (UTC)


 * Autochthony writes. If the son of a Mason (a Lewis), it is possible to become a Mason at 18, not having to wait until 21.  Wadlow's father was mayor of Alton, and may have been a Mason himself.  Autochthony wrote 1805z 13 September 2009.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.145.170.85 (talk) 18:05, 13 September 2009 (UTC)

Newspaper articles
Here are some newspaper articles with content to later be included (by myself or others) with proper references. -- BRIAN  0918   18:46, 6 August 2005 (UTC)

Wadlow's physical dimensions
''Ht. 8 ft 11.1 ins [272cm] as recorded by Dr. Cyril MacBryde and Dr. C. M. Charles. He stood 9'1 with shoes.''

''Wt. 491lbs [222kg] at age 21.''

Shoes: US men's size 37AA [47cm] the same as modern size 29 US men's

Hands: 12.75 ins [32cm] from carpus to top of middle finger

Ring size: 25 (3.95 inches in circumference).

Wingspan: 9 ft 6 ins [290cm]

Standing Reach: Approx. over 12 ft [365cm] —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 216.99.204.102 (talk • contribs) 01:40, 17 January 2006 (UTC)


 * Interesting thought...what about scoliosis, curvature of the spine? I read somewhere that it is present in about all of gigantism cases. It was used to re-calculate Zeng Jinlian's height to get her over 8 feet. A look at Wadlow's photos when he was older seem to me to reveal some back abnormalities(Note the twist in his posture, in his torso area).  It seems that you add that to their height(like John F. Carroll and Zeng) Wadlow would be over 9 feet tall.  Of course, the exact amount would require medical analysis, exhumation, and his surviving family would nix that. Mytg8 14:53, 14 April 2006 (UTC)


 * He probably stooped a bit, which some extremely tall people do. There's nothing recorded about his having had any problem like that.  67.71.142.224 13:40, 29 October 2006 (UTC)

Wingspan
Wingspan? What the hell are you talking about? Anyway, "wingspan" is the same as height. Always was and always will be for any individual. -G —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 64.231.132.149 (talk • contribs) 23:08, 12 June 2006 (UTC)


 * Except that these types of pituitary disorders are known to disort limb length disproportionately. It's not inconceivable for his wingspan to be greater than his height.

-NPW —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 24.21.231.187 (talk • contribs) 12:32, 30 June 2006 (UTC)


 * Actually, many people have wingspans which are quite different from their height. Just measuring, my wingspan is almost two inches longer than my height. Nleamy 18:53, 11 October 2006 (UTC)


 * Oh contrare... mon amis...


 * I am 5 ft 6 in. in height, yet my wingspan measures out to 6 ft. 2 in. even.


 * You shouldn't believe everything you hear. Test it for yourself. I bet you that your wingspan is longer than your height. -G- (Mandy) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.183.238.134 (talk) 15:17, 9 November 2007 (UTC)


 * Your comment is not only rude, but factually false and not well argued. -- 184.189.216.159 (talk) 20:23, 20 January 2016 (UTC)

Are Robert Wadlow's measurements accurate?
When the Doctors in St. Louis measured him, was he measured with his shoes on or off?

If he was measured with them on, he should be listed as 8 ft 9, not 8 ft 11.

If indeed he was 8 ft 11, barefoot, then He would have stood 9 ft 1 in his shoes. (assuming his heal was 2 inches or more tall. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Tuscaloosa11 (talk • contribs) 05:44, 10 February 2006 (UTC)

Basketball
I know he was fragile and all, but the guy would have been a deadly baller. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 05:58, 9 March 2006 (talk • contribs) 67.170.176.203.


 * He needed leg braces just to walk...no he wouldn't. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Brodey (talk • contribs) 04:24, 11 March 2006 (UTC)


 * The braces must have been for support and correction for bone growth. He obviously wasn't fit for Basketball,unless it was full-time goal tending.


