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For hundreds of years,
the travelling fair

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has brought a carnival of joy
to towns across Britain.

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Rides, like the dodgems...

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waltzer...

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and dive bomber, that thrilled us.

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I can remember going on that ride
and, on the first dip,
being totally convinced

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that I was about to be killed.
Absolutely convinced.

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Exotic and bizarre shows
that amazed us.

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I used to stand like that
and put the head in my mouth,

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and that was called
The Kiss Of Death.

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The fairground even had
its own unique taste.

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There's somebody with a candyfloss,
which is bigger then your head.

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You're eating it
and it's sticking round your face.

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You emerge plastered
in sticky pink sugar.

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# Out here in the field

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# I fight for my meals... #

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And the fair has always been
a place to showcase

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the latest innovations
in popular entertainment.

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The fair has been the catalyst,
or crucible,

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for all forms of modern entertainment
that you think of.

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In the 1890s,
they brought the cinematograph.

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Professional boxing as a sport
came from the fairground.

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Even something like bingo owes its
allegiance to the fairground.

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35. Three and five, 35.

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But behind the bright lights
and candyfloss,

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the fairground has also been a place
on the edges of society,

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where excitement and danger await.

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And you have sort of unholy alliance
between youth

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and bright lights and...

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things going fast,
and popular music.

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# Sally, take my hand

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# Travel south, cross land

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# Put out the fire

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# Don't look past my shoulder... #

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No wonder the arrival
of the travelling fair

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sparked such a special kind of magic
in us.

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# The happy ones are here... #

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The ears are pounding with the beat
of the popular music.

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The lights are flashing
on the ghost ride, the dodgems...

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Everything is heading towards
a massive sensory overload

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that can carry you away
into another dimension of being,

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a realm of transcendence, a place
of beauty - not quite tranquillity

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but certainly a place of maybe.

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# Teenage wasteland

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# It's only teenage wasteland

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# Teenage wasteland... #

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'The amazing bat girl. Yes, she's
alive, ladies and gentlemen.

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'The first time at your fair. The
head of a girl, the body of a bat.'

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Not a wax model,
not a mechanical figure.

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In grey 1950s Britain,
the fairground offered
a rare glimpse of the exotic...

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Come inside!

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..as people flocked to see
an array of lurid illusions
known as sideshows.

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'She is real, she is alive,
young and beautiful.

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'She is the legendary princess

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'on the inside, depicted
in living flesh and living form.'

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I've loved going to fairgrounds
ever since I was a tiny child,

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and at those times,
there were show rows of sideshows

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and it's that part rather than
the rides that really interested me,

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the wonderful row of colour
and excitement

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of the people outside
trying to get you into their show.

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The Biggest Rat In The World,

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Why Men Leave Home,

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A Girl In A Bubble Bath, of course.

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'Alive and human and waiting
to meet you on the inside

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'is the smallest,
the most intelligent
and the most charming little man

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'that you've ever laid eyes upon
in your life.'

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I was born in Ireland,
in the town of Lisburn,

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eight miles from Belfast.

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My father, mother, brothers,
sisters, were all normal persons.

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I'm the only one in the family
who never grew up.

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I'm a leprechaun from Ireland.

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Three key ingredients were needed

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to attract the public
to these sideshows.

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A bizarre story, a sense of horror
and a touch of sex.

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Horror or sex.

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That seems to be right down
the show row,

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all the way down. Everybody's
getting very close together now.

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We're getting horror
and sex in together.

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I've said I will gamble to put
a show on,

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with just "girl" on the front of it,

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a big question mark,

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it will take money.

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..presenting a famous dance,

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which some people call striptease.
No.

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We call it art, grace and beauty...

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Now, if you were 12 years-old,
a boy in the 1950s,

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there were no Page threes, and you
wanted to see a girl,

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and notice they were all girls
in those shows,

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the headless lady, the girl
in the goldfish bowl, the living
half lady,

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they were all girls.
All performing in those shows,

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so sex was an important
ingredient, of course.

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The young lady will take you
around the world,

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take you down to gay Paris.

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She'll guide you down the Garden of
Eden as Eve.

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I can remember my brother urging me,
pushing me to go in

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and see the Invisible Woman.

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She's alive and on view the moment
you enter the doorway.

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A dozen, two dozen of us were
pushed into this room

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and there was a woman in a bikini,
the professor,

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the mad professor pulled a switch
and suddenly she disappeared.

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There'd would be crackling.
"Oh, where's she gone?! We must
bring her back!

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"No, the Electrons have gone wrong!"
Then there'd be a crackling
and pushing.

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Suddenly, she'd shimmer into
view again.

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Apparently, it was technology
brought from Russia.

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Drawing a crowd to this kind of
attraction was a fine art, performed
by the showman,

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a figure who had been orchestrating
all the fun of the fair
since the Victorian era.

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Gentlemen, when the seventh
and last veil falls,

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she will make the shirts
spray up and down, just like a
Venetian blind.

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The hair upon your very head will
stand out straight,

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like the bristles on a porcupine's
back.

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The showman's a quintessentially
Victorian figure.

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He's the person who runs the
business of the fairground,

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the one who searches for the
act, the one who books the act.

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And he is a figure of great
authority.

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A kind of artistic figure
but a commercial one too.

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Woman and child should see this
most remarkable, thrilling and...

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The showman was, I suppose like
a music-hall proprietor in the
Victorian time.

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Have you done any wrestling?
You look a bit small to be.

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Come up here a moment,
let's have a look at you.

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He was a manager
and an entrepreneur

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and an innovator,
but he was also an actor.

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He had a persona that
he would adopt.

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The showman was often on the
front of the show, calling people in,

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telling them about the attractions
that they would see inside.

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You will stand back in wonder
and amazement.

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You may not believe it at first
but it's there before you...

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The showman had emerged in
the 19th century,

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as fairgrounds began to develop into
the popular entertainment industry

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we recognise today.

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The most famous showman of the
Victorian era was Tom Norman.

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I think he was a charismatic
personality.

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There is a wonderful photograph of
him where he has a shiny topper

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and a very sharp moustache
and he's brandishing his gavel

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because he was not only a showman,
but an auctioneer.

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And the auctioneer and the showman
have a lot in common.

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They have to be able to talk

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and I guess that was one of
Tom Norman's great qualities,

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that he could talk up an act, just as
he would talk up the material

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that he was going to sell in
his auction.

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Norman captured the imagination of
Victorian fair goers

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by displaying human oddities with
extraordinary talents

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in what became known as
the Freak Show.

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SINISTER MUSIC PLAYS

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The appeal of the freak show has been
there since the Middle Ages.

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And the fairground freak has been
there since the Middle Ages

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and by freak show, I mean a display
of human oddity or human curiosity.

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Somebody who was different
physically.

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Norman would intrigue fairground
audiences

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by concocting an incredible story
for each freak show he mounted.

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And so this was never the person who
had a dreadful skin disease.

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This was somebody who was
born like this

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because their mother had
touched an alligator.

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Jo Jo,
the dog-faced boy covered in hair.

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He was the dog-faced boy because
his mother was frightened by a dog
when she was pregnant.

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This was an accepted medical term.
It was called "maternal impression."

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Spinning a tale to attract the
curiosity of Victorian fairgoers

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was Norman's stock-in-trade.

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He advertised Jacko, the talking
fish,

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which of course is a sea lion.

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He would advertise these fish that
could play the piano forte.

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And he would advertise anything

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and it was always the latest
wonder of the age.

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But his motto always was it was not
the show but the tale you told.

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His famous one, I would say,
was John Chambers,
the armless wonder.

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The whole thing about freak show
attractions, or side show
or curiosity attractions

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is you didn't just go and look at
somebody. You looked at somebody who
had a talent or skill,

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so you'd see them doing what to
us are normal things, but to them is
extraordinary.

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John Chambers, the armless wonder,
would actually be a carpenter
with his feet.

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All of these people would actually
have a particular skill

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which they'd learnt from adversity
because there was no other way of
making a living.

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Although shocking to modern
sensibilities,

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the fairground freak shows
offered a secure income

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to those with disabilities or
deformities.

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I think when we look back on
the 19th century

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and that culture of the
exhibition of human oddities,

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we lump these people together as
though they were just a sort of...

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..people who'd had no individual
existences,

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but really, these people were
celebrities.

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You could buy carte de visites
of them,

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you could put their pictures on your
mantelpiece.

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People like the dwarf performers,
Charles Stratton, General Mite,
Tom Thumb,

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these were amongst some of the most
famous people in Europe and America.

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They were not cringing victims,
locked up in the back rooms of shops.

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They were ubiquitous
in 19th century culture.

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There was often more to freak shows
than simple exploitation,

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even for the most famous act of
the time, Joseph Merrick,

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who would become known as
the Elephant Man.

