thunderbolt85
Thursday, March 5, 2020 6:48:23 AM
I may be reaching here but is there anyone on here that worked on that show? Or does anyone have a little more information about the show before they went out of business.
Scott
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Thursday, March 19, 2020 7:10:17 AM
Jim Elliott worked for C&W. James Dillman may have.

What kind of info do you want to know? I don't know much but might be able to help.
thunderbolt85
Monday, March 23, 2020 7:39:06 AM
Oh anything, rides they had, stories about the spots they played, just any good information about them.
rodler
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Monday, March 23, 2020 10:28:34 AM

Their show was destroyed on the Missouri State Fair midway by a tornado. My father in law told me their used to be some rides that arrived by rail and I`m not sure if this show brought them in that way. It may have been when other shows help fill the midway with rides after the storm because I read that rides arrived from shows from all across the country.
RodB
thunderbolt85
Monday, March 23, 2020 1:53:15 PM
They did move by rail, seen some pictures. Whose show was that the Sky Wheel was tore up by a tornado, somewhere up north I think?
rodler
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Monday, March 23, 2020 7:03:28 PM

The rail spur still exist except it stops at an industry across the street from the grounds. He said during that period the train could enter the grounds and unload. If I am not mistaken there was another show that played the fair between them and Murphy Brothers Exposition. There is a mini museum on the grounds with old pictures and memorabilia from the fair that is pretty interesting including some midway photos.
RodB
thunderbolt85
Tuesday, March 24, 2020 7:12:09 AM
I wonder if that other show was Olsen, but could have been anyone. I remember seeing Olsen in an Encyclopedia we had when I was a kid. Forgot which fair, but there was a nice color picture of the midway, lots of red and silver of course, a wild west show, wheels, roll o plane, and much more, used to look at it often.
rodler
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Tuesday, March 24, 2020 7:26:46 PM

Not sure what order each show played but it was Dell and Travers he mentioned.
RodB
Scott
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Wednesday, April 15, 2020 8:17:14 PM
Here's what I can help you with on the C&W Shows.

After they played the Missouri State Fair Gooding's played it as did Deggeller Magic Midways. Neither traveled by Train.

Personally I'm not aware of any help received by C&W after the Tornado strike. Not saying it didn't happen but I don't recall it happening.

C & W started out in the 30's as a small show and somewhere around 42 or 43 they bought out the Great Sheesley Shows and that's what really put them on the map. Their midway looked like everyone else in that era. 2 wheels, moon rocket, scooter ect.
You can find pictures of them on Facebook. If your not already on FB you should be.

The show booked in large rides like the Sky Wheel towards the end of their life at their bigger fairs and the only owner I know of was Dowis Sky Wheel.

The show folded at the end of the 68 season.

itsapartytx
Monday, May 24, 2021 6:03:06 PM
I worked for C&W in 1964 or 1965. It was advertised as the largest railway show in the country. Probably was since the other shows had switched to trucks. We were very busy. Played a few still spots but not many. Played county and state fairs. Carnivals have always been big in the south and some of the county fairs were larger than some of the state fairs in the Midwest. Played Georgia, N and S Carolina, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, West Va,

But the part that was most memorable was the civil rights movement. C&W was a segregated show. It was formed in a segregated manner and it played in a segregated way. All of the train crew were Black and all the carnies were white. In a typical spot we might play 4 or 5 days with one day having a matinee. In that case we would have a 1/2 day in which Blacks were welcome as customers or, in some cases, it might be an entire evening. Some of the joints would close because they didn't want to associate with Blacks but most stayed open. We (white carnies) had almost no association with any of the train crew and they never came on the midway. The only interface we had was loading and unloading the train. Carnies would use tractors to move the wagons to the tracks and the train crew would use their tractors to load them. Two wagons per flatbed and 50 flatbeds so there could have been 100 wagons and there were almost that many but the sides of the wagons had painted "100 RIDES." and that was never true. A number of the wagons, esp. the older ones, were along for the ride. They never were unloaded. But it sure made an impression on every little town we drove through.

There was an incident in which there was an armed confrontation. Blacks v whites. But few were injured and those not seriously. Scary, though.

Hope this helps.
itsapartytx
Tuesday, May 25, 2021 3:42:50 PM
I don't remember but I'd like to know: Was the engine coal burning or diesel?
ridejocky
Tuesday, May 25, 2021 11:01:28 PM
Could be either or both in the sixties, depending on the railroad and the route/line. Carnivals (AFAIK) do not own the locomotive, the railroad does, and different locomotives are used for most every run and the show likely used multiple railroads during the season.
Ride the Zipper?