 * Aside from his handi-cap he was a rather healthy young man until about aged twenty. But ultimately, even if he had the best medical care, he propbably wouldn't have reached much over 30 given his fastly progressing disease. By age 22 he needed a cane to walk, and probably would have needed a wheelchair within a few years. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 207.225.65.89 (talk • contribs) 00:54, 20 March 2006 (UTC)


 * It wouldn't have mattered if he'd been able to walk very well or not. He was so tall, he could have stood under the net and they would have fed him the ball.  It wouldn't have made for very exciting basketball.  Maybe it would have brought about some rule changes.  I don't know much about basketball, but I think that in Robert's day there wasn't much money in it, and at the time they thought big guys weren't as agile or as co-ordinated, and the game was played by much shorter men.  67.71.142.224 13:45, 29 October 2006 (UTC)


 * The main effects of his appearing on the court on the other team would be mainly psychological. Physically, though his height would obviously be an advantage his fragility and inability to walk unsupported would have enabled his opponents to score quite a few times. (No matter how tall your opponent is, you can still score if he isn't blocking you.) Littleghostboo [ talk ] 09:21, 8 November 2006 (UTC)


 * It would've mattered a great deal. There's a lot more to basketball than height.  Have you seen footage of him walking?  He didn't really walk so much as march (probably because of the leg braces), and he barely moved his arms at all.  He couldn't have run back and forth across the court even once, let alone hundreds of times.  That means he'd be limited to either pure defense or pure offense, which means his team would be working with 4 players instead of 5 half the time.  I also suspect he was temperamentally unfit and lacked aggression.  By all accounts, he was very gentle and sweet.  I don't think he would have been an intimidating presence at all.Cromulant (talk) 18:12, 21 January 2010 (UTC)


 * There is a video on Youtube showing him "playing" basketball. However, when he was 12 he couldn't play baseball; he could bat but couldn't run with those size 25 feet.Mytg8 06:07, 16 December 2006 (UTC)

What if Wadlow had reached age 30?
How tall could he have grown? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 207.225.65.89 (talk • contribs) 01:01, 20 March 2006 (UTC)


 * I highly doubt that he would have reached 30, but if he had, then I would guess he'd probably be somewhere around 10 ft. / —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 85.228.218.15 (talk • contribs) 20:21, 27 March 2006 (UTC)


 * 10 feet?? That's fricking huge. He would've hit his head on a basketball rim. If he was a NBA player that would certainly be a herculean sight. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 207.225.65.89 (talk • contribs) 01:08, 3 April 2006  (UTC)


 * There's no reason why he couldn't have reached 30. 67.71.142.224 13:42, 29 October 2006 (UTC)

No one would ever get that tall today. Now they can shrink the tumour on the pituitary gland so it would stop him from growing. So no one today is likely to ever get that tall again, at least in developed countries. 4.142.78.107 09:22, 8 September 2007 (UTC)eric

Time of death
We say he died at 12:40 pm on 15 July 1940. Guinness Book of Records says he died at 1:30 am that day. Seems to me there's no value in recording the time of a notable person's death 65 years ago, so given this discrepancy I intend to remove it. JackofOz 08:58, 30 April 2006 (UTC)

Shoe size
Guinness also says his shoes measured 18.5 inches/47 cm, but we say 19.3 inches/49 cm. Does anyone have documentation for this detail? JackofOz 08:58, 30 April 2006 (UTC)
 * Guinness has been frustratingly inconsistent with the size of his foot: some editions say that his foot was 18½ in (47 cm) long, others say this was the length of his shoe. However, some recent pictures of World's current shortest man, He Pingping, posing with a model of Wadlow's shoe, have captions giving the length of the shoe at 55 cm (21.7 in). --Anshelm &#39;77 (talk) 03:43, 17 February 2009 (UTC)

Interesting link
Here's an interesting link: http://www.rabbitbrush.com/hickson/wadlow.html In the link, there's also a photo (it was in the main article previously). —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 85.228.197.105 (talk • contribs) 18:32, 27 June 2006 (UTC)

HERE'S ANOTHER SUPERB LINK http://robertwadlow.blogspot.com/ —Preceding unsigned comment added by 172.202.53.21 (talk) 03:08, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

Gigantism
The article says that Gigantism, the dissorder Wadlow had, usually involves only the trunk and lower extremities, and that the head and trunk are of more or less normal size. This actually seems to be a partial fallacy. Gigantism often has certain early characteristics in childhood accompanied by macrocephaly (an enlarged head), hands, and feet. Though Wadlow's head and trunk were not in the same proportion to his height as most humans, his head (an est. 12 inches tall from chin to scalp) was much larger than an average person's head which is c.9-inches tall.

