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THE PROTECTION ISSUE
debut came thanks to the
legendary American folk singer
Pete Seeger pre WW2, and it was
covered by The Boss himself,
Bruce Springsteen, on his 2006
album We Shall Overcome: The
Seeger Sessions.
TOOL IN FOCUS:
THE
LADDER
IN OUR OCCASIONAL SERIES, WE TAKE A
CLOSER LOOK AT SOME OF THE TOOLS OF
A SPARKY’S TRADE. STEP UP… THE LADDER.
he first known recording
of a ladder entering
civilisation came around
10,000 years ago. The Spider Caves
in the Spanish city of Valencia is
home to a rock painting of two
men using a ladder. It’s thought
they were after honey from a
bees’ nest.
Unfortunately for the two
gentlemen concerned, there was
no recording of hydrocortisone
cream nearby.
Still, the ladder enabled people
to scale new heights – including
Jacob of The Bible fame. Jacob had
a dream, in which he saw a ladder
reaching from heaven to earth.
And in 1862 that John H
Balsley, a resident of Dayton,
Ohio, applied for – and received
– the first patent for a foldable
variation. The step ladder.
T
From pirates to firefighters,
window cleaners to electricians,
the humble ladder has served
many occupations well.
Not many, however – in fact,
none – have scaled the heights of
the ladder that holds the Guinness
World Record for the longest
ladder (yes, there really is a
Guinness World Record for
everything. At over 41m tall, the
120-rung ladder made by an
Austrian museum (presumably
for the very purpose of claiming a
GWR, rather than being needed to
mend the museum’s roof tiles) has
that enviable distinction.
There are other world records
involving ladders, however.
Emil Faltynek of the Czech
Republic managed to balance on
a ladder while juggling five
objects for 56.92 seconds in 2013,
LADDERING
If you’re addicted to the ABC
crime-drama Line of Duty, you’ll
probably be familiar with the
term laddering. DCI Tony Gates
was suspected of ‘laddering’
– the practice of police officers
putting an inflated number of
while in 2011, Iya Traore of
Guinea climbed 75 steps
backwards on a ladder… while
controlling a soccer ball with his
feet. The 25m ladder was set at a
55-degree incline.
JACOB’S LADDER
We are Climbing Jacob’s
Ladder, is a song dating
back to the mid-1700s,
and originated from
African American
slaves taken from the
area now known as Liberia.
Arguably the song’s ‘mainstream’
charges onto a single case to
boost clear-up rates. It didn’t
serve DCI Gates well in the long
run. And, if you’re not yet
addicted to Line of Duty, find it
on Netflix. After an episode, you
will be begging for more.
SNAKES AND
LADDERS
A household favourite
since before time began,
Snakes and Ladders has
its origins in 2nd Century
India. Moksha
Patam was a
game associated
with traditional
Hindu philosophy
contrasting karma and
kama – destiny and
desire. The game was
introduced to
England in the late
1800s, and Indian
virtues and vices were
replaced by more English
ones. Fulfilment, Success and
Grace could be reached by the
ladders of Thrift, Penitence and
Industry. Land on the snakes of
Indulgence, Disobedience or
Indolence, however, and you
were headed for Illness, Disgrace
and Poverty.
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