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When we think about entertainers like
Joseph Merrick, the Elephant Man,

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who was managed by Tom Norman,
the great British showman,

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we think of Merrick as being this
cringing victim of a cruel system.

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Our understanding of the plight of
the Elephant Man

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comes largely from a
fictionalised account of his life,

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which was brought to the screen by
film-maker, David Lynch.

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Ladies and gentlemen...

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The terrible...

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..Elephant...

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..Man.

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HE KNOCKS ON WALL

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Stand up.

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Stand up!

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We see the film by David Lynch

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and we see that showman figure,
Bytes,

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who's drunk, who beats the
guy, whips him,

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keeps him in the most
terrible condition.

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Bytes, don't!

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Where have you been?!

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00:14:15,820 --> 00:14:18,860
Actually, Lynch had to invent
that character, Bytes.

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Because in real life,
he never existed.

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The accounts we have,
the dominant account of the life
of Merrick

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comes from Doctor Frederick Treves,
Anthony Hopkins in the movie.

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This is not a very accurate
account of his life.

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Treves doesn't even get the
man's name right.

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In the film and in Treves'
book, he's called John Merrick.

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In real life he was called
Joseph Merrick.

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He was on what most
modern entertainers would find
a pretty good deal.

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He was on a 50-50 box-office
split with Tom Norman.

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You can see Merrick as a victim
if you want.

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You could also has see him as a man
who has managed to find a way

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of making his physical
extraordinariness

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into a way of making a living,
a way of having a place

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and an existence in the world.

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Throughout the Victorian era,

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freak shows continued to draw
crowds at fairs across Britain.

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The people also went to the fair to
experience the first rides,

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which had emerged at the beginning
of the 19th century.

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These early rides
were built from wood

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and powered by hand
or pulled by ponies.

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They would soon be transformed
by the invention of steam power.

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In the second half of
the 19th century.

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The 19th century fairs are
kind of divided into two eras -

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the pre-industrial
and the post-industrial.

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And the industrial revolution
hits the fair a lot later

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than people realise,
it's about the 1860s.

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00:16:03,700 --> 00:16:06,780
Actually, in 1861
at Bolton New Year Fair,

235
00:16:06,780 --> 00:16:10,180
when Thomas Hurst brought
a steam-powered roundabout.

236
00:16:10,180 --> 00:16:13,180
So, what they did was bring
the latest modern aspect

237
00:16:13,180 --> 00:16:16,060
of the Industrial Revolution -
steam power -

238
00:16:16,060 --> 00:16:19,700
into an old fairground ride -
which was a hand-turned roundabout -

239
00:16:19,700 --> 00:16:23,740
put them together, and we get what's
called the merry-go-round.

240
00:16:23,740 --> 00:16:26,220
So, the British invented
the merry-go-round,

241
00:16:26,220 --> 00:16:29,180
the classic roundabout
that we see all over the world now.

242
00:16:37,380 --> 00:16:40,820
At first, these steam-powered
merry-go-rounds were run

243
00:16:40,820 --> 00:16:44,540
by an engine, which was fixed
to the outside of the ride.

244
00:16:46,180 --> 00:16:50,980
This technology was improved by
an engineer from King's Lynn -

245
00:16:50,980 --> 00:16:52,740
Frederick Savage.

246
00:16:56,060 --> 00:16:59,060
He went to a show
in his native Norfolk

247
00:16:59,060 --> 00:17:02,420
and saw there a small
fairground ride

248
00:17:02,420 --> 00:17:06,100
that was being powered
by a steam engine.

249
00:17:08,060 --> 00:17:11,140
It is said that Fredrick Savage
looked at this and thought,

250
00:17:11,140 --> 00:17:13,820
"I know how I can do the job
better."

251
00:17:13,820 --> 00:17:17,060
And what he did - and this was the
most important thing about it -

252
00:17:17,060 --> 00:17:20,580
was that, instead of having the
steam-engine outside the ride,

253
00:17:20,580 --> 00:17:25,060
he put it at the centre of the ride,
hence the term "centre engine".

254
00:17:29,260 --> 00:17:34,460
Savage's innovation would mean
bigger and more ornate
rides could be built...

255
00:17:37,140 --> 00:17:41,180
..carrying more people, and as a
result his fairground business

256
00:17:41,180 --> 00:17:43,660
became one of
the largest in Britain.

257
00:17:45,060 --> 00:17:48,540
His workforce increased
to about 400,

258
00:17:48,540 --> 00:17:51,500
and he was producing
rides for showmen

259
00:17:51,500 --> 00:17:54,260
the length and breadth
of the country.

260
00:17:56,380 --> 00:18:00,700
None of the designs that he built
were in a sense original to him,

261
00:18:00,700 --> 00:18:04,500
but he was a great one
for taking other people's ideas

262
00:18:04,500 --> 00:18:06,620
and making them work.

263
00:18:06,620 --> 00:18:11,260
This succession of rides
that he built from the 1870s onwards

264
00:18:11,260 --> 00:18:14,940
became the star attractions
at the fairs

265
00:18:14,940 --> 00:18:19,020
in the last three decades
of the 19th century.

266
00:18:22,380 --> 00:18:24,820
First you had
the galloping horses...

267
00:18:26,060 --> 00:18:28,260
..then there were
the switchback rides,

268
00:18:28,260 --> 00:18:31,740
and they were the grand rides
of the fairground.

269
00:18:31,740 --> 00:18:33,820
And the Razzle-Dazzle -

270
00:18:33,820 --> 00:18:39,860
a rather strange machine, which spun
round and tilted as it did so.

271
00:18:39,860 --> 00:18:44,460
It was the sort of ride that was
described in its day as "a oncer" -

272
00:18:44,460 --> 00:18:47,980
you went on it once and never again.

273
00:18:50,500 --> 00:18:53,460
It would have been quite
atmospheric, really,

274
00:18:53,460 --> 00:18:57,140
lots of steam, the centre engine
would have been mounted on a gantry,

275
00:18:57,140 --> 00:18:59,700
so it would have been
a lot of hard work, as well,

276
00:18:59,700 --> 00:19:03,020
because you would have to stoke
the boiler and get steam up,

277
00:19:03,020 --> 00:19:05,380
to produce the power
to drive the thing round.

278
00:19:07,500 --> 00:19:11,460
It would have had
an organ playing as well,

279
00:19:11,460 --> 00:19:13,220
a paper organ or barrel organ,

280
00:19:13,220 --> 00:19:17,860
so you would have had the
military waltzes and marches,
that sort of thing,

281
00:19:17,860 --> 00:19:20,860
a bit of industrial noise
from the steam engines

282
00:19:20,860 --> 00:19:25,380
and then the sort of entertainment
element was the organ music.

283
00:19:25,380 --> 00:19:29,780
FAIRGROUND ORGAN MUSIC PLAYS

284
00:19:31,740 --> 00:19:33,900
Some local authorities banned them

285
00:19:33,900 --> 00:19:37,420
because they were like
Satan's inferno because of the noise,

286
00:19:37,420 --> 00:19:39,900
and they were quite dangerous
at one point,

287
00:19:39,900 --> 00:19:41,820
because there was no way,

288
00:19:41,820 --> 00:19:44,460
people didn't realise just how fast
these rides could go,

289
00:19:44,460 --> 00:19:49,100
and a really powerful steam
roundabout from the 19th century

290
00:19:49,100 --> 00:19:52,060
with steam power at full speed
is quite a scary thing.

291
00:19:52,060 --> 00:19:54,500
Nowadays, when you see
the modern steam fairs,

292
00:19:54,500 --> 00:19:57,140
they're quite gentle
and old people go on then,

293
00:19:57,140 --> 00:20:00,220
but at the time they were the
white-knuckle ride of their day.

294
00:20:03,940 --> 00:20:06,500
Beginning with these new
steam-powered rides,

295
00:20:06,500 --> 00:20:09,860
the Victorian fairground was
at the forefront of industrial

296
00:20:09,860 --> 00:20:11,460
and technological innovation.

297
00:20:16,260 --> 00:20:19,860
By the end of the 19th century,
the fairground has become

298
00:20:19,860 --> 00:20:23,300
as much a showcase of
Victorian technology

299
00:20:23,300 --> 00:20:25,780
as the Crystal Palace
or a trade fair.

300
00:20:25,780 --> 00:20:28,100
The same technologies that are
transforming

301
00:20:28,100 --> 00:20:32,420
Britain's communications and travel
systems, the same technologies

302
00:20:32,420 --> 00:20:35,620
that are sending steam ships out
across the world

303
00:20:35,620 --> 00:20:40,220
and creating advances in armaments,
all sorts of stuff,

304
00:20:40,220 --> 00:20:44,460
they're also transforming how
Victorians have a night out.

305
00:20:44,460 --> 00:20:49,060
They get into these devices that hurl
them about at great speeds

306
00:20:49,060 --> 00:20:50,820
and steam is at the heart of it.

