Random Amusements
We shall begin with this photo from an unknown fair or carnival, circa August, 1974. Or maybe this is an actual amusement park? We're in a Sky Glider ride, above the hubbub. Why, it's like being on a quiet mountaintop! Only it smells like popcorn and frying sausages. Not a bad thing! The poor young lady in the red Sky Glider is clutching her parcel and looks pretty terrified. I'm noticing flags of Norway atop the Sky Glider towers. Why? Google tells us that North Dakota has the most people of Norwegian descent, with Minnesota in 2nd place, and South Dakota in 3rd place. So it seems likely that this fair is from one of those places (my vote goes to Minnesota, based on nothing!).
Next, from a slide dated "January, 1982" is this scan of a happy young woman at the helm (?) of a round "bumper boat". Why did she choose boat #13?? She's doomed. Probably right after this picture was taken she was swallowed whole by a great white shark.
You won't be surprised to learn that this last scan is from a very red, faded slide. I'm guessing it's from the 1950s. In spite of the color issues, it's a cute picture of a happy girl on a merry-go-round. "Location unknown", once again. Is it possible that this could be from Knott's Berry Farm? For some reason (spidey senses) that germ of an idea is in my brain, but it might just be parasites from eating gas station sushi.
16 comments:
"Even kids with chicken pox."
Oooh! I know! I know! Pick me! Pick me!*
1) I would guess this is a state fair; they often have those Sky Rides. The full-size image isn't coming up, so I enlargenized the thumbnail... now it's blurry. About the only thing I can make out for sure are those blue, plaid, flared pants on the kid next to the parcel-clutching gal. (A sure-fire contender for Melissa's VFA today.)
2) Besides being #13, the bumper boat is also RED! Doublety doomed! (Using the Star Trek "red shirt" protocol.)
3) Hmm, it does seem like we've seen an ostrich (or are they geese?) as one of the animals on the Knott's merry-go-round. I know I've seen it somewhere. OMG! Maybe they're Killer Swans! Masquerading as merry-go-round animals. The happy little girl doesn't stand a chance!
Thanks for the hodge-podge amusements, Major.
* (Armour hot dogs!)
You are correct, Major. That last pic was taken at Knott's. We can see the wheel in the background that the ride operator would spin. If it landed on your animal's number, you won a free ride. That circle to the far right is a part of the band organ. Here's a vintage view from further back, which shows the wheel and the "Win a Free Ride" sign. It even shows one of the ostriches, like the one the little girl is riding.
https://carouselhistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/ca-1902-Lagoon-Dentzel-Carousel-Knotts-Betty-Farm-1969.jpg
I forgot to mention that you can see the numbers for the various animals, at the very top of all the poles.
Love the fair pic. So colorful.
Thanks, Major.
I’m going to guess the sky glider is a permanent installation since those towers are pretty chunky.
Speaking of chunks, bro in the oncoming chair looks like he may lose some any moment.
I think that “Chinese Egg Roll” vendor comes to our local fair, I’ve definitely seen that sign somewhere before.
The young lady in the motor boat went on to live a long happy life because the boat was designated “1 B” and some of the paint just wore off.
Good eye on the Knotts MGR, the sign graphics feels “Knotts-ish”, a type style that I just made up. I also “kind of vaguely” might recall the ostriches, not a common carousel animal. Such a cute picture of the little girl. I like the color shift, it feels purposeful, like the movie thing so popular now.
Thanks Major! I’m off to trademark “ Knotts-ish”.
JG
All those names on that pavilion are crying out to be researched, so here goes…
A Woody Woodward was a baseball player, apparently. He played various positions for various teams but stayed longest with the Cincinnati Reds.
A Rob Reider was a singer on a local Cincinnati TV variety show.
A Randy Weidner was a singer on the same show…
https://www.wvxu.org/media/2019-01-15/remembering-bob-braun-and-the-bob-braun-show
I’m going to guess this photo is in Cincinnati, Minnesota.
Thanks Major!
JG
1. Man, I love going to the Oration pavilion at the county fair. One time I heard a prize heifer moo the Gettysburg Address. Brought tears to my eyes.
2. She looks like she's having a blast, feeling the wind in her hair. I'm wearing sneakers identical to hers right now.
3. The best carousels are the ones with non-horsey animals. I think Little Susie agrees.
JB, I wish the Armour Hotdog song had used “leprosy” instead of “chicken pox”, but it’s too late now. A good song writer would have come up with a rhyme for leprosy. I fixed the screwy link (thanks, Blogger) so you will be able to see the image larger now; I think that it is from a state fair as well. As for the bumper boat, anyone careless enough to choose boat #13 has already given up. I know that Knott’s used to have (and maybe still has?) a merry-go-round with a menagerie of animals, though I don’t remember ever seeing it with my own eyes. TokyoMagic! will know all about it, I’m sure!!