Just for the record, Wadlow was measured at 8'11.1" barefoot. Several well trained doctors aren't going to measure the world's tallest man with shoes on, and especially not using those sort of exact figures including the one tenths of an inch. In this regard, Wadlow was a legitimate Nine-foot-one ins tall in his shoes, and the only man to surpass 9-ft if he had hypothetically been in the NBA. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 70.59.155.91 (talk • contribs) 05:30, 18 July 2006 (UTC)

Redundancy
I just noticed that there is a reference to the pituitary glandtumor not only in the introduction, and them a re-statement of it in the section titled "Today". Was this intentional, or is it an accidental redundancy? I would think stating it once in the introduction should be enough. Rookie Rover 00:47, 3 October 2006 (UTC)

Death by Leg Braces?
A few weeks back, I was watching an episode of Ripley's Believe it or Not! where they discussed whom I believe was Robert Wadlow (he was an incredibly tall man from the early 1900s and died in his 20s). I don't recall any mention of leg braces though; they said that the man's uncomfortable, oversized shoes had to be custom made for him and that a nail in one of them caused an infection in his foot which lead to his ultimate demise. Am I thinking of someone else, or is this actually an old, debunked tale on Wadlow's death? Cale 06:57, 13 October 2006 (UTC)

Did he shrink?
He diden't shrink thats so weird, duh! you can't shrink! what are they thinking!!??

In the 'Early life' section the last sentence states: 'At 19, he was 8 ft 6 in (260 cm) and weighed 435 lb (31 stone/197 kg)', but in the next section it is said that 'When Robert was 21, he reached 8 ft 3 ½ in (252.7 cm) tall.'. Obviously the first figure is more true than the latter because he could not possibly grow 7.5 inches in only one year. Or could he?

I find it hard to believe he shrunk only to start growing again... 85.226.253.247 01:43, 31 October 2006 (UTC)

I think it's supposed to say 8 ft 8 ½ in.

lol, 8 feet 8 1/2 in? lol

Only 22
In the "Later years and death" section of the article, in the sentence concerning his death, it reads: He was only 22 - This doesn't sound very encyclopedic, if no one minds i am going to change it to He was 22. 218.186.9.1 12:55, 30 April 2007 (UTC)
 * I did it ∆ Algonquin  11:01, 11 May 2007 (UTC)

Gravestone
The article states that his gravestone simply reads, "At Rest". However, the link to Find A Grave has photographs of his grave, which clearly doesn't read "At Rest" anywhere on it. --Jordan Elder talk 23:25, 26 June 2007 (UTC)

Exactly. It's a basic regular headstone with dates. So I deleted that sentence. -70.152.240.37 05:51, 6 July 2007 (UTC)

The gravestone does read "At rest" in small letters at the bottom of the stone. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.244.187.141 (talk) 23:36, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

Handsome Family tune
Added a reference to the (rather beautiful) song "The Giant of Illinois," by The Handsome Family. Right now there's a bootleg Andrew Bird cover of this on YouTube, but the original sounds *much* better. The lyrics include a reference to an incident in which Wadlow and a friend supposedly killed a swan (I wonder if that's true). Anyway, if you're interested, you can perhaps listen to a brief preview of the Handsome Family singing their song here: http://www.last.fm/music/The+Handsome+Family/_/The+Giant+of+Illinois   ThaddeusFrye 02:26, 25 September 2007 (UTC)

Ok, looking at the links from the Handsome Family Wikipedia article, I also found a recording from a live performance: http://ia310107.us.archive.org/1/items/hf2001-11-25.sbd.shnf/hf2001-11-25d1t12_64kb.mp3 —Preceding unsigned comment added by ThaddeusFrye (talk • contribs) 02:35, 25 September 2007 (UTC)

Family in California
Robert Wadlow's living cousin and other relatives reside in Atascadero, California. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.176.234.147 (talk) 02:49, 22 December 2007 (UTC)

--71.222.40.209 03:05, 29 October 2007 (UTC)

