The Tallest Man Who Ever Lived
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Robert Pershing
Wadlow was born on Feb. 22, 1918 in Alton, Illinois. At the time of his
death at age 22, he was 8' 11.1" tall & 490 pounds, which made him the
tallest person in history according to the Guinness Book of Records. His parents, Addie and Harold Wadlow, always loved & protected him to the best of their abilities, honoring his desire to be treated as a "normal" person. They even destroyed his personal belongings after his death so that no one could profit from the exploitation of them. Robert promoted the International Shoe Company, which provided his size 37 shoes to him for free. Travelling for the shoe company, he visited over 800 towns and 41 states. Robert's size was attributed to an overactive pituary gland, which produced much higher than normal levels of growth hormone. Because of the extremely long legs caused by pituitary giantism, he had little sensation in his feet and did not feel any chafing until blisters formed. While making an appearance in 1940, a fatal infection set in when such a blister formed due to the braces he had to wear to strengthen his overly long legs. On the 15th of July, Robert Wadlow passed away in his sleep from the infection. |
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The following pictures show some of the steps taken in the making of one of my leather figures. They're not the greatest pictures, but they give you the idea.  Step 1: Cut the body parts out of leather  Step 2: Sew up & stuff the body parts Click the following pics for a larger view: 
This figure is close to 2 feet tall—that's the tallest one of these figures I've made! I even made his glasses by soldering the frames together & cutting the glass & finishing the edges with the glass grinder I got for Christmas. |