307
00:21:02,500 --> 00:21:06,140
By the end of the 19th century,
the people who ran

308
00:21:06,140 --> 00:21:09,980
Britain's travelling fairs
had become recognised
as a distinct community.

309
00:21:12,780 --> 00:21:16,060
The showmen will tell you that
showpeople are born, not made.

310
00:21:16,060 --> 00:21:19,180
But this crucible of the
19th century, the mid-19th century,

311
00:21:19,180 --> 00:21:22,180
you got people coming, you had
people coming from Ireland,

312
00:21:22,180 --> 00:21:25,140
you had some aspects of
the travelling community coming in,

313
00:21:25,140 --> 00:21:28,340
you had people who were theatrical
people, strolling players

314
00:21:28,340 --> 00:21:30,900
and becomes this crucible
of mixing everything in

315
00:21:30,900 --> 00:21:33,140
until they become the showmen.

316
00:21:40,780 --> 00:21:44,540
Unlike other popular entertainments
that emerged in the Victorian era

317
00:21:44,540 --> 00:21:47,060
like the circus, the travelling fair

318
00:21:47,060 --> 00:21:50,820
has traditionally been the domain
of a closed community.

319
00:21:50,820 --> 00:21:54,500
I think the difference my family
and people always said,

320
00:21:54,500 --> 00:21:56,940
the difference between the circus
and the fair

321
00:21:56,940 --> 00:22:00,340
is that you can run away
to the circus but you can't
run away to the fair.

322
00:22:00,340 --> 00:22:04,580
So it's this closed community,
which was described

323
00:22:04,580 --> 00:22:07,180
in the 19th century
as a village on wheels.

324
00:22:12,300 --> 00:22:15,420
But despite the popularity
of the travelling fairs,

325
00:22:15,420 --> 00:22:19,420
the fairground community were often
viewed with suspicion and hostility.

326
00:22:22,540 --> 00:22:26,460
These negative attitudes towards
travelling people were a hangover

327
00:22:26,460 --> 00:22:29,420
of stereotypes, which date back
to the medieval era.

328
00:22:34,380 --> 00:22:38,940
I think there is a mistrust,
and it still exists,

329
00:22:38,940 --> 00:22:41,620
for all travelling people.

330
00:22:41,620 --> 00:22:46,940
You do have this sort of the influx
of foreigners as it were

331
00:22:46,940 --> 00:22:49,980
and by that, I mean people
from other parts of the country.

332
00:22:51,580 --> 00:22:56,460
It was then therefore easy to blame
them for things that happened

333
00:22:56,460 --> 00:23:01,180
in the town so for instance,
towards the end of the 19th century

334
00:23:01,180 --> 00:23:06,300
and into the 20th century,
showpeople were blamed
for spreading disease.

335
00:23:08,020 --> 00:23:13,820
They were thought of as being
the carriers of measles,

336
00:23:13,820 --> 00:23:18,020
so measles epidemics were often
based on,

337
00:23:18,020 --> 00:23:22,020
"Oh, well, there were fair people
in the town, they must have been
the carriers."

338
00:23:23,300 --> 00:23:27,300
And so it was therefore
easy to say,

339
00:23:27,300 --> 00:23:30,540
"Well, we don't want these people
in our town."

340
00:23:30,540 --> 00:23:33,060
And the great and the good
often did do that.

341
00:23:35,140 --> 00:23:38,260
This hostility led to a proposal
in Parliament

342
00:23:38,260 --> 00:23:41,300
that the fairground community
should face limits

343
00:23:41,300 --> 00:23:44,100
on their ability to travel
around the country.

344
00:23:45,820 --> 00:23:49,460
In response to the bill,
the leading showmen of the era

345
00:23:49,460 --> 00:23:52,220
met to defend
their transient lifestyle.

346
00:23:55,060 --> 00:23:59,060
A meeting was called at
the Black Lion Hotel in Salford,

347
00:23:59,060 --> 00:24:02,660
attended by the leading
lights of the day.

348
00:24:02,660 --> 00:24:09,540
Pat Collins, the Studs, the Whites
from Scotland, and so on.

349
00:24:09,540 --> 00:24:13,140
And they agreed that they would form
a group to be known as

350
00:24:13,140 --> 00:24:17,260
the United Kingdom Van Dwellers
Protection Association.

351
00:24:17,260 --> 00:24:19,860
And its aim was to oppose

352
00:24:19,860 --> 00:24:24,260
and hopefully defeat this bill that
was being proposed in Parliament.

353
00:24:24,260 --> 00:24:27,700
It took them four years to do it
but eventually they made

354
00:24:27,700 --> 00:24:30,660
enough friends in both
Houses of Parliament

355
00:24:30,660 --> 00:24:32,620
to have this bill kicked out.

356
00:24:34,900 --> 00:24:38,620
This group was renamed
the Showmen's Guild of Great Britain

357
00:24:38,620 --> 00:24:40,820
and would now represent
the community

358
00:24:40,820 --> 00:24:42,700
who ran Britain's fairgrounds.

359
00:24:44,340 --> 00:24:47,300
It's a very effective organisation
but it was there firstly

360
00:24:47,300 --> 00:24:51,620
to protect the organisation of
the showmen but then it was there

361
00:24:51,620 --> 00:24:54,620
to protect the fairs
and it's still very effective.

362
00:24:56,340 --> 00:24:58,780
These showmen would orchestrate
the showcasing

363
00:24:58,780 --> 00:25:01,740
of the latest technological
innovations of the age.

364
00:25:07,700 --> 00:25:10,900
In the final years of
the 19th century,

365
00:25:10,900 --> 00:25:14,860
Victorians raced to the fair to
wonder at the marvel of the cinema.

366
00:25:19,260 --> 00:25:23,180
It was on the fairground that this
most important cultural invention

367
00:25:23,180 --> 00:25:24,540
was first widely shown.

368
00:25:30,060 --> 00:25:35,260
And the cinematograph was shown
in February 1897

369
00:25:35,260 --> 00:25:38,700
at King's Lynn Fair but also
in December 1896

370
00:25:38,700 --> 00:25:41,340
at the Royal Agricultural Hall
at the World's Fair

371
00:25:41,340 --> 00:25:45,580
and it was classed as the wonder
of the age, the dawn of modern life.

372
00:25:49,900 --> 00:25:52,460
And people loved it
because what the showmen did,

373
00:25:52,460 --> 00:25:55,980
they would go to the town a week
before, make a film and then show it

374
00:25:55,980 --> 00:25:58,820
at the fair and say, "come and see
yourselves on the screen",

375
00:25:58,820 --> 00:26:00,380
showing ten shows a day.

376
00:26:05,660 --> 00:26:09,220
They showed continuous film shows
every 15 minutes, they brought films

377
00:26:09,220 --> 00:26:11,780
from all over the world,
they commissioned titles.

378
00:26:11,780 --> 00:26:15,220
Melies, Pathe, all the big film
makers and film companies

379
00:26:15,220 --> 00:26:16,700
sold direct to the showmen.

380
00:26:16,700 --> 00:26:22,180
You would have 14 cinematograph
shows at Hull Fair alone in 1901.

381
00:26:22,180 --> 00:26:25,380
One after another
and the people screamed

382
00:26:25,380 --> 00:26:27,380
for this wonderful new attraction

383
00:26:27,380 --> 00:26:30,780
and it wasn't until 1909
that permanent cinemas

384
00:26:30,780 --> 00:26:34,020
were built so for the first 13 years
of its life,

385
00:26:34,020 --> 00:26:37,580
cinema belonged to the fairground
and was born on the fairground.

386
00:26:49,500 --> 00:26:52,500
Into the first decade
of the 20th century,

387
00:26:52,500 --> 00:26:55,980
Britain's industrial heartlands
were expanding

388
00:26:55,980 --> 00:27:01,100
and these growing urban communities
demanded popular entertainment.

389
00:27:03,220 --> 00:27:06,860
In areas like South Wales,
it was the travelling fair

390
00:27:06,860 --> 00:27:08,820
that was the first to meet
this demand.

391
00:27:08,820 --> 00:27:12,900
Something that could burst into
the town and like a rocket,

392
00:27:12,900 --> 00:27:14,180
explode all over it.

393
00:27:20,260 --> 00:27:23,340
The these were very much workaday
towns, workaday villages,

394
00:27:23,340 --> 00:27:26,980
terraces, particularly in
the South Wales coalfields,
springing up overnight.

395
00:27:26,980 --> 00:27:30,220
They didn't at this stage,
let's say 1890s, early 1900s,

396
00:27:30,220 --> 00:27:35,380
particularly have the later
workmen's institutes,
libraries, and gymnasiums.

397
00:27:35,380 --> 00:27:39,100
They didn't necessarily have
music hall theatres.