Wrong link for "Interco"
During the late 50's until the 1970's my father worked for International Shoe Company of St. Louis Mo. He often mentioned that it was that company that custom-made (and donated) Mr Wadlow's shoes. I believe it was that company he represented as a 'spokesperson' and not the "International Code of Signals" which is linked in the "Later Years" section of his wiki entry. (See ) This shoe company was referred to locally (in St. Louis)as ISCO and became INTERCO International in 1966 and folded in 1987. (see link: )

Chienfou (talk) 19:17, 7 October 2008 (UTC)

Exaptionally strong
Unless this is a word I'm not familiar with, someone should learn to spell "exceptionally". 97.103.81.29 (talk) 22:58, 11 October 2008 (UTC)

If you have a better way to spell it, which you probably have, feel free to improve the sentence on the article's main page. After all, we are a free encyclopedia! Don't forget: I am no native speaker of English so I often depend on people altering my sentences a little bit to make it more readable. Thanks for informing though! -The Bold Guy- (talk) 16:08, 13 October 2008 (UTC)

Robert Wadlow
The tallest man in medical history for whom there is irrefutable evidence is Robert Pershing Wadlow. He was born at Alton, Illinois, USA, on February 22, 1918, and when he was last measured on June 27, 1940, was found to be 2.72 m (8 ft 11.1 in) tall.

Wadlow died at 1:30 a.m. on July 15, 1940, in a hotel in Manistee, Michigan, as a result of a septic blister on his right ankle caused by a brace, which had been poorly fitted only a week earlier. He was buried in Oakwood Cemetery, Alton, in a coffin measuring 3.28 m (10 ft 9 in) long, 81 cm (32 in) wide and 76 cm (30 in) deep.

Wadlow's greatest recorded weight was 222.71 kg (35 st 1 lb) on his 21st birthday and he weighed 199 kg (31 st 5 lb) at the time of his death. His shoe size was 37AA (47 cm, 18½ in long) and his hands measured 32.4 cm (12¾ in) from the wrist to the tip of the middle finger. He wore a size 25 ring. His arm span was 2.88 m (9 ft 5¾ in) and his peak daily food consumption was 8000 calories.

At the age of nine, he was able to carry his father Harold F. Wadlow, later Mayor of Alton, who stood 1.8 m (5 ft 11 in) and weighed 77 kg (170 lb), up the stairs of the family home. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 218.190.211.75 (talk) 06:34, 25 October 2008 (UTC)

Wadlow was as strong as an ox, that is for sure. That should be mentioned in here aswell, he is depicted as a weak, bespectacled and frail young man here where as he was a huge strongman with bad eyesight, that is more like it. J.B. (talk) 12:35, 24 November 2008 (UTC)

"Started Rapid Growth"
The description of his physical characteristics at the age of 4 (where he is 5' 4" tall and is described as "start[ing] rapid growth") is clearly erroneous. If someone is 5' 4" at the age of 4, rapid growth must necessarily have started during a prior period. (Technically, one could envision a scenario where, e.g., rapid growth begins during month 1 of age 4 and 5' 4" of height is reached during month 12 of age 4. However, given the unit of measurement (years rather than months), the chart cannot accomodate such a scenario without further elaboration. As it stands, the best move would be to simply delete that description. Perhaps it could be better described as "height and weight records reflect first evidence of rapid growth"

76.217.61.218 (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 21:49, 18 April 2009 (UTC).

Picture Copyrights
I would like to request who or what company should I contact to get the rights on the publishing of Robert Wadlow's picture. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.71.234.193 (talk) 15:16, 21 April 2009 (UTC)

World's tallest man redirect
World's tallest man redirects to this page, which I think is appropriate. However I've added an "about" template to give a link to the current tallest living man. Manning (talk) 03:02, 17 September 2009 (UTC)

Wadlow was also a DeMOLAY
Robert Wadlow reputedly joined the local chapter of the Order of DeMolay, a fraternal organization for kids from the ages 13 to 21. It was during his time with the DeMolays that he began to feel accepted and taught him to come out from his shell. Since the DeMolay movement was started by masons in 1919 (By Frank Sherman Land, a 33rd degree Mason), he felt it was only proper that he continue his fraternal relations with the freemasons who also accepted him and treated him normally. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 110.55.162.5 (talk) 09:35, 13 March 2010 (UTC)


 * Interesting, but if it is to go in the article (and I make no comment as whether it should be there at all) it will need a cited relable source. – ukexpat (talk) 16:31, 13 March 2010 (UTC)

Pending changes
This article is one of a small number (about 100) selected for the first week of the trial of the Pending Changes system on the English language Wikipedia. All the articles listed at Pending changes/Queue  are being considered for level 1 pending changes protection.

