(This story was originally written and recorded for Retrocast 35, released on August 19, 2025.)
On August 21, 1922, a 20-year-old newspaperman named Fred Taylor walked into the offices of the New York Times with an unusual request. He needed proof that he was indeed in New York City.
Why?
Because he had made a $500 bet (equivalent to $9,500 today) with an assistant manager at the Associated Press bureau office in Los Angeles, known only by the last name O’Malley. To win the bet, Taylor had to walk from Los Angeles to New York and back.
Taylor explained:
“The wager came about this way. I was sitting talking with O’Malley and a number of other newspapermen when O’Malley said, ‘you fellows are a lazy lot, you never take any exercise.’ I told O’Malley he was mistaken and that for half a cent I would walk from Los Angeles to New York and back again. O’Malley said, ‘I bet you $500 you don’t.’ I accepted the wager and the next morning I set forth.”
So, on June 3, 1922, Taylor left his home at 1842 Figueroa Street in Los Angeles. He had until November 13th to return home.
“I had $122 (~$2,300 today)with me when I started, but it did not last me to my journey’s end. Long before I reached New York, I found myself without a penny in my pocket and glad to work my way along doing odd jobs. The wager called for walking but I was allowed under the terms to get lifts on trucks. Rides on tourist automobiles, passenger or freight trains, however, were barred.
“My route law through Needles, Cal., Albuquerque, Raton, N.M., Trinidad. Col., Kansas City, Chicago, Columbus, Pittsburgh, and Philadelphia. Altogether, I estimate I traveled about 4,800 (~7725 km) in seventy-eight days, which works out to about sixty miles a day, but the lifts I got in trucks must be taken into account.”
However, as Taylor journeyed eastward, he encountered several unexpected challenges. He was arrested for vagrancy, had to endure a 36-mile (~58 km) stretch without any food, and faced a fierce sandstorm.
“Just out of Albuquerque, I ran into a terrible sand storm. I was five miles along the highway when it blew up and I thought I surely must be choked to death. I staggered along for fifteen minutes with my mouth, eyes, hair, and nostrils getting fuller of sand every moment. When I thought I could bear it no longer, I stumbled across a broken-down wagon. Half-blinded, I crawled into the leeside of the storm and buried my face in my coat. The storm lasted fully an hour. I tasted grit for a month.
“I found that my expenses were averaging about $1.80 a day. (~$34/day today) Most of this sum went for food, as I naturally developed an enormous appetite. Nights I fell asleep in ‘two-bit flops,’ or if there was no other accommodation, in barns or haystacks.
“Four weeks ago, I arrived in Chicago, where I stayed for two days in order to visit my mother, whom I had not seen for two years. I had only $5 in my pocket and when my mother learned of this, she begged me to accept further funds. I told her that I meant to win through on the sum which I had started.
“At Pittsburgh, I found it necessary to work two or three days in order to get a little capital to help me on my last stretch to New York.”
Upon his arrival in New York City, he paid 50 cents (~$9.50 today) to stay in a Bowery hotel.
Taylor claimed that he had to have his shoes resoled twice and reheeled three times as he made his journey across the USA.
After obtaining proof of his travels from the New York Times, he set out that evening on his return trip, which would take him through Chicago, Denver, Salt Lake City, and finally back to Los Angeles.
So, did he make it? I searched and searched but could find no follow-up story.
One thing I am certain of is that it probably wasn’t worth it. He had already blown through the $122 he left Los Angeles with, and having been forced to work to raise funds already, he wasn’t going to clear much profit in the end.
Maybe when he reached Chicago again, his mother was able to talk some financial sense into him and bring a halt to that foolish journey.