398
00:27:39,100 --> 00:27:42,460
The Empire in Tonypandy
is opened in 1909.

399
00:27:42,460 --> 00:27:46,500
What they did have,
therefore, breaking
into their workaday existence

400
00:27:46,500 --> 00:27:49,500
were the traditional aspects
of working-class life,

401
00:27:49,500 --> 00:27:53,580
even from rural working-class life,
and that is festivals and feast days.

402
00:27:53,580 --> 00:27:55,740
Or in this instance,
the coming of the fair.

403
00:28:02,340 --> 00:28:06,740
In these communities working men
were drawn to the fairground
boxing booths,

404
00:28:06,740 --> 00:28:10,700
where they could challenge
the showmen's prizefighters.

405
00:28:17,500 --> 00:28:19,900
You'd have guys coming off
night shifts,

406
00:28:19,900 --> 00:28:24,940
you'd have ready money to spend
because these were young, very fit
colliers by and large.

407
00:28:24,940 --> 00:28:27,500
This was a very masculine
kind of society.

408
00:28:27,500 --> 00:28:32,020
They would arrive and see, let's say,
Black Jack Scarrott's boxing booth,

409
00:28:32,020 --> 00:28:37,620
and Black Jack would have his picked
men parading in front of the crowd.

410
00:28:40,180 --> 00:28:44,820
He would say, "My man here will have
his hands tied behind his back

411
00:28:44,820 --> 00:28:49,020
"and if anyone can land a blow on
him within a minute,
here's a golden guinea."

412
00:28:49,020 --> 00:28:51,660
A golden guinea,
that was a lot of money.

413
00:28:51,660 --> 00:28:54,460
Just to hit this guy whose hands
are tied behind his back

414
00:28:54,460 --> 00:28:57,620
and you must have fancied your
chances because you could be

415
00:28:57,620 --> 00:29:03,100
up against someone who was, say,
seven stone or even less, soaking wet
like Little Jimmy Wilde

416
00:29:03,100 --> 00:29:06,780
and you're five foot ten or even
five foot eight,

417
00:29:06,780 --> 00:29:11,140
you're 10 stone, 12 stone,
you're a collier,
of course you'll knock this guy out.

418
00:29:11,140 --> 00:29:12,180
Only you don't.

419
00:29:16,500 --> 00:29:20,940
Fighters like Jimmy Wilde and fellow
Welshman Jim Driscoll emerged

420
00:29:20,940 --> 00:29:24,620
from the fairground boxing booths
to become world champions

421
00:29:24,620 --> 00:29:29,580
in their own right
and were later inducted into
the Boxing Hall of Fame.

422
00:29:29,580 --> 00:29:33,220
I think the classic boxing story
in terms of the boxing booth

423
00:29:33,220 --> 00:29:34,820
would be Jimmy Wilde.

424
00:29:34,820 --> 00:29:39,060
Jimmy Wilde, born in 1892,
growing up in the Rhondda,

425
00:29:39,060 --> 00:29:44,660
a tiny man, very long arms,
not somebody you would've ever
imagined could be a boxer

426
00:29:44,660 --> 00:29:47,020
but of course in that time,
in that place,

427
00:29:47,020 --> 00:29:50,300
and with his physical fitness
and stamina, he soon was.

428
00:29:52,940 --> 00:29:56,620
And he naturally would've gravitated
towards the boxing booths

429
00:29:56,620 --> 00:29:59,980
and very quickly proved himself,
despite looking tiny and sickly,

430
00:29:59,980 --> 00:30:03,500
as an expert knockout artist.

431
00:30:03,500 --> 00:30:07,700
That's the key of course with Wilde,
he could knock people out

432
00:30:07,700 --> 00:30:11,900
by a combination of, I don't know,
technique and efficiency

433
00:30:11,900 --> 00:30:15,580
yet at the same time, if you saw him,
you think you'd have a good chance.

434
00:30:15,580 --> 00:30:19,860
One Easter Bank Holiday
in Jack Scarrott's booths in Swansea,

435
00:30:19,860 --> 00:30:22,460
he knocked 22 men out.

436
00:30:24,300 --> 00:30:29,420
And in Wilde's case, very rapidly,
this boxing booth phenomenon,

437
00:30:29,420 --> 00:30:34,300
1900s to 1908, 1909, was going
to gravitate towards

438
00:30:34,300 --> 00:30:37,100
the growing professionalisation
of the sport

439
00:30:37,100 --> 00:30:40,940
and the ability of working men
like Wilde to become, by 1916,

440
00:30:40,940 --> 00:30:44,100
champion of the world,
which he remained until 1922,

441
00:30:44,100 --> 00:30:47,660
but absolutely straight out
of the boxing booth.

442
00:30:52,340 --> 00:30:55,380
The boxing booths
eventually declined

443
00:30:55,380 --> 00:30:58,300
as the sport began to become
fully professional.

444
00:31:00,860 --> 00:31:04,740
But these fighters from the fair
established much

445
00:31:04,740 --> 00:31:07,180
of what is modern boxing today.

446
00:31:15,460 --> 00:31:18,140
'All the elements that you see
in modern boxing today'

447
00:31:18,140 --> 00:31:21,380
are from the fair. The way
that the people come on to the ring,

448
00:31:21,380 --> 00:31:24,460
the way they issue the challenge,
the whole showmanship.

449
00:31:24,460 --> 00:31:28,100
"Are you ready to rumble?", that's
just like, "Roll up, roll up".

450
00:31:28,100 --> 00:31:30,340
And I think the reason
why boxing as a sport

451
00:31:30,340 --> 00:31:34,580
actually also has
this kind of weird reputation

452
00:31:34,580 --> 00:31:36,260
is because of those showman aspects
of it, the showman roots.

453
00:31:36,260 --> 00:31:40,060
People don't think of it as a sport,
they think of it as entertainment.

454
00:31:40,060 --> 00:31:43,140
SHE SHOUTS

455
00:31:53,300 --> 00:31:56,980
After the First World War, the
fairground entered a new modern age

456
00:31:56,980 --> 00:32:00,220
with the introduction
of electricity.

457
00:32:02,740 --> 00:32:05,460
'What's interesting,
the Victorian age'

458
00:32:05,460 --> 00:32:09,140
and then the Edwardian age, is known
as the golden age of the fairground,

459
00:32:09,140 --> 00:32:11,220
but what I find fascinating
is the next form of transformation,

460
00:32:11,220 --> 00:32:15,020
which is the 1920s,
and I call it the push-button fair,

461
00:32:15,020 --> 00:32:17,340
where suddenly you get
the electric fair,

462
00:32:17,340 --> 00:32:19,020
the fair becomes modern, sleek.

463
00:32:20,820 --> 00:32:23,940
You get the waltzer, which is a ride

464
00:32:23,940 --> 00:32:26,660
that every generation
thinks is theirs.

465
00:32:26,660 --> 00:32:29,580
In the 1920s,
there's Mr Jackson's Waltzing Cars.

466
00:32:29,580 --> 00:32:32,060
How mundane does that sound!

467
00:32:34,140 --> 00:32:37,540
In the 1950s,
it's the rock'n'roll waltzer.

468
00:32:38,820 --> 00:32:41,940
In the 1970s,
it's the disco waltzer.

469
00:32:41,940 --> 00:32:44,060
In the 1980s, it's the rave machine.

470
00:32:46,140 --> 00:32:47,980
What an amazing ride!

471
00:32:47,980 --> 00:32:52,100
The same ride has been exciting
children, or people, or teenagers,

472
00:32:52,100 --> 00:32:53,420
for over 80 years.

473
00:32:58,700 --> 00:33:03,180
The invention of electric lights
would change the experience

474
00:33:03,180 --> 00:33:04,900
of a trip to the fair.

475
00:33:06,100 --> 00:33:09,580
Electric lighting was probably seen
by most people for the first time

476
00:33:09,580 --> 00:33:12,180
at their local fair.

477
00:33:12,180 --> 00:33:15,580
They didn't have lighting
in their houses.

478
00:33:15,580 --> 00:33:20,420
They'd been used to paraffin
lamps, candles, whatever.

479
00:33:21,620 --> 00:33:23,460
But to go to the fairground

480
00:33:23,460 --> 00:33:28,100
and see the rows of bright bulbs

481
00:33:28,100 --> 00:33:30,100
was something remarkable.

482
00:33:32,620 --> 00:33:36,060
But it was the arrival
of one electric ride from America

483
00:33:36,060 --> 00:33:39,940
in 1928 that really caught
the imagination.

484
00:33:44,340 --> 00:33:48,340
The "sssh-k" of electricity,
the connectors at the top of it.

485
00:33:48,340 --> 00:33:51,140
"How does it work?
Can I get that person back?"

486
00:33:51,140 --> 00:33:53,780
You bash, you clash,
you go round in circles,

487
00:33:53,780 --> 00:33:55,580
you never get where you're going.