The following request appears on that page:

However with only a few hours to go, comments have only been made on two of the pages.

Please update the page as appropriate.

Note that I am not involved in this project any more than any other editor, just posting these notes since it is quite a big change, potentially.

Regards, Rich Farmbrough, 20:25, 15 June 2010 (UTC).

This article has been vandalized.
It's evident that this page has been vandalized here. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 206.126.80.75 (talk) 22:32, 19 October 2010 (UTC)
 * It's been sorted out. Thanks for the note. Tony Fox (arf!) 22:37, 19 October 2010 (UTC)

Statues of Robert Wadlow
Two other Ripleys Beleive It or Not locations were added since i originally wrote here that I seen one at RBION in Wisconsin Dells, SO we can either add the Dells, or "and etc.", or just leave it as-is knowing there might be many others and they might be adding him as we speak! Thank-You! Lesbrown99 (talk) 07:08, 13 April 2011 (UTC) LESLesbrown99 (talk) 23:12, 26 April 2011 (UTC)

Height chart
If Mr. Wadlow started at the largest height considered "normal" for a newborn (as stated in the chart), he would have had to grow more than *5* inches per year to attain his height at age 13. I don't have the source listed, but the numbers don't add up. // Cachedio (talk) 12:55, 4 June 2011 (UTC)

Edit request from 72.230.223.147, 4 June 2011
he was actually 300 feet tall

72.230.223.147 (talk) 16:18, 4 June 2011 (UTC)
 * The information is inaccurate, so I cannot change it. - Presidentman (Talkback) Random Picture of the Day 20:40, 4 June 2011 (UTC)

Edit request from 72.230.223.147, 4 June 2011
he was actually 300 feet tall

72.230.223.147 (talk) 16:18, 4 June 2011 (UTC)
 * See above. - Presidentman (Talkback) Random Picture of the Day 20:40, 4 June 2011 (UTC)

Page protection?
I'm not exactly a Wikipedia expert, but seems like we really need some protection on this page, with the multiple instances of vandalism today. Seanette (talk) 21:25, 1 December 2012 (UTC)

Page protection or user blocking?
I've spent an annoying percentage of my afternoon so far reverting childish vandalism from 74.141.114.62. Anything to be done about it? Seanette (talk) 01:25, 29 January 2013 (UTC)

Edit request: Wadlow's funeral number of attended
In Wadlow's wikipedia English version, it is said that "Around 5,000 people attended Wadlow's funeral". In the French version, around 40 000 ("Environ 40 000 personnes assistent à ses funérailles"). In the Spanish one, more than 30 000 ("Más de 30.000 personas acudieron a su funeral")....

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Assessment comment
Substituted at 04:42, 30 April 2016 (UTC)

Height chart
The height chart has drifted so far from sourced content that it is hard to identify what is valid or vandalism. Going to remake it with in-line sourcing. Does anyone have a good sizing source other than the one from Alton Museum?-- &#9790;Loriendrew&#9789;  &#9743;(ring-ring)  20:42, 10 September 2016 (UTC)

Duration of growth
He showed no indication of an end to his growth even at the time of his death. - I sincerely doubt that he showed no indication that he was going to stop growing at his time of death... -bladebot 01:27, 18 April 2007 (UTC)

Is it said that people stop to grow at the age of 19/20. So why did he grow even as an adult? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 89.247.109.210 (talk) 01:43, 13 March 2008 (UTC)

It seems like several people with gigantism grew into adulthood. Take Vaino Myllyrinne, John F. Carroll and Sultan Kosen for example.--NobleWolfReborn (talk) 04:14, 8 July 2017 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 21 January 2017
Suggested grammar correction, weighted -> weighed in the sentence describing his coffin. 24.224.158.25 (talk) 13:25, 21 January 2017 (UTC)
 * Yes check.svg Done DRAGON BOOSTER   ★  14:02, 21 January 2017 (UTC)