The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1901-08-06
Evolution Of the
Midway Nuisance


special correspondence ol INC Illnunc.
Buffalo, Aug ).
fxrLNING the goose" turned into plain
r English mcaus trip through the Mid.
4 way. The Midway of the Pan. American is
superior to former ones in several rc-
spects The attractions have been selected with
great care. They are nov and clean, The comes
sionaircs men who have won brilliant success
and good regulations in the amusement world, At
the beginning the cheap fakirs who hocked to
Buffalo to rent ground space tho Midway,
learned that the exposition officials would have
naught To do with them They were shut out
completely. Tho architecture. decorations and
grouping of the buildings commendahlc.
Tho buildings are close together. and in making
trip through the Midway one passes quickly
from concession TO concession.
There are some forty shows in the Pan. Amer
lean Midway. Life in far lands we'll repre-.
sCnted in the Hawaiian village, the Philippine
village, Darkest Africa. N" Beautiful Orient,
streets Of Mexico Fair Janan Venice in Amer.
lea, Alt Nurnhcrg, the l.squimauX village and
the Royal Gypsy camp. There are an animal show.
an Indian congress, infant ncuhators, a gold
mine, an ostrich farm. a house upside down,
sceneographic reproduction of the Johnstown
food, a Moorish palace, several costly paintings
and moving picture machines a.plcnty. The
newest novelty inauguratcd al the Pan. American
is a Tr'p to the Moon, the conception Of Fred.
,yCle, which may he described as the Teeter
oi the Omaha exposition with a miniature of the
Ferris wheel of the Chicago exposition affixed
to either end
The conoCs>ionaircs have an association called
the Amusement e>sonajres' association ot
the Pan. American exposition. for the promotion
of their interests, II formed in May, 1000.
". =. McGirvic, Of the Streets of Mexico, was
the first president, and Frederic Thompson, of a
Trip to the Moon, the first secretary. The active
membership is restricted to owners and mana.
gers of amusement concessions operating on the
Midway. The initiation zoe is $500 and tho
regular monthly assessment ~ 10 against each
mcmhC", There was a similar organization at
the Chicago fair. hut Vt lacked the unanimitv
of purpose which ChsracicrizcS the present one.
The Conccssiorarcs' association has not only
been helpful to the members, but it has light.
cncd the lahorS Of the exposition officials under
whose direction the Midway is conducted. as
diversified interests have been confined to a
single channel The ",pielors'' realize the hene.
hts Of organization and have recently formed
the Takers and Lecturers association Of Amer.
lea, ~ Object loing the promotion oi their in.
| tcrcss a. the Fan American exposition.
The Midway Of tho International Exposition Of
TODAY is the development oi the side shows Of
the town fair Of Crandiathers' time No
cornstalkS and amazing produ Is OF the arm
were exhibited. the town iair was not consid.
cred complete W.T. out sde.show. With 4 .
rising generation especially there was a craving
for entertainment that would turn their tn ,u!nts
from the cid chann'l of farm liz, into a ,i,f'r
cnt one, Punch ana Judy and Humpty-Dumpty
were the favortes, and they are popular with
the little ones todar In the course Of time
these side attractions became the source NJ
considerable revenue fut the 'air assoc at, ,ons,
and the NhoNmcu paid we'll for their priYlt 'ss.
Tho showmen went from tair to tar with their
attractions and rcaped rich harvestS in coin.
This moving about was called "folluwing The
fairs" Gradually the numbcr OF fair followers
has increased and the quality Of their shows
7 has steadily improved. Now adays the side. show
feature is considered necessary adjunct OF the
town and county fair, and the aSSo1ia,i ion al.
ways include revenues from tins source in their
preliminary estimates. The SldcshOws of the
old.tme fairs were not confined to any psrtcu.
lar parts Of the grounds They were assigned
locations IN odd SuotS whore they would not
be likely TO interfere with the fair proper.
As matter OF course "side. shows" became
adjunctS of the more nretentious eNpositions.
They. did not figure largely 1t the Centennial
exposition in 1870, at Philadelphia, and it re.
mlincd for the managers of the Worlds Col.
wmhian exposition of 1893, at Chicago. to solve
Iesrs, large number Of cNgericnced shoNmen
saw tho opportunity for making money at the
exposition, and there was a dclugc Of appli.
cations for ground space. After much lonsidcra.
ton Of various propositions, 1t was wisely deter.
| mined by the exposition officials TO condne all
the shows to a large plot Of ground dedicated
especially TO their purposes, and graft II into
the exposition. This arrangement suited every.
body concerned. The amusement section took
the name Of "The PllSancc," bat ere long il
was known az the midway plasance." LARGE
majority of the people called il the MIDWAY"
and in the course Of few weeks the other
part Of the name was obsolete The Midway"
had caught the popular fancy; it rolled easily
from the tonge and it lad come 10 stay The
| name was applied to about every amusement
feature Of fairs and pleasure resorts there.
after and is still popular.
q
When it was decided to hold a Pan. American
exposition at Buffalo, the question arose AS
| to what name should be applied TO the amlIse.
mcnt quarter Of the enterprise There seemed
| to be general desire tor something dincrnt
| from the name used at Chicago, Omaha and
| other places, something ncw-a term that would
| suIpass aud eclipse "The Midway" Hundreds
| Of suggestions we're offered by as many different
| persons and all were given due consideration,
| but was regarded by the management as
! being equal TO the "MidwIS," and so that name
| stood
-Elhert T.. Lewis
MEANING OF CERTAIN NAMES.
| From the Boston Herald