WP2: Pre-writing 2

A well-know American tradition is the traveling carnival that passes through towns in the late summer, setting up stands for food, booths of arcade games, and sometimes larger rides like Ferris wheels, the Zipper, and the Octopus. These types of carnivals seem to be combining with theme parks and have evolved from what carnivals were thought to be when they first began traveling the U.S. in the 19^th century, where “entertainment in rural America consisted of traveling circuses and burlesque troops, vaudeville and magic-lantern shows, all traversing the country by train or horse-and-buggy, offering temporary relief from the boredom of country life” (Traveling Circuses).

These types of traveling carnivals often featured performance by those with odd talents like sword-swallowing and ‘freak’ shows that put the strange and weird on display for the public. The people who signed up for these types of profession were not always the most quality or honest people and were often avoiding the law or had some other reason to not stay in one place. The combination of bizarre exhibits, strange people, and the supposed attitude of ‘anything goes’ created a reputation for the carnivals of a dirty, dangerous, and deceitful place of low morality. However, they still attracted crowds of people wherever they went, which proved it was still entertainment.

As the century turned, similar sorts of gathering of rides and exhibits were developing in what was known as amusement parks. The first of these appeared in Chicago in the 1890s, which was modeled after a mini-amusement park at the World’s Colombian Exposition, otherwise known as the Chicago World’s Fair (Amusement Parks). These types of gatherings were more geared to families and featured rides and booths for winning prizes and such, like Ferris wheels.

More recently, the carnivals that we see traveling the roads of America are more of a combination of the early carnivals and the later amusement parks. Magic shows are still common at these events but the country now frowns upon ‘freak’ shows; not because it is not what the wealthy people do but because it is immoral and against human rights. Now, carnivals are about the experience of adrenaline when riding on rides or winning a giant stuffed animal. They are about eating fried foods that you wouldn’t normally eat but you don’t care because it’s fun. These traveling carnivals are still not the cleanest places and the rides may not always be up to regulations but the people who attend these do not care very much about it.

The historical and cultural context of the background photo is important to the meaning of the comic because other than the words, that is all the observer has to interpret and ponder on. The reputation of carnivals as a place of entertainment and enjoyment outweighs the fact-to most people-that they are traveling sets of equipment that are not clean and the lifestyle brought about by gambling and eating fried foods is not optimal. The words of the comic are stating this but applying it in ‘grand scheme of things’ perspective: that you miss out on fun when you attempt to live cleanly and that you will end up in the same place anyway.

Works Cited:

Michael Baers "Traveling Carnivals". St. James Encyclopedia of Pop Culture. FindArticles.com. 21 Mar, 2010. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_g1epc/is_tov/ai_2419101246/

Stan Barker "Amusement Parks". Encyclopedia of Chicago. Encyclopedia.ChicagoHistory.org. 21 Mar, 2010. http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/48.html