488
00:34:03,300 --> 00:34:07,460
The dodgems caused a sensation on
fairs around the country

489
00:34:07,460 --> 00:34:12,340
and would go on to become the most
popular ride of the 20th century.

490
00:34:12,340 --> 00:34:17,180
The great beauty of a ride on the
dodgem is that it is the only ride

491
00:34:17,180 --> 00:34:20,980
on the fairground where you are
in control as the rider,

492
00:34:20,980 --> 00:34:23,020
the man behind the steering wheel.

493
00:34:23,020 --> 00:34:25,180
This is why you fought over it
as a kid

494
00:34:25,180 --> 00:34:28,740
cos you wanted to be there,
you wanted to drive that car

495
00:34:28,740 --> 00:34:32,700
and of course, you were probably not
old enough to have a licence

496
00:34:32,700 --> 00:34:37,620
and drive a car on the road, but you
could drive a car on the dodgem track

497
00:34:37,620 --> 00:34:40,860
and more to the point,
you could bump into another car.

498
00:34:44,140 --> 00:34:47,940
With the coming of electricity
to the fair, the bulky steam rides

499
00:34:47,940 --> 00:34:52,340
of the Victorian era were replaced
by electric-powered attractions,

500
00:34:52,340 --> 00:34:57,140
like the dodgems, which could offer
a faster, more thrilling experience.

501
00:35:01,380 --> 00:35:04,900
The advance of the fairground rides
is entirely dependent

502
00:35:04,900 --> 00:35:07,180
upon the technology to support them,

503
00:35:07,180 --> 00:35:12,900
not just the engines that drove
them, but also, the metals,

504
00:35:12,900 --> 00:35:15,620
the engineering that could
actually build the rides.

505
00:35:17,100 --> 00:35:21,980
They are actually
quite simple in concept.

506
00:35:21,980 --> 00:35:25,700
I mean, they all depend on arcs
and circles.

507
00:35:25,700 --> 00:35:28,300
You either go round and round,
or you go up and down,

508
00:35:28,300 --> 00:35:30,460
or you go up and down
and round and round.

509
00:35:30,460 --> 00:35:35,100
But it is all based on
a sort of simple concept.

510
00:35:35,100 --> 00:35:43,140
But the complications are introduced
by the advances in technologies.

511
00:35:48,500 --> 00:35:52,980
Out of this new electric age
emerged many of the rides

512
00:35:52,980 --> 00:35:54,460
that we see today.

513
00:35:54,460 --> 00:35:58,220
In the years leading up
to the second world war,

514
00:35:58,220 --> 00:36:01,260
the dodgems were soon followed
by the Ghost Train,

515
00:36:01,260 --> 00:36:03,660
the Skid,

516
00:36:03,660 --> 00:36:06,100
the Mont Blanc

517
00:36:06,100 --> 00:36:07,580
and the Speedway.

518
00:36:10,540 --> 00:36:12,140
BOMBER ENGINE WAILS

519
00:36:12,940 --> 00:36:15,780
BOMBS EXPLODE

520
00:36:17,300 --> 00:36:19,420
At the outbreak of the
Second World War,

521
00:36:19,420 --> 00:36:24,420
many fairs were forced to close down
and the fairground community,

522
00:36:24,420 --> 00:36:26,460
like everyone else in Britain,

523
00:36:26,460 --> 00:36:29,140
did their bit to help
defend the country.

524
00:36:30,700 --> 00:36:35,660
All walks of life contributed
to the war effort.

525
00:36:35,660 --> 00:36:40,140
Our community lost quite a lot
of showmen fighting in the war.

526
00:36:40,140 --> 00:36:44,980
But what the fairground community
did, they got together

527
00:36:44,980 --> 00:36:48,540
and raised a fund to pay for
an aeroplane, a Spitfire.

528
00:36:48,540 --> 00:36:52,060
And that Spitfire was called
The Fun Of The Fair.

529
00:36:53,580 --> 00:36:55,260
The women operated the fairs,

530
00:36:55,260 --> 00:37:00,180
they raised within nine months
£4,000, purely from the showmen,

531
00:37:00,180 --> 00:37:03,780
to buy a Spitfire for the nation
because they didn't have any money,

532
00:37:03,780 --> 00:37:06,540
the Government didn't have
enough Spitfires.

533
00:37:06,540 --> 00:37:11,300
So £4,000 they raised
and we're rightly proud of that.

534
00:37:18,700 --> 00:37:21,340
The years following the end
of the Second World War

535
00:37:21,340 --> 00:37:25,820
would see the fairground reach the
peak of its popularity in Britain

536
00:37:25,820 --> 00:37:29,420
with people keen to enjoy themselves
after six years of conflict.

537
00:37:32,180 --> 00:37:35,780
The post war years
were a particularly good time

538
00:37:35,780 --> 00:37:37,220
on the fairground.

539
00:37:37,220 --> 00:37:42,140
We'd emerged from war,
somewhat hard-up.

540
00:37:42,140 --> 00:37:44,900
It was the age of austerity.

541
00:37:44,900 --> 00:37:46,980
There was rationing.

542
00:37:46,980 --> 00:37:49,900
But there was more or less
full employment.

543
00:37:49,900 --> 00:37:52,460
So, people were in work,
they had money,

544
00:37:52,460 --> 00:37:56,260
but they had very little to spend it
on because of rationing,

545
00:37:56,260 --> 00:38:00,780
so the entertainment industry
in general, whether it be the theatre

546
00:38:00,780 --> 00:38:05,460
the cinema, the fairground
or the circus, the holiday camps,

547
00:38:05,460 --> 00:38:07,340
did extremely well.

548
00:38:07,340 --> 00:38:10,020
It was a very busy time for showman.

549
00:38:12,900 --> 00:38:14,940
But the fair was changing.

550
00:38:14,940 --> 00:38:18,020
Victorian favourites like
the freak shows were on the wane,

551
00:38:18,020 --> 00:38:21,060
in line with new social attitudes.

552
00:38:21,060 --> 00:38:24,500
I can give you the reason
in a nutshell.

553
00:38:24,500 --> 00:38:29,180
20 years ago, there was plenty
of fat ladies, tattooed ladies,

554
00:38:29,180 --> 00:38:32,620
armless men, midgets, dwarfs etc.

555
00:38:32,620 --> 00:38:37,500
But in those days,
the people were poorer

556
00:38:37,500 --> 00:38:40,940
and they were only too happy
to have their children earn a living

557
00:38:40,940 --> 00:38:44,900
and that was that the showmen came
together and put them on exhibition.

558
00:38:44,900 --> 00:38:47,660
But today, in a welfare state,

559
00:38:47,660 --> 00:38:50,500
you never hear anything at all
about these people.

560
00:38:51,940 --> 00:38:56,900
Through the 1950s, freak shows
were replaced in popularity

561
00:38:56,900 --> 00:38:58,780
by Wild West shows.

562
00:39:03,340 --> 00:39:06,540
One of the most famous
Wild West show families

563
00:39:06,540 --> 00:39:09,340
in fifties Britain
was the Shufflebottoms.

564
00:39:11,820 --> 00:39:16,180
Florence began performing in her
father's show from the age of 13.

565
00:39:17,940 --> 00:39:21,220
As I grew up,
after the Second World War,

566
00:39:21,220 --> 00:39:25,980
I was 13 and I joined my father,
their little sideshow that they had,

567
00:39:25,980 --> 00:39:28,540
and I used to stand for my father
to do the shooting

568
00:39:28,540 --> 00:39:30,860
and the knife throwing.
And I did love dancing.

569
00:39:30,860 --> 00:39:33,460
I love dancing now but I can't.

570
00:39:33,460 --> 00:39:34,980
My knees are gone.

571
00:39:40,780 --> 00:39:44,220
The Shufflebottom family had been
presenting their Wild West show

572
00:39:44,220 --> 00:39:46,420
for three generations.

573
00:39:46,420 --> 00:39:50,420
Legend had it that Florence's
great grandfather was a cowboy.

574
00:39:50,420 --> 00:39:54,100
who came to Britain in the 1880s
with the popular American showman

575
00:39:54,100 --> 00:39:55,500
Buffalo Bill.

576
00:39:57,780 --> 00:40:01,300
Buffalo Bill came over to England
in the 1880s

577
00:40:01,300 --> 00:40:04,020
and according to the family's story,

578
00:40:04,020 --> 00:40:08,300
Texas Bill came over
with Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show.

579
00:40:08,300 --> 00:40:11,020
But I don't think I've ever heard
of an American cowboy

580
00:40:11,020 --> 00:40:12,780
called Shufflebottom.

581
00:40:14,020 --> 00:40:17,420
More like the real tale is
that he came from Lancashire,

582
00:40:17,420 --> 00:40:22,100
because his name was Shufflebottom
and that is a Lancashire name.

