Forty years ago, a radio competition began in the Lehigh Valley and resulted in a worldwide media frenzy.
In an attempt to gain publicity, the staff of Allentown radio station WSAN-AM, which was undergoing a rebranding, decided to hold a contest on September 20, 1982.
It was dubbed a “endurance contest,” with three participants competing to see who could spend the longest on the platform of a WSAN billboard located in Whitehall Township, across from the Lehigh Valley Mall, off of Route 22.
A new mobile home would be awarded to the winner.
However, the competitors turned out to be more serious than anticipated, and it took 261 days, a drug bust, and entreaties from government officials to bring the competition to an end.
Ned Teter, a WSAN radio DJ who worked the entire competition, said, “We were all taken a little off guard.”
“You do realize that this occurred long before social media, cell phones, or anything else like that? In 1982, nothing becomes viral. However, this was picked up by a few major publications, and after that, there were waves upon waves of coverage.
A housing crisis
The contestants were:
Mike MacKay was a newlywed in his first year of marriage and had a job. In a 2017 documentary titled “Billboard Boys,” it is stated that MacKay submitted 47,000 contest entries to WSAN, stating that he was unable to afford housing even with a steady job. In 2006, MacKay passed away.
It is purported that Dalton Young entered roughly a thousand contests shortly after his release from the United States. military. While residing on the billboard, he was ultimately taken into custody by an undercover police officer for marijuana-related offenses.
There are rumors that Ron Kistler submitted 4,004 entries to the WSAN office. He claimed in the documentary that he was only competing for a house, not for attention.
For more than a year, the competitors occupied the billboard platform equipped with space heaters, tents, toilets, phones, radios, and even a pulley system that allowed loved ones to bring them food and other necessities.
Housing shortages in the Lehigh Valley in the early 1980s contributed to the competitors’ devotion. Mobile homes were not affordable because the region’s manufacturing industry was in decline, despite their valued $18,000 (roughly $55,000 today).
Teter remarked, “These were three guys that, you know, they’re out of work.” These unfortunate people served as a symbol of the era. In 1982, we were in the epicenter of the Rust Belt, where jobs were limited.
One person who is familiar with the story well claims that the Lehigh Valley’s current affordable housing crisis isn’t all that different.
The 2017 documentary “Billboard Boys” about the radio competition was directed by Pat Taggart.
According to Taggart, “there isn’t enough housing on the market, and prices are sky high. We have a different housing crisis today.” “Thus, while different, there is still a significant gap between the wealthy and the poor, as well as extreme economic stress both then and now.”
Public opinion sours
According to Taggart, the Lehigh Valley’s public sentiment toward the men on the billboard grew sour during the competition.
After about six months, the police accused Young of being a marijuana dealer while residing on the billboard. The Lehigh Valley residents then began to grow irritated with the competition.
“People’s perception had significantly changed from finding this fascinating and cool to thinking it was a disgrace to the Lehigh Valley,” according to Taggart. People driving by stopped to stare at the men on the billboard, saying, “You know, guy’s dealing drugs up there, and there was fender benders constantly,” Taggart said. Taggart said bystanders also used to hang out and party at the base of the billboard all night long and it was common to find empty beer bottles and other garbage underneath it in the mornings after a weekend.
An abrupt end
The competitors on the billboard were a constant source of pressure.
Following Young’s arrest and elimination from the competition, Taggart remarked, “You have two guys left – Mike MacKay and Ron Kistler.” “And they just stayed, making it very evident that they had no intention of leaving without a place to live.”
According to Taggart, the competitors’ focus shifted toward the end of the competition from competing against each other to competing against the radio station.
On June 7, 1983, WSAN and the contest’s sponsor, Love Homes, gave in to public and political pressure.
They offered a free vacation, a Chevy car, and a mobile home to each of the two surviving competitors.
That was the end when MacKay and Kistler descended from the billboard simultaneously.
The story will hopefully still be made into a feature film, according to director Pat Taggart.
The day Iceland's women went on strike
Icelandic women went on strike for equal rights on October 24, 1975. 90% of women walked out of their jobs and homes, effectively shutting down the entire country. The men were struggling to keep up. The following year, Parliament passed a law requiring equal pay. Iceland elected the world's first female President five years later. Iceland now has the highest gender equality rate in the world.
The Littlest Skyscraper: How J.D. McMahon’s 480-Inch Con Fooled Investors in 1919
In 1919, J.D. McMahon convinced investors to fund a 480-foot skyscraper, but he labeled the plans as 480 inches, building a 40-foot structure instead. After taking $200,000, he won in court since the plans matched what he built.
Top 10 Greatest and shocking Archaeological Discoveries of All Time
While we're all locked at home, there's no better way to escape to another time and place than to learn about amazing archeological sites and discoveries from around the world. Here are the 10 greatest and shocking archaeological discoveries —and don't be shocked if they inspire future trip plans whenever it's safe to do so again.
Shizo Kanakuri’s 1912 Olympic Marathon Finished 54 Years
At the 1912 Olympics, a marathon runner quit and went home to Japan without telling officials and was considered a missing person in Sweden for 50 years. In 1966, he was invited to complete the marathon. His time: 54 years, 8 months, 6 days, 5 hours, 32 minutes, and 20.379 seconds.
The Day an Israeli F-15 Landed with One Wing: Zivi Nedivi’s Unbelievable Mid-Air Survival
Discover the astonishing true story of Israeli pilot Zivi Nedivi, who safely landed an F-15 after a mid-air collision tore off its entire right wing. Learn how skill, quick thinking, and the F-15’s unique design turned a disaster into a legendary feat in aviation history
How Cleveland's Balloonfest in 1986 Turned Into a Public Tragedy
In Cleveland, Ohio, United Way broke the world record by deflating nearly 1.5 million balloons as part of a publicity stunt to raise money. The balloon obstructed a US Coast Guard search for two boaters who were subsequently discovered to have drowned, blocked airport runways, and blocked land and waterways.
