I could write all day about this subject. However, I'll keep it short since I have to go drive a joint trailer over the road tonight.
When I was growing up every ride had 3 men on it, 2 on the kiddie rides. There was no spectaculars. There was the foreman, the number 2 man and the number 3 man. Never saw a female ride help until the 70's. They were for the most part proud of the ride they called their own. Every week bets were made at the cook house on who got down and up first. Remember, all rides were ground models. The first ride I saw that was trailer mounted was the Roundup some time in the 60s. I'm not saying there wasn't one before the Roundup but it was the first one I saw.
In those days every ride had it's own ticket box and usually the foreman's wife sold tickets on it. Rehashing was not a big problem back then. I remember the ride guys called the people in like a joint. That kind of stopped late in the 60s. I have no idea why. I saw a Himalaya a few years ago that had all 50's music on it and had girls in poodle skirts calling them in and that ride killed. It was booked into Perry, GA. and always had a line. IMHO, the regulations and general BS that goes into running a show nowadays such as trying to lay the show down and all that takes so much energy away from today's show owner that he has no time for things like that anymore.
As for games, you are right. I had big stock for so long I thought about getting them SS numbers. The joke was, "I see you lost a piece, did it fall off the truck leaving the lot?" Now I have no more big stock. I only flash stock that moves. I lose more pieces in one day on one joint then I used to in 12 joints all season. That's no lie either.
What changed the carnival people and the country as well is, Drugs, liberalism, lack of pride, and fast food. In the old days the ride help were for the most part drinkers. If they got drunk they would sleep it off and make call. When you have a druggie working for you, all he cares about is his habit. That's all on that sore subject. With the passage of all the liberal bills during the 60s it made it so people could make more money living off the government then getting a job on the road. Then the MacDonalds of the world hired the rest of our work force. What we had left wasn't exactly the cream of the crop.
I could go on but it all means the same thing. Times they are a changing. And, they always will so don't get comfortable, life is going to throw more curves.
Believe it or not, that was short.