583
00:40:23,220 --> 00:40:27,460
And I do know for a fact that he
worked for Buffalo Bill,

584
00:40:27,460 --> 00:40:30,700
because in my grandfather's day,
everybody had horses

585
00:40:30,700 --> 00:40:34,580
and he was very good with horses,
I believe.

586
00:40:34,580 --> 00:40:38,620
Then he had ten children and each
of them had a Wild West show.

587
00:40:38,620 --> 00:40:44,260
My favourite one was the Colorado's
and Florence Shufflebottom.

588
00:40:44,260 --> 00:40:47,180
Her father was known as
Ricardo Colorado.

589
00:40:48,500 --> 00:40:51,060
Florence was such a skilled
performer that

590
00:40:51,060 --> 00:40:55,660
she soon became the celebrity face
of the fairground in the 1950s.

591
00:40:56,860 --> 00:41:00,100
And the smash-hit musical
Annie Get Your Gun

592
00:41:00,100 --> 00:41:02,340
was on at the West End
and we went to see it.

593
00:41:02,340 --> 00:41:04,380
So, of course,
doing the sharp-shooting

594
00:41:04,380 --> 00:41:07,580
and wearing these costumes
and Annie Get Your Gun being popular,

595
00:41:07,580 --> 00:41:10,220
I got a lot of publicity
out of that because I was known as

596
00:41:10,220 --> 00:41:12,420
the British Annie Oakley.

597
00:41:12,420 --> 00:41:13,740
# Anything you can do

598
00:41:13,740 --> 00:41:14,860
# I can do better

599
00:41:14,860 --> 00:41:16,860
# I can do anything better than you

600
00:41:16,860 --> 00:41:18,660
# No, you can't
# Yes, I can... #

601
00:41:18,660 --> 00:41:21,220
She could do Wild West,
she could do sharp-shooting,

602
00:41:21,220 --> 00:41:22,780
she could do knife throwing.

603
00:41:22,780 --> 00:41:25,700
Any showman of a certain age
will go weak in the knees

604
00:41:25,700 --> 00:41:28,340
when you talk about
Florence Shufflebottom.

605
00:41:28,340 --> 00:41:30,820
She was the pin-up girl.
Such an amazing performer.

606
00:41:30,820 --> 00:41:32,020
# No, you're not

607
00:41:32,020 --> 00:41:33,420
# Yes, I am... #

608
00:41:33,420 --> 00:41:36,820
But my father wanted me
to do the sharp shooting

609
00:41:36,820 --> 00:41:38,700
and I didn't really want to

610
00:41:38,700 --> 00:41:42,700
because I didn't like firearms then
and I don't like them now,

611
00:41:42,700 --> 00:41:45,500
but I wanted to help my father,
it made it easier for him,

612
00:41:45,500 --> 00:41:47,260
and he trained me to do the shooting.

613
00:41:49,260 --> 00:41:53,020
But Florence's career
as a Wild West sharpshooter ended

614
00:41:53,020 --> 00:41:55,820
after an accident
during one performance.

615
00:41:57,460 --> 00:42:01,460
I was very good at it, although I
say so myself, I was very good.

616
00:42:01,460 --> 00:42:06,500
I was very confident,
until one day when I had an accident.

617
00:42:06,500 --> 00:42:10,300
And it wasn't my fault. I shot my
mother in the finger knuckle.

618
00:42:10,300 --> 00:42:13,220
She was holding three pipes
in a spray fashion like that

619
00:42:13,220 --> 00:42:16,220
against the target board,
and I was laid down on the floor

620
00:42:16,220 --> 00:42:18,380
and I had to shoot that way.

621
00:42:18,380 --> 00:42:21,180
Now, the rifle I was using
was a pump-action rifle

622
00:42:21,180 --> 00:42:24,540
and as you did that, the empty
cartridge, the empty shell,

623
00:42:24,540 --> 00:42:26,020
went over your shoulder.

624
00:42:26,020 --> 00:42:29,300
And a little boy in the audience
jumped up to catch it, knocked me,

625
00:42:29,300 --> 00:42:33,540
and the rifle came up and the bullet
went through my mother's knuckle.

626
00:42:34,940 --> 00:42:38,460
From that day on,
I lost my confidence, I really did.

627
00:42:38,460 --> 00:42:41,660
I knew I could do it,
but I didn't enjoy it any more.

628
00:42:41,660 --> 00:42:43,900
Where before, I used to enjoy
performing,

629
00:42:43,900 --> 00:42:45,700
I didn't enjoy
doing the shooting.

630
00:42:47,020 --> 00:42:49,900
# There's no business

631
00:42:49,900 --> 00:42:52,580
# Like show business... #

632
00:42:52,580 --> 00:42:56,020
But this accident didn't dent
Florence's fairground career

633
00:42:56,020 --> 00:42:59,620
as she soon began performing
with live snakes.

634
00:42:59,620 --> 00:43:02,340
# Soon you'll be appearing... #

635
00:43:02,340 --> 00:43:04,020
We had three, actually.

636
00:43:04,020 --> 00:43:06,220
We had a small one and two big ones.

637
00:43:06,220 --> 00:43:10,540
We used to take the small one out of
the box and show it to the audience

638
00:43:10,540 --> 00:43:13,940
and put it round me and most people
would go, "Ohhh, snakes!".

639
00:43:13,940 --> 00:43:17,060
And when they got used to seeing me
with the small snake,

640
00:43:17,060 --> 00:43:19,260
then you'd go
and pick up the big snake.

641
00:43:19,260 --> 00:43:21,500
They were really amazed at that.

642
00:43:21,500 --> 00:43:25,300
I used to finish the performance
by doing what they call

643
00:43:25,300 --> 00:43:26,580
the kiss of death.

644
00:43:26,580 --> 00:43:30,220
I never, and if you look at all
the photographs of me,

645
00:43:30,220 --> 00:43:32,460
I never held a snake's
head like that.

646
00:43:32,460 --> 00:43:35,980
I always let the snakes be free.
I had my hand underneath the snake

647
00:43:35,980 --> 00:43:38,340
and they used to do it
of their own accord.

648
00:43:38,340 --> 00:43:41,900
I'd stand like that and open my mouth
and they'd put their head in my mouth

649
00:43:41,900 --> 00:43:45,020
and that was the kiss of death
and used to finish my performance.

650
00:43:45,020 --> 00:43:55,780
# Let's go on with the show... #

651
00:43:59,460 --> 00:44:02,500
While Florence was thrilling
fifties crowds,

652
00:44:02,500 --> 00:44:06,420
the sights and sounds
of the fairground around her

653
00:44:06,420 --> 00:44:09,060
were about to be revolutionised...

654
00:44:09,060 --> 00:44:11,340
by the arrival of rock'n'roll.

655
00:44:13,980 --> 00:44:17,500
Rock'n'roll was made
for the fairground.

656
00:44:17,500 --> 00:44:20,980
And it was the only place really
you could hear

657
00:44:20,980 --> 00:44:22,460
loud rock'n'roll
for absolutely nothing.

658
00:44:24,140 --> 00:44:27,300
And you have
a sort of unholy alliance

659
00:44:27,300 --> 00:44:30,540
between youth and bright lights

660
00:44:30,540 --> 00:44:35,580
and things going fast
and popular music.

661
00:44:35,580 --> 00:44:37,580
# Jailhouse rock

662
00:44:37,580 --> 00:44:39,940
# Everybody, let's rock

663
00:44:41,300 --> 00:44:44,260
# Everybody in the whole cell block

664
00:44:44,260 --> 00:44:46,540
# Was dancing to
the Jailhouse Rock... #

665
00:44:48,020 --> 00:44:52,420
It was not a place
for your parents' music,

666
00:44:52,420 --> 00:44:54,020
it was YOUR music.

667
00:44:54,020 --> 00:44:56,540
In the 1950s, it was rock'n'roll.

668
00:44:56,540 --> 00:44:58,780
# The whole rhythm section
Was a purple gang

669
00:44:58,780 --> 00:45:00,420
# Let's rock... #

670
00:45:00,420 --> 00:45:03,380
It was hand in hand
with the idea of Teddy Boys,

671
00:45:03,380 --> 00:45:06,780
with the beginnings of youth culture,
with youth fashions,

672
00:45:06,780 --> 00:45:10,020
that was happening in the
post-war period.

673
00:45:10,020 --> 00:45:12,780
Kids had money to spend
and they could go and spend it

674
00:45:12,780 --> 00:45:14,100
wherever they wanted.

675
00:45:14,100 --> 00:45:19,660
And the fairground was an essential
part of that...ostentation.

