IndianaTED
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Sunday, October 12, 2008 6:34:03 AM
On the front news page of MCW, in the article about the Indiana State Fair, it states (paraphrasing) "NAME and Mid-America Shows provided the 46 rides on the midway". Man, I can remember when Gooding's Million Dollar Midway used to bring in more than 70! I keep saying the 1970s (maybe into the early 80s) were the peak years of the carnival industry, and nothing I see with my own eyes tells me I'm wrong.

The Indiana State Fair was very good this year. Absolutely the best weather they have ever had for the entire run of the Fair, good entertainment, and with people staying closer to home, there was no reason for them not have had one of their top attendences. It would have been shocking if it hadn't have been that way.
I've never been "with it", just been an interested observer of carnivals for more than 50 years.
Johnny's United Shows..."A Family Tradition" and "All for Fun, Fun for All".
The carnival of my youth, which had roots that originated in my hometown.
Pizzagod
Sunday, October 12, 2008 6:55:32 AM
I've never made Indy, but when I used to talk to Tony Diaz about booking in, he always told me it was an extremely tight lot. My guess is that the 46 rides are probably taking as much real estate as the 70 rides that used to come in there were. (I don't know anything about rides-except they seem a heck of lot bigger than they were when I was a kid).

So that's my .02 worth.
For one dollar I'll guess your weight, your height, or your sex.
Ryan
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Sunday, October 12, 2008 8:16:02 AM
they had it packed in this year with rides, food and games
www.modernmidways.com 
"If life was fair elvis would be alive and the impersonators would be dead"-carson
IndianaTED
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Sunday, October 12, 2008 6:03:53 PM
Please understand, I'm not being critical of the midway providers, they did a good job. I'm just saying that the midway did used to be bigger, the lot itself as well as the ride list. It may be said to be a tight lot, but there is an area that the midway used to spill into that they don't anymore, and it's not like it is being used for anything else as it isn't.

The one thing I was critical of in a previous post about the Fair, the lack of a big Himalaya-type ride. Yeah they had a Wisdom one-trailer version, but c'mon this is the State Fair, not some weekend small town festival. I think it merits a "big" music ride. But the rides that were there were of very good quality.

My point is just that at least the fairs/festivals that I get to see are not as big as they used to be across the board. They all seem to peak in the mid 70s. Also there were far more carnivals back then as well as fairs/festivals that had them.

...just saying that I'm glad I can remember those days as we will probably never see them again. Heck, twenty or thirty years from now, I'll probaly long for the times we live in now.
I've never been "with it", just been an interested observer of carnivals for more than 50 years.
Johnny's United Shows..."A Family Tradition" and "All for Fun, Fun for All".
The carnival of my youth, which had roots that originated in my hometown.
Skywheelrider
Sunday, October 12, 2008 7:22:55 PM
It has been proven that a one-trailer Himalaya can gross just as much or in some cases even outgross a bigger Himalaya, with less cost of moving it. I know what you are saying about a "state fair" midway, but at the same time, if you look at it from a show's point of view, if that's the case (the grosses), why bother with a two or more trailer when folks will ride the one-trailer?

Of course here in Raleigh, there are both, a Majestic Musik Express and our Mack Hitin' 2000.....[^]

"Don't go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first." -- Mark Twain
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