All The Fun Of The Fair At The Corner Café
Candy floss, incidentally, was invented by a dentist called William Morrison, from Nashville, in 1904.
A funfair, or a carnival as it is called in America, is an amusement show - either travelling or on a permanent site - with various rides, games of chance or skill, sideshows, and all manner of different foods: candy floss, hot dogs, toffee apples, ice cream, doughnuts, etc.
Bumper cars have been driven, and crashed, for over a century now. It's not clear who invented them, but early versions were notoriously difficult to steer.
A rollercoaster was first patented in 1885, but the idea originally came from “Russian Mountains,” which were winter sledge rides that were popular in Russia in the 17th century. Also, in 1827 a coal mining company in Pennsylvania used their gravity railroad, constructed in 1827, on quiet workdays for people to have a hair-raising descent!
And don’t forget the rides for kids. I used to love that sort of thing.
A few more fairground sites of the old days.
Carousels with wooden horses are actually a very old invention. They were originally used to give horseback riding lessons to Turkish and Arabian cavalry members, but when crusaders returned to Europe, they brought the idea with them. The spinning attraction became especially popular in France, where 17th-century riders tried to pierce a target while moving at high speed. Before electricity, the power source for these devices was real horses providing real horsepower!!
The Tunnel of Love and the Ghost Train both sprang from the same idea. Unmarried couples of the late 19th century needed a place to canoodle in public and the ideal place were these rides where a lot of it was in the dark! As the cars or boats made their way around the ride, people were treated to romantic moments or frights which encouraged them to move closer.
Ok, let’s have your thoughts on the funfairs. Did you prefer the ones from our childhood? I know I did. I wouldnt go on some of those rides today if you paid me. Let’s have your thoughts and your memories on the good old days of the fair.
All are welcome. And please feel free to recommend and share all discussions you enjoy.
There is no obligation to follow any of our informal themes. They are simply for fun. This is an open topic chat thread, so please just post or talk about anything you like!