The true story of Annie Oakley, legendary sharpshooter
Anne Oakley was such a good shooter that she could split a playing card help edge-on, hit dimes thrown into the air, shoot cigarette from her husband's lips, and pierce a playing card thrown into the air before it hit the ground.
The History Behind the “No One Dies Alone” Program
In 1986, while doing a night shift at the hospital, Sandra Clarke, a registered nurse, was asked by an elderly patient to stay. She promised to be back after checking on her other patients, but by the time she returned, the gentleman had passed away. Clarke became one of the key figures in launching No One Dies Alone, a program that allows volunteers to sit with terminal patients who have no one else.
Nathan's Famous Doctor Stunt
When Nathan's Famous Hot Dogs first opened in 1916, the owner hired people to dress as doctors and eat hot dogs outside his shop, to convince people his hot dogs were healthy.
story of the youngest mother in the world at age of five - Lina Medina
Lina Medina, a five-year-old Peruvian girl, became the youngest mother in history in 1939 when she gave birth to a boy.
Inside China’s Footbinding Tradition: The Painful Ritual of Lotus Shoes and Bound Feet
In China, Lotus shoes were used to bind women's feet to keep their feet small
1972 Andes Plane Crash Survivor recall the terrifying Struggles to Stay Alive
On October 13, 1972, a plane carrying a rugby team from Uruguay crashed in the Andes between Chile and Argentina. The survivors were in brutal conditions - high altitude, bitter cold, and the lack of food—and faced the most terrible choice—eating the frozen flesh of their dead friends or starving to death themselves.
Martin Couney, Saved Thousands of Premature Babies Wasn’t a Doctor at All
Martin Couney never qualified as a medical doctor. However, in the 1900s, he saved thousands of premature babies by exhibiting them in incubators at his Coney Island sideshow. Over the course of his career, he is said to have saved about 6,500 babies that had previously been written off by mainstream medicine.
Sylvan Goldman: The Visionary Who Revolutionized Shopping with the Cart
The inventor of shopping carts, Sylvan Goldman, had to hire several male and female models to push carts around in his store, demonstrate their utility, and explain their use to other customers, due to not catching on initially.
Blanche Monnier: Imprisoned For 25 Years For Falling in Love
Blanche Monnier, she was a French woman noted for her beauty, she wished to marry an old lawyer that her mother disapproved of, so she locked her in a small dark room in her attic for 25 years.
The true story of Josephine Myrtle Corbin, the lady born with four legs and two private parts
Josephine Myrtle Corbin, an American sideshow performer born in 1868, had a rare condition known as dipygus, which caused her to have four legs, each smaller inner leg paired with one of her outer legs. Corbin joined the sideshow circuit, captivating audiences as the "Four-Legged Girl from Texas."
The mysterious secret of Dr James Barry
Before women were allowed to enroll in medical school, Margaret Ann Bulkley studied medicine and assumed the identity of Dr. James Barry for 56 years while dressing as a man. After 46 years of service as an army doctor officer, her secret was not made public until after her death in 1865.
Mother who spent entire life savings for daughter’s cancer treatment won the lottery
A mother won $2 million from a $10 scratch-off lottery ticket after she spent all of her entire life savings to pay her daughter’s cancer treatment. She bought the winning ticket after her daughter’s last cancer treatment.
D.B. Cooper: Man who hijacked a plane and jumped out with a $200,000
On November 22, 1971, DB Cooper hijacked a Boeing 727, drank a whisky, smoked a fag, and then jumped out of the plane with $200,000. He was never again seen.
The Amazing Truth About The German U-Boat That Was Sunk By A Toilet
During WWII, a German captain and an engineer flushed the submarine's high-tech toilet incorrectly, causing the vessel to rapidly fill with water. British planes patrolling the sea attacked them as the submarine was brought to the surface. While many members of the crew were killed in the attack, the captain escaped!
Why was the Eiffel Tower almost demolished
The Eiffel Tower was intended to be a temporary structure for the World's Fair in 1889, but it was nearly dismantled and sold for scrap metal. It was saved because of its potential use as a radio antenna, and it now serves as a tourist attraction as well as a working broadcast tower.
Graves holding hands over wall, A Catholic woman and her Protestant husband grave
A protestant man and a Catholic woman who weren't allowed from being buried together in a graveyard in 19th-century Holland turned their graves into a monument showing them holding hands across the wall separating them.
Nearest Green, America's first known Black master distiller
Nathan "Nearest" Green was an African-American head stiller who is now more frequently referred to as a master distiller. He was renowned for imparting his distilling knowledge to Jack Daniel, the creator of Jack Daniel's Tennessee whiskey distiller, after Jack Daniel was freed from slavery following the American Civil War.
How Dmitri Mendeleev Developed the periodic table of the elements
1850 Dmitri Mendeleev walked almost a thousand miles to Moscow so he could apply for the University of Moscow. Although he was not accepted, he walked to St. Petersburg where he was accepted, And with that education, he developed the the periodic table of the elements
Albert Einstein’s brain after it was stolen from his body
Albert Einstein's brain was taken by the opportunistic pathologist who performed his autopsy hours after he died and kept in two jars for 30 years. The stolen brain of Albert Einstein was preserved in a cookie jar for 30 years until being discovered by a journalist.
