fair spares
In addition to the usual carnival rides, there are a few sideshow type attractions in the midway at the Tennessee Valley Fair. Before the Village People concert, my wife and I went to see some of them. The sign for the "world's tiniest woman" made her look like a human Barbie doll. We went to look and then felt awkward about it. She had a sign explaining that she only spoke Haitian and a basket for tips. She didn't look anything like the woman on the sign. Instead she looked like any other person with dwarfism.
Another midway attraction promised live alligators. When he saw my camera, the barker did the gator chomp with his arms. The alligators were fairly small and barely visible through a metal mesh fence and foggy Plexiglas.
A better deal is the Live Shark Experience. There's no extra charge to see some guy go into the tank and hug the various sharks. They did try to trick the kids into thinking that they would all get a free shark's tooth. Once all the kids raised their hand to indicate that they wanted one, the barker announced that the teeth could be purchased in the little gift shop area. This is the first year they have been booked in Knoxville. I wouldn't be surprised if they come back for several years to come.
Mixed in with all the trailers selling corn dogs and funnel cakes was one selling basic toiletries and over-the-counter medications. Do people really stay at the fair so long that they need to buy deodorant and shampoo? On the other hand, the antacids made perfect sense to me. Several businesses had displays inside the Jacobs Building. My wife and I thought it weird that someone getting their hair cut at the Great Clips booth would have the view of a casket in the mirror.
These last two pictures didn't turn out all that well. I'm including them anyway for my friend Bean who is mourning the loss of his cow, Betsy. This comes only six months after the passing of his steer, Hey. At the fair, I asked the girl in the picture why she was cutting her cow's hair. All she knew was that it was required by the rules. Can anyone explain that to me?
Another midway attraction promised live alligators. When he saw my camera, the barker did the gator chomp with his arms. The alligators were fairly small and barely visible through a metal mesh fence and foggy Plexiglas.
A better deal is the Live Shark Experience. There's no extra charge to see some guy go into the tank and hug the various sharks. They did try to trick the kids into thinking that they would all get a free shark's tooth. Once all the kids raised their hand to indicate that they wanted one, the barker announced that the teeth could be purchased in the little gift shop area. This is the first year they have been booked in Knoxville. I wouldn't be surprised if they come back for several years to come.
Mixed in with all the trailers selling corn dogs and funnel cakes was one selling basic toiletries and over-the-counter medications. Do people really stay at the fair so long that they need to buy deodorant and shampoo? On the other hand, the antacids made perfect sense to me. Several businesses had displays inside the Jacobs Building. My wife and I thought it weird that someone getting their hair cut at the Great Clips booth would have the view of a casket in the mirror.
These last two pictures didn't turn out all that well. I'm including them anyway for my friend Bean who is mourning the loss of his cow, Betsy. This comes only six months after the passing of his steer, Hey. At the fair, I asked the girl in the picture why she was cutting her cow's hair. All she knew was that it was required by the rules. Can anyone explain that to me?
Labels: animals, Knoxville, observations, photos
posted by Frank Murphy at
10:59 PM
3 Comments:
I guess it's the lights and the smell of popcorn that makes people spend money on some of that silly stuff at the fair or in my case it's a crying 5,8 year old. they know if they get the kids attention they get your money and after some of that food I'm glad they have the antacids.
It's the wafting smell of Polish Sausages and onions that always gets me. Yum Yum!
thanks for the cow pix, frank. i don't know about the hair cutting. it's not like either of those breeds grows theirs very long. hmmm....
the washington state fair opens this week and donna and i go every year for her birthday. looking forward to it!!
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