Arkansas/Oklahoma State Fair
Carnie Happy Traveling U.S.
Frankie Smith, 22, right works at his booth Balloon Prize Factory at the Arkansas Oklahoma State Fair. Smith travels with the show.By Jeff Arnold
SW TIMES RECORD
Most people probably don’t think about a motel room in Nebraska when they’re thinking of a winter home, but Frankie Smith isn’t most people.
Smith, 22, left home in Anaheim, Calif., when he was 18 years old after he answered an ad in the local newspaper for carnival workers. He applied for a job operating rides, Smith said, but the boss told him he was too small to move the equipment and instead gave him a job working at a game booth.
Four years, 48 states and at least 15 bosses later, Smith is working at the Balloon Prize Factory on the midway at the Arkansas/Oklahoma State Fair.
Smith said he generally works about 100 hours a week during the carnival season, which lasts from February to November. There are some opportunities for carnival workers in the “off season,” but Smith said the money isn’t worth his time.
“I make about $2,000 a week during the season,” Smith said.
But it wasn’t always that way. Starting out, Smith said it’s hard to make much money, until you reach a certain level and start operating the most profitable games — the trade-up (or build-up) and tub games.
Tub games are variations of throwing a ping-pong ball into a tiny fish bowl or bottle up, where the customer tries to toss a plastic ring around the neck of a bottle.
Smith works trade-up games, which he said are what they sound like, a game where the value of the prize increases the more you play and win.
When he’s working, Smith said, “There is no niceness in my heart. I want your money,” and he’ll talk every person he can into playing as long as possible.
Although he’s been all over the continental United States, Smith said he rarely sees much if any of the cities he visits; instead he works, rests, saves his money and then moves on to the next city.
Smith, 22, left home in Anaheim, Calif., when he was 18 years old after he answered an ad in the local newspaper for carnival workers. He applied for a job operating rides, Smith said, but the boss told him he was too small to move the equipment and instead gave him a job working at a game booth.
Four years, 48 states and at least 15 bosses later, Smith is working at the Balloon Prize Factory on the midway at the Arkansas/Oklahoma State Fair.
Smith said he generally works about 100 hours a week during the carnival season, which lasts from February to November. There are some opportunities for carnival workers in the “off season,” but Smith said the money isn’t worth his time.
“I make about $2,000 a week during the season,” Smith said.
But it wasn’t always that way. Starting out, Smith said it’s hard to make much money, until you reach a certain level and start operating the most profitable games — the trade-up (or build-up) and tub games.
Tub games are variations of throwing a ping-pong ball into a tiny fish bowl or bottle up, where the customer tries to toss a plastic ring around the neck of a bottle.
Smith works trade-up games, which he said are what they sound like, a game where the value of the prize increases the more you play and win.
When he’s working, Smith said, “There is no niceness in my heart. I want your money,” and he’ll talk every person he can into playing as long as possible.
Although he’s been all over the continental United States, Smith said he rarely sees much if any of the cities he visits; instead he works, rests, saves his money and then moves on to the next city.
read more:http://www.swtimes.com/news/article_99244e9e-eb78-11e0-903b-001cc4c03286.html?mode=story
September 30, 2011
September 30, 2011
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