TokyoMagic!, hey, I was just saying! I knew you would know, and it feels good to find out that my spidey senses were correct. I love the idea of winning a free ride, just think how thrilling that was for the person whose number was chosen. And wow, that linked photo is amazing!
TokyoMagic!, oh yeah, I see the numbers.
K. Martinez, I love photos like that, and wish I had tons more!
JG, you might be right, I thought there was a possibility that the photo is from an actual full-time amusement park, although… I also know that Sky Glider rides were built at state fairs, so maybe those chunky towers were designed to break down into smaller chunks. Chinese Egg Rolls, yum, I need some right now. Thank you for clearing up the matter with the “13” boat, it is a great relief. I kind of love those merry-go-rounds with the different animals - maybe because horses are so common. Give me a nice zebra or giraffe to ride!
JG, here’s the weird thing… long ago (maybe even a couple of years), I actually looked up some of those names seen on the signs. And then I forgot that I did it! So you get a gold star for doing the research. Cincinnati, Minnesota - who knew that there was more than one Cincinnati??
Melissa, funny, I just assumed that “oration” was the end of the word “corporation”. But I would love to hear a cow reciting the Gettysburg Address. And the phone number! The girl in photo #2 is definitely have a good time. And we all agree, old horsey merry-go-rounds should be made illegal and burned. I’m looking for my pitchfork right now.
My TG training says that Carrousels only have horses, and Merry Go Rounds have all animals. I like them both but my developing physique would look silly perched on top of an ostrich. I rather fancy myself riding around Tobago 'ala Tommy Kirk in a Ostrich race. I don't see Norwegian Flags: I do see flags: but they are not Norsk...and yes it's true: North Dakota is littered with us, as is Minnesota: I have distant and not so distant relatives in each: but Norway is a small land: so basically we are all cousins. It looks like Marta from Sound of Music is having a grand olde time on the Ostrich: very happy. That is a lovely Merry Go Round which I hope to see at some point this year. It seems that the water craft wouldn't make any zoning/permitting/etc. thing now a days: perhaps if the entire thing was in a plastic bubble. Which wouldn't make for a bad ride either. The overhead contraptions also reek of "possible lawsuit" but I think anything at carnivals would: including fried dough. Which I do enjoy time to time along with all other carnie-type-goodies. Carnivals and Fair's and such can be a good time: even for an old grump like me: I like to see gigantic pumpkins and horses and things...award winning pies I don't understand: because you don't get to eat them: you just get to look at them: which confounds me. Thanks Major for the Amusements: I am quite amused.
using JG's research on names, and, being a trivia nerd, remembering there is a Cincinnati in Ohio, too.... I think it's the Ohio State Fair in Columbus.
Google: Ohio State Fair Sky Glider
Hot Dogs, Armour Hot Dogs!
What screwed-up kids eat Armour Hot Dogs?
Sick kids, healthy kids, kids with shattered knees,
Dead kids, living kids, even kids with leprosy love
Hot dogs, Armour Hot Dogs:
The dog made from zombies!
@ LTL-
I think you win today's prize-! And Major, just what is that bag of loot-?
Major-
"A good song writer would have come up with a rhyme for leprosy".
Thanks to Melissa... your prayers have been answered.
Chinese Egg Rolls... So much better than Norwegian Egg Rolls. (The salmon bones get stuck in my throat.)
Melissa, thanks for the "new & improved" jingle.
Thanks for fixing Blogger's mistake, Major. I can see! I can see!
Sorry I’m late. My first thought seeing that first picture was “Ohio State Fair.” The grandstand in the background is where I saw Sha Na Na live in concert in ‘81 (don’t scoff - they were at Woodstock). My second thought was “I can’t believe I actually rode that thing.”
(BTW - those flags look like the flag of the Netherlands or Luxembourg, not Norway…although I think in this context they are just generic fair flags.)
LTL, Chuck, thank you!
State Fair never occurred to me, nor, in my colossal ignorance of Ohio, that some city other than Cincinnati would be the site.
Major, Cincinnati is like that city in the science fiction novel that has no fixed location in time or space, but it appears where and when it is most needed.
JG
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