676
00:45:19,660 --> 00:45:22,420
SCREAMING

677
00:45:22,420 --> 00:45:24,980
# I want to stick around
I want to get my kicks

678
00:45:24,980 --> 00:45:27,020
# Let's rock

679
00:45:27,020 --> 00:45:28,660
# Everybody, let's rock... #

680
00:45:28,660 --> 00:45:31,500
With the fairground,
you've got this amazing arena,

681
00:45:31,500 --> 00:45:35,660
because you've got the technology
that can pump this stuff out.

682
00:45:35,660 --> 00:45:39,380
But you've also got a stage,
upon which Mods and Rockers

683
00:45:39,380 --> 00:45:43,260
can come and preen
and exhibit themselves.

684
00:45:43,260 --> 00:45:45,700
Stand under flattering
electric lights.

685
00:45:45,700 --> 00:45:51,020
# They say the joint was rocking
Going round and round

686
00:45:51,020 --> 00:45:55,540
# Yeah, reeling and rocking,
with a crazy sound... #

687
00:45:55,540 --> 00:45:56,900
The coming of rock'n'roll

688
00:45:56,900 --> 00:46:00,460
led to the birth of Britain's
first youth culture.

689
00:46:00,460 --> 00:46:03,860
And with fairgrounds reverberating
to the new music,

690
00:46:03,860 --> 00:46:07,020
the fair now seemed to belong
to teenagers.

691
00:46:07,020 --> 00:46:12,020
# Rose out of my seat
just headed down... #

692
00:46:12,020 --> 00:46:16,780
I can remember seeing my first
Teddy Boys at a fairground

693
00:46:16,780 --> 00:46:20,620
and being absolutely fascinated
by this idea of the exotic.

694
00:46:20,620 --> 00:46:24,020
The Edwardian velvet collars
and the cowboy bootlace ties.

695
00:46:24,020 --> 00:46:26,460
# Yeah, reeling and rocking... #

696
00:46:26,460 --> 00:46:30,740
These were the people our parents
warned us about.

697
00:46:30,740 --> 00:46:33,700
But we wanted to be them.
They were so magnificent.

698
00:46:33,700 --> 00:46:40,300
Peacocks in their splendour, as they
paraded through the crowds of people.

699
00:46:45,620 --> 00:46:48,660
Throughout the '50s and '60s,

700
00:46:48,660 --> 00:46:52,620
fairgrounds became a place where
boys and girls would go to meet.

701
00:46:52,620 --> 00:46:54,300
# Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

702
00:46:54,300 --> 00:46:57,300
# Louie, Louie... #

703
00:46:57,300 --> 00:46:59,300
It's hard for us to
imagine these days,

704
00:46:59,300 --> 00:47:03,460
but there were very few places
for courting in the 1950s.

705
00:47:03,460 --> 00:47:08,260
And the fair would arrive as this
zone of liberty.

706
00:47:08,260 --> 00:47:13,940
And young couples could go there
not to transgress
particularly

707
00:47:13,940 --> 00:47:17,260
but just to shout at
one another, to eye one another up.

708
00:47:17,260 --> 00:47:21,340
To do la marcha - the girls
would walk down one side, the
boys would walk down the other.

709
00:47:21,340 --> 00:47:26,220
You'd eye each other up.
Fashions would be spotted.

710
00:47:26,220 --> 00:47:28,540
# Louie, Louie

711
00:47:28,540 --> 00:47:31,500
# Oh, baby, I've gotta go... #

712
00:47:31,500 --> 00:47:35,020
Our October fair was the
high point of the school year.

713
00:47:35,020 --> 00:47:39,620
You had to have a boyfriend for the
fair. You couldn't go on your own.

714
00:47:39,620 --> 00:47:43,380
If you went with a girl who went
with you, your best friend,

715
00:47:43,380 --> 00:47:45,620
you'd sort of failed.

716
00:47:57,100 --> 00:48:00,540
There's a sort of sexual charge
about the fairground, too.

717
00:48:00,540 --> 00:48:04,900
It's the kind of place where boys
and girls might get together,
away from the parental eye.

718
00:48:04,900 --> 00:48:08,420
You'd go down the Tunnel of Love,
or up on the Ferris Wheel.

719
00:48:08,420 --> 00:48:10,860
You know, your dad can't see what
you're doing up there.

720
00:48:12,140 --> 00:48:15,380
And where young people go,
in packs and gangs,

721
00:48:15,380 --> 00:48:17,340
and can face each other off.

722
00:48:27,260 --> 00:48:30,900
By the 1960s,
new rides had arrived at the fair,

723
00:48:30,900 --> 00:48:35,900
which added to the youthful edginess
of the whole fairground experience.

724
00:48:35,900 --> 00:48:37,100
# Boom boom boom boom

725
00:48:38,540 --> 00:48:40,340
# Going to shoot you right down... #

726
00:48:41,940 --> 00:48:45,500
There were rides which originated
in the United States.

727
00:48:45,500 --> 00:48:47,900
There was a ride called
the Dive Bomber,

728
00:48:47,900 --> 00:48:50,340
which sent you through 360 degrees.

729
00:48:50,340 --> 00:48:51,980
# Boom boom boom boom... #

730
00:48:53,460 --> 00:48:54,940
And the Ferris Wheel
became very popular

731
00:48:54,940 --> 00:48:57,260
after the war,
made by an American company.

732
00:48:57,260 --> 00:49:00,860
If you think of a big wheel,
or this Dive Bomber,

733
00:49:00,860 --> 00:49:04,780
it was a teenage boy and girl
situation. You took
your girlfriend up there.

734
00:49:04,780 --> 00:49:06,540
Or the Ghost Train, you took
your girlfriend in there.

735
00:49:06,540 --> 00:49:09,020
SCREAMING

736
00:49:09,020 --> 00:49:13,540
And you hoped that boys would take
you on a scary ride

737
00:49:13,540 --> 00:49:17,020
because then that would give them
the excuse to put their arm

738
00:49:17,020 --> 00:49:19,180
round you, to make sure that you
didn't fall out.

739
00:49:22,420 --> 00:49:26,460
The idea of a girl being frightened
next to you as you come down,

740
00:49:26,460 --> 00:49:31,220
whoomph, into the water flume
or up on The Big One...

741
00:49:31,220 --> 00:49:35,660
The word The Big One, come on,
who are we kidding?
We know what this is about.

742
00:49:35,660 --> 00:49:37,820
SCREAMING

743
00:49:37,820 --> 00:49:40,020
You've made out, you've copped,
you've got to first base,

744
00:49:40,020 --> 00:49:44,980
you've done whatever, because it's
an area where anything goes.

745
00:49:44,980 --> 00:49:49,060
It's a no-man's land,
it's a ground zero of emotions.

746
00:49:49,060 --> 00:49:54,540
And they were also areas that were
considered quite dangerous by boys

747
00:49:54,540 --> 00:49:57,940
because you could go into
a fight with another gang.

748
00:50:06,020 --> 00:50:11,940
Or, the girl you fancied might
go off with a fairground boy.

749
00:50:15,180 --> 00:50:18,660
The romanticism of the gypsy,
and Gypsy Davy,

750
00:50:18,660 --> 00:50:21,220
"Late last night,
when the squire came home,

751
00:50:21,220 --> 00:50:23,420
"looking for his lady."

752
00:50:23,420 --> 00:50:26,220
But she's gone with
"the raggle-taggle gypsies-oh."

753
00:50:26,220 --> 00:50:28,260
"Why do you leave your goose
feather bed?

754
00:50:28,260 --> 00:50:29,940
"All for the love of Davy."

755
00:50:31,660 --> 00:50:33,860
# It was late last night
when the boss came home

756
00:50:33,860 --> 00:50:36,900
# He was asking about his lady

757
00:50:36,900 --> 00:50:41,100
# The only answer he received
'She's gone with gypsy Davy

758
00:50:41,100 --> 00:50:45,020
# 'Gone with gypsy Dave...' #

759
00:50:47,340 --> 00:50:50,700
Well, you see,
you see them walking round

760
00:50:50,700 --> 00:50:54,660
and you look at a few and, you know,
they look a bit...

761
00:50:54,660 --> 00:50:57,780
they've got some money,
well, you don't bother with them.

762
00:50:57,780 --> 00:51:01,100
Look for the ones that's going
around a bit poor looking, you see.

763
00:51:01,100 --> 00:51:03,180
And you've got more chance
with them.

764
00:51:03,180 --> 00:51:05,460
A bit rough looking.
Know what I mean?

765
00:51:05,460 --> 00:51:07,660
A bit rough?
Now, what do you mean?

766
00:51:07,660 --> 00:51:12,540
Well, you know you see some going
round that wouldn't speak to you

767
00:51:12,540 --> 00:51:14,380
look at you,
or anything like that.

768
00:51:14,380 --> 00:51:19,020
You know, you call them over
and they just look at you like that
and walk away again.

769
00:51:19,020 --> 00:51:22,420
If they come over, you know you're
onto something there, you see.

770
00:51:22,420 --> 00:51:23,900
They start chatting to you.

