Good Old Days

I can still remember the "old country fair" as if it were yesterday. The days when they put up the "big top" tent. Today's fairs are nothing like when I was a kid growing up. There are no longer the tents where kids used to sneak under the bottom to gain free access. They have gone too commercial and not as much fun as in the good old days. I remember when it was a celebration of excellence in personal skills like moms pickles, pies, apple butter , home made quilts and etc. Dads farming skills and his live stock. Sure we still have the live stock but it isn't like it used to be.

It was a time where you could show off something you had worked hard on all year and show off to your neighbors. Now a days it is just to show off to try to beat the competition. It has truly changed in modern times. Most the fairs while I was growing up were family events. Now they are just too commercial for me.

The food at fairs isn't what it used to be either. Now you have food that you sit down to eat, even complete meals can be bought. When I was little there were no such places to sit down and eat, unless you sat on the ground which often we did. But there certainly was no table and chairs to sit at. I loved the cotton candy and my all time favorite was drumstick ice cream cones and candy apples. These things they still have at fairs today.

There were watermelon, corn, and pie eating contests. This was great entertainment to me. I don't think they have these things any more. In various tents, out front would be what they called a barker. He would yell loudly to get peoples attention and tell them a little bit about what was in side of his tent. He didn't tell you a lot about it just enough to perk your interest enough so you would buy admission to his tent.

I never saw this but I remember them talking about a "little Egypt." She was suppose to be some kind of exotic dancer. A belly dancer we call them today. My parents wouldn't let me see this, but I sure was interested in it.

The rides were super. They still have some of the rides today I rode back in those days but they have jazzed them up a bit. There was the tilt-a-whirl,bumper cars, merry-go-round and my favorite the ferris wheel. Even tho I loved this ride I always got scared when they stopped it at the top.

Yes sir, I will never forget when the circus and fairs all came to town. We waited all year for the next one to arrive. I liked watching them sit up the "big top."We had more fairs in our town than circuses.