Traveling carnivals
Author’s collection 1893 — The original Ferris Wheel at the Chicago World Fair, Chicago.from: smdailyjournal.com
By Darold Fredricks
June 11, 2012
Kids sensed the excitement of a carnival coming to town weeks before the first poster was put on telephone poles to announce it.
By Darold Fredricks
June 11, 2012
Kids sensed the excitement of a carnival coming to town weeks before the first poster was put on telephone poles to announce it.
It was probably the most exciting thing to hit town during the year. The rides, the food, the excitement of seeing all of the tent attractions and the “carnies” who ran the shows were exhilarating. In South San Francisco, the traveling carnival would set up their operations on the vacant lots along Grand Avenue, just east of the City Hall/Police Station and San Bruno used the vacant lots across from Newell’s Bar on San Mateo/Sylvan avenues. The weeds on the lots were not a bother because they would rapidly be trampled down when the shows were set up and the people arrived to stroll up and down the “midway.”
This was not a religious event as the grand carnivals were in many cities like New Orleans and Rio de Janeiro. Those events had roots going back thousands of years and lasted for weeks. The traveling carnivals had their roots in the World’s Columbian Exposition (The Chicago World’s Fair) that was put on in 1893. The Chicago World’s Fair as it became to be called was a celebration of the arrival of Christopher Columbus’ arrival in the New World in 1492. This world’s fair turned out to be the biggest event that had occurred in America (up to 1893). The number of people attending equaled about half of the U.S. population at that time during its six-month run that started in May 1, 1893 and closed in Oct. 30, 1893. Chicago Fair Day attracted more than 700,000 people, a record for outdoor fair attendance. During its run, the Exposition drew nearly 26,000,000 visitors. It was huge.
Using 600 acres along Lake Michigan’s South Shore, designers Daniel Burnham and Frederick Law Olmsted attempted to make it a Beaux Arts extravaganza. Its grandeur exceeded all world fairs that had been put on up to this time. Alternating electricity pioneered by Nicola Tesla lit up the buildings and fair grounds for the very first time. The Ferris Wheel was introduced to the world at this fair as well as the hamburger, a moving walk and cracker jacks.
read more at:http://www.smdailyjournal.com/article_preview.php?id=236001&title=Traveling%20carnivals
This was not a religious event as the grand carnivals were in many cities like New Orleans and Rio de Janeiro. Those events had roots going back thousands of years and lasted for weeks. The traveling carnivals had their roots in the World’s Columbian Exposition (The Chicago World’s Fair) that was put on in 1893. The Chicago World’s Fair as it became to be called was a celebration of the arrival of Christopher Columbus’ arrival in the New World in 1492. This world’s fair turned out to be the biggest event that had occurred in America (up to 1893). The number of people attending equaled about half of the U.S. population at that time during its six-month run that started in May 1, 1893 and closed in Oct. 30, 1893. Chicago Fair Day attracted more than 700,000 people, a record for outdoor fair attendance. During its run, the Exposition drew nearly 26,000,000 visitors. It was huge.
Using 600 acres along Lake Michigan’s South Shore, designers Daniel Burnham and Frederick Law Olmsted attempted to make it a Beaux Arts extravaganza. Its grandeur exceeded all world fairs that had been put on up to this time. Alternating electricity pioneered by Nicola Tesla lit up the buildings and fair grounds for the very first time. The Ferris Wheel was introduced to the world at this fair as well as the hamburger, a moving walk and cracker jacks.
read more at:http://www.smdailyjournal.com/article_preview.php?id=236001&title=Traveling%20carnivals
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