771
00:51:23,900 --> 00:51:26,460
# There in the light
of the camping fire

772
00:51:26,460 --> 00:51:31,020
# I saw her fair face beaming

773
00:51:31,020 --> 00:51:34,060
# Her heart in tune with
the big guitar

774
00:51:34,060 --> 00:51:36,100
# And the voice of
the gypsies singing

775
00:51:36,100 --> 00:51:38,820
# That song of the gypsy Dave... #

776
00:51:39,860 --> 00:51:42,060
And they were always so cool.

777
00:51:42,060 --> 00:51:45,300
They'd be in the middle of the
dodgems going round, and they'd be

778
00:51:45,300 --> 00:51:50,140
leaning there, looking for
all the world as if they owned it.

779
00:51:50,140 --> 00:51:52,860
And they'd walk out as the dodgems
were going round.

780
00:51:52,860 --> 00:51:56,860
If I'd walked out,
I would have fallen flat on my face.

781
00:51:56,860 --> 00:51:59,860
They'd come out and lean on
a dodgem as the girls were there.

782
00:51:59,860 --> 00:52:01,700
And they knew what they were doing.

783
00:52:12,860 --> 00:52:16,700
But this was the high tide of
fairground popularity.

784
00:52:18,540 --> 00:52:21,540
Fairs continued to travel
the country,

785
00:52:21,540 --> 00:52:24,140
but through the 1970s,
other attractions emerged that

786
00:52:24,140 --> 00:52:28,100
began competing for teenage time
and money.

787
00:52:30,220 --> 00:52:34,380
While the rides
and the candyfloss remained,

788
00:52:34,380 --> 00:52:37,940
the side shows went the way of the
boxing booths and disappeared.

789
00:52:43,940 --> 00:52:47,380
In the 1980s, a new style
of entertainment from America

790
00:52:47,380 --> 00:52:49,140
pitched up in Britain.

791
00:52:52,140 --> 00:52:56,420
Theme parks were the ultimate
in white-knuckle rides.

792
00:52:58,780 --> 00:53:02,980
Places like Alton Towers quickly
became among the most popular

793
00:53:02,980 --> 00:53:05,820
tourist attractions in the country.

794
00:53:13,580 --> 00:53:18,460
But these high-tech amusements
also drew a low-tech response,

795
00:53:18,460 --> 00:53:20,740
in the form of vintage fairs,

796
00:53:20,740 --> 00:53:24,020
which tapped into a now growing
feeling of nostalgia

797
00:53:24,020 --> 00:53:26,380
for the traditional fairground.

798
00:53:31,140 --> 00:53:35,620
Nowadays with the fair, people have
a nostalgia for the type of fair

799
00:53:35,620 --> 00:53:39,660
and I think the best example
of the kind of really beautiful,

800
00:53:39,660 --> 00:53:42,860
perfect, ideal fair that
people think of from their childhood,

801
00:53:42,860 --> 00:53:48,700
now we're all getting older,
is the fair of the Carter family.
Carter Steam Fair.

802
00:53:48,700 --> 00:53:51,540
Steam Fair, it's not,
it's actually Carter's Fair

803
00:53:51,540 --> 00:53:55,220
because they've got everything from
the 1900s to the 1950s on their fair.

804
00:53:55,220 --> 00:53:59,260
All the equipment is beautiful,
it's impeccably looked after.

805
00:53:59,260 --> 00:54:01,740
They're only like those
entrepreneurs and showmen

806
00:54:01,740 --> 00:54:03,900
from 100 years ago who came
into the community

807
00:54:03,900 --> 00:54:05,940
and added something new to it.

808
00:54:15,860 --> 00:54:20,020
Today, crowds are attracted to
Carter's Steam Fair for

809
00:54:20,020 --> 00:54:22,500
the experience of being taken
back in time,

810
00:54:22,500 --> 00:54:24,580
to the golden age of the fairground.

811
00:54:29,380 --> 00:54:33,140
We give the public a much more novel
experience because our rides,

812
00:54:33,140 --> 00:54:34,900
some of them are steam-driven.

813
00:54:34,900 --> 00:54:39,300
So they're ranging from 1895,
right through to rock'n'roll.

814
00:54:39,300 --> 00:54:40,660
So they come along,

815
00:54:40,660 --> 00:54:45,620
and I mean, it's been described as
more like a film set than a funfair.

816
00:54:45,620 --> 00:54:50,260
But they can ride on everything.
And we play old music.

817
00:54:50,260 --> 00:54:53,620
It's just like going back into
the past, really.

818
00:54:53,620 --> 00:54:56,780
And we're very non-aggressive...

819
00:54:56,980 --> 00:54:58,780
BELL RINGS

820
00:54:58,780 --> 00:55:02,020
..so we attract families, and we just
like to give them a really good,

821
00:55:02,020 --> 00:55:05,300
old-fashioned experience.

822
00:55:05,300 --> 00:55:08,820
What fun was like before it
got too technical.

823
00:55:08,820 --> 00:55:12,260
TRADITIONAL FAIRGROUND MUSIC PLAYS

824
00:55:12,260 --> 00:55:16,500
Now, it's become part of
the nostalgic world of

825
00:55:16,500 --> 00:55:21,740
the fairground, so that the
steam fair is now something where,

826
00:55:21,740 --> 00:55:25,220
you know, it's almost like going to
a farmers' market, or something

827
00:55:25,220 --> 00:55:28,820
like that, where middle class
people might go to buy posh cheeses.

828
00:55:28,820 --> 00:55:34,580
Here, they go to put their children
on little wooden ducks
that go up and down.

829
00:55:34,580 --> 00:55:38,220
And enter this absolutely
staggeringly beautiful,

830
00:55:38,220 --> 00:55:42,820
painted world, that's been commuted
out of the 19th century

831
00:55:42,820 --> 00:55:47,340
and has somehow been allowed to
survive into the 21st.

832
00:55:47,340 --> 00:55:51,060
SCREAMING

833
00:55:55,820 --> 00:56:00,140
For over 200 years,
travelling fairs have brought
their special magic

834
00:56:00,140 --> 00:56:02,900
to towns across Britain.

835
00:56:04,540 --> 00:56:09,180
Through innovation and invention,
the fair's characters,

836
00:56:09,180 --> 00:56:13,140
shows and rides, created our first
popular entertainment industry.

837
00:56:13,140 --> 00:56:16,740
And there are still 4,000 show
families,

838
00:56:16,740 --> 00:56:19,620
putting on around 200 fairs a week.

839
00:56:22,300 --> 00:56:25,860
As ever, the allure of the
fairground lies in the way

840
00:56:25,860 --> 00:56:27,380
it arrives in our midst.

841
00:56:27,380 --> 00:56:31,500
And then, just as suddenly,
disappears.

842
00:56:33,500 --> 00:56:37,620
# Say goodbye

843
00:56:37,620 --> 00:56:41,180
# My one true lover... #

844
00:56:41,180 --> 00:56:44,580
I think that idea of fairs
being transitory.

845
00:56:44,580 --> 00:56:46,620
Not illusory,
because it happened,

846
00:56:46,620 --> 00:56:49,900
and you might have the goldfish,

847
00:56:49,900 --> 00:56:53,260
or your girlfriend might have
run off with the dodgems guy.

848
00:56:53,260 --> 00:56:57,260
But you've been there and taken part
in this thing that's disappeared.

849
00:56:57,260 --> 00:56:59,980
And there's something quite
magic about that.

850
00:56:59,980 --> 00:57:02,940
You've been there, you've taken part
in it and it's disappeared.

851
00:57:02,940 --> 00:57:08,820
The next day, there's just
this little muddy field
where things had been.

852
00:57:08,820 --> 00:57:11,860
They've packed up their tents
and gone into the night.

853
00:57:11,860 --> 00:57:14,100
# Dawn is breaking... #

854
00:57:14,100 --> 00:57:16,580
It was the marks in the grass,
the rings in the grass.

855
00:57:16,580 --> 00:57:18,980
The rings appear, the fair's there,

856
00:57:18,980 --> 00:57:20,900
and then they go.
And as they vanish,

857
00:57:20,900 --> 00:57:24,420
they grow back again just in time
for the fair to come again.

858
00:57:24,420 --> 00:57:27,020
# Until I die

859
00:57:27,020 --> 00:57:35,420
# Oh, the carnival is over

860
00:57:35,420 --> 00:57:42,900
# I will roam until I die

861
00:57:42,900 --> 00:57:46,380
# Oh, I will roam

862
00:57:46,380 --> 00:57:49,780
# Until I die

863
00:57:49,780 --> 00:57:53,900
# Oh, I will roam

864
00:57:53,900 --> 00:57:58,580
# Until I die

865
00:57:58,580 --> 00:58:01,500
# I will roam

866
00:58:01,500 --> 00:58:05,180
# Until I die. #