http://www.state.de.us/sos/dpa/100/ourtraditions/A%20Delmarva%20Tradition.shtml
Now that you mention it, it doesn't look like 10' to me. Use the ladder as a guide, and it looks like it would come out closer to 8 feet. (Note that it is about a foot higher off the ground than the ladder).
In any event, the frying pan in question apparently was retired in about 1988.
LOL! You're killin' me!