I remember this 1950s? pop song, the words include:
“the kids in Bristol are sharp as a pistol, when the do the Bristol stomp”
Exactly where is Bristol, and what is the Bristol Stomp"?
Bristol, PA is just north of Philadelphia. The first two recordings of the song were performed by Philadelphia area singing groups (the first of which was actually from Bristol), the songwriters were from Philadelphia, and the recordings were released on Philadelphia-based record label Cameo-Parkway.
So, no doubt, that is the Bristol they had in mind. Still, I’m sure it helped that several U.S. States have towns named Bristol. I don’t know if this fact helped it to be more than a regional hit, but it couldn’t hurt. Toward the end of the decade when the Cowsill’s recorded “Indian Lake” they found out that almost every state they went to had an Indian Lake and the fans at each show were convinced that the song must have been written about their Indian Lake.
As to the dance itself, in the late 50s/early 60s named dance songs were a craze. Often the songwriters just came up with a creative dance name and wrote a song to the title despite no such dance existing. It was up to the bobbysoxers to figure out how to dance to it.
American Bandstand was also based in Philadelphia. I wouldn’t be surprised if they featured “The Bristol Stomp” at some point. If you could find footage, you’d get to see how the dance ended up going.