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The final day of
the 2007 Gibtown Extravaganza turned out to be a productive
and enlightening adventure for me…
My lovely daughter Katerina and I spent the bulk of the day
wandering the isles of the trade show examining the many
ingenious and clever resources available to the contemporary
Showman engaged in the business of creating
fun…
We were like kids in the candy store. We had compared,
dissected and analyzed every aspect of the merchandise and
machinery at the exhibition and even gone so far as to track
the history of the evolution of the products on display…
We were on a mission to upgrade and improve our Circus and
to try to bring all the aspects of our merchandising and
secondary marketing up to the standards of the twenty first
century amusement industry…
The old homebrew floss machine made from a galvanized
washtub gathering dust in the corner of the museum seemed a
hopelessly primitive and inferior anachronism when compared
to the high powered modern stainless Tornado exhibited by
Cretors. However, I doubt that anyone can distinguish any
difference in the floss produced by either…
The antique museum piece is priceless, and if assigned a
dollar value, is probably more valuable than its high dollar
top of the line descendant. It occurred to me that it
was probably troublesome and temperamental to run, and that
the Showmen who operated it probably had to constantly
tinker with it to make a buck. In its career, it probably
earned a
fortune and provided a world of delight to a generation of
youngsters now grown old and gray…
The more things change, the more they remain the same…
When the Show closed and the exhibitors started packing, we
headed for the Fairgrounds…
Fort Knox, the Whitehouse, Area Fifty One, and the State
Prison can't possibly have better security. The place was
locked up tight as a drum…
The place was run kind of like a prison…
Surrounded by cops and guards, an impenetrable fortress of
chain link and barbed wire prevented anyone without
credentials or cash from setting foot on the premises…
No lot lice here…
If you can't pay, you can't play…
My little band of Carnies were scheming like crazy to find a
way to the Midway…
I lamented that in my post breakfast confusion I had
forgotten to grab my Federation card, which admits any
delegate to any Florida fair…
One of our party investigated and reported that the FSF did
not honor Gibtown Extravaganza badges…
I phoned my friend on the lot who was investing heavily in
the Florida Real Estate Fair…
He nearly got thrown out for trying to get us in…
I devised a scheme that would get us in for sure…
I walked up to the ticket window, waved a yard note in the
window, gestured to my party of four, consisting of my
nineteen year old daughter, my friend, his date, and
requested " Three preschoolers and one senior."…
The indifferent and apparently uncomprehending ticket clerk
gestured vaguely to a complicated official sign and informed
me that today was not seniors day and that I would have to
come back another day. She then returned to her conversation
with the seller at the other window…
I persisted…
I told her that I lived up North and could only go tonight
and my group would be very disappointed, was there any way
to go to the fair tonight…
She responded, " Suh, ah tole you befo, today haint senior
day, ah caint do nuffin bout dat."…
I switched to another window…
It worked, My yard note was gone forever, but I now had
three dubs and a printed document which might get us in…
We wandered in a daze towards the row of turnstiles and the
army of cops and officials gathered around them to
apparently discourage people from attending the event…
I stopped directly in front of the numerous turnstiles and
asked the top echelon, " Which one goes fastest?"…
He was speechless. Shocked, he pointed to the one in front
of me…
I asked, " Does it go upside down?"…
He growled, "Move the line." I looked around, there was no
line…
When we got through that friendly and good humored bunch we
were immediately tackled by the gate cops who made us turn
out our pockets and purses. I'm really glad that anything
incriminating had been lost in a fire earlier…
People had escaped from East Berlin during the cold war with
less hassle than we had trying to get to the Midway…
I spotted a gazebo marked "Guest Relations"…
I walked up on a group of fair representatives sprawled out
in folding chairs busily ignoring their duties which I
imagine should be greeting fairgoers or something…
I cleared my throat and asked "anyone here know where I
could find the information
booth?"
I was informed that this was it. I asked if I needed an
appointment. The gentleman asked what I needed. I
asked where the menagerie was located. He told me that there
wasn't one. I thanked him…
We headed to the Circus. On the way I counted seven
menageries including the really huge one at the Circus…
At the Circus the entrance was guarded by closed gates and a
grim faced sentry who barred admission…
I asked if we could see the show…
He informed me that the tent was full. At that moment about
a dozen people walked out. I asked if the four of us could
take their place. He said no. I asked if he would take a
tip. He said trying to bribe him would land me in jail…
I asked what time the next show was. He leered at my
daughter and said, "Tomorrow"…
As we walked the midway, I could tell that the Carnies were
dog tired from the long day and the play seemed soft for
peak on a busy Saturday…
I watched the crowd and from their behavior read that they
weren't in a playful mood, and the only evidence of fun on
the Midway was a group of young Black girls shaking it up to
the music in front of a ride…
They had collected quite a tip…
I noted that there wasn't anyone posted there yet to prevent
or collect for dancing, and thought that these were people
who were culturally accustomed to oppression and degrading
treatment and had become accustomed to surviving it…
I guess that must be what it takes to have a good time at
the Florida Real Estate Fair…
Ultimately, it was an imposing and overwhelming spectacle of
the biggest and the best that can be found, but it wasn't a
bit of fun…
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