A very popular attraction at Elitch Gardens was Ivy Baldwin. From 1890 to 1907, he made a balloon ascent every Saturday and Sunday. He varied his balloon routine by doing stunts on a trapeze as he ascended. In 1902, for the first time, Ivy Baldwin parachuted to earth from the balloon. One Fourth of July as he slid down the rope of the balloon, his suit caught fire, and he spent the next week recovering from his burns. For the occasion, Baldwin had ordered an asbestos suit to avoid this risk, but it failed to be delivered on time for his performance.
[Borrillo, Theodore A. Denver’s Historic Elitch Theatre: A nostalgic journey, 2012]
Mary Elitch was quoted as saying: “Mr. Long and I were the first passengers to soar into the Colorado sky. I must confess there were some apprehensive gasps as the starting whistle blew, but our fears soon gave place to a feeling of power and security as we ascended… From the great height of fifteen hundred feet, all Denver and its environs of mountains and plains lay spread before our entranced vision.”
[Dier, Caroline L. The Lady of the Gardens : Mary Elitch Long. 1932]
Baldwin celebrated his 82nd birthday by tightrope walking 125-feet above a canyon formed by the South Boulder Creek in Colorado, a crossing he’d made 80 times in 40 years. Ivy Baldwin lived many years in Eldorado Canyon, in Boulder County, Colorado, where he died, not in a balloon mishap, but in bed, at his home on Oct. 8, 1953, at the age of 87.
[“Ivy Baldwin.” Wikipedia, July 31, 2022. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivy_Baldwin]
