National Fairground Archive

Shows - A History from the 19th Century

Until improved technology had effected the dominance of the roundabout at the end of the nineteenth century, shows, as the name "showman" implies, were the major component of the fair.
By the start of the nineteenth century the dominance the shows had achieved on the fairground began to be reflected in the growth of their size. Theatrical booths, Waxworks, Freak shows and of course the Wild Beast shows known as Menageries, which by the middle of the century assumed a primacy over their rival shows on the fair, were all to be found on fairgrounds throughout the country. In 1822 an account of Bartholomew Fair depicts the large number and array of these shows: it lists five circus booths, four menageries, a number of theatres, peep shows, freak shows, glass blowing acts and a number of exhibition shows which brought the tally of establishments exhibited in 1822 to twenty-two. Henry Morley commented in 1859 that the price of admission to the larger shows such as Wombell's, Atkins and Richardson in 1830 was sometimes six times as much as the penny shows exhibiting at the fair. Thomas Frost writing in the 1870s recalls that by 1833 there were thirty-three of these exhibitions displayed at Bartholomew fair.

The fairground shows of the early to mid-nineteenth century are perhaps the most documented of all the amusements that appeared on the fairground until the introduction of steam powered roundabouts. Their heyday was in the first fifty years of the nineteenth century, with Menageries, Circuses, Ghost shows, Exhibitions and Waxworks all dominating the showground landscape during this period. Lord George Sanger, Tom Norman and the famous Bostock of Menagerie fame all became household names. The showmen developed ingenuity and style, and the gullible public flocked to see not just the great Waxworks and Menagerie shows but also the peep shows, illusion booths and exhibitions of freaks. However, the fairground shows developed many forms and have achieved varying degrees of success on the twentieth century fairground, with boxing shows, parading booths and the modern funhouses and ghost trains all linked to their nineteenth century counterparts.

A Few Punches More - The Fairground Boxing Shows

The fairground boxing show was a common sight not only on the nineteenth century fairgrounds but also on the fairgrounds in this century well up to the late 1960s. Sadly the only boxing booth open on the fairgrounds in this country at the moment is that of Ron Taylor, following the retirement of Mrs Esther McEwon in the West Country. Many famous names in the world of boxing have been associated with the fairground booths - Randolph Turpin, Jimmy Wilde, Tommy Farr, Freddie Mills and Len Johnson (who would have been champion if not for a bar on coloured fighters challenging for the title). The world of Boxing shows has been revealed in great detail by two ex-proprietors and by Harry Legg, a former booth fighter. The decline of the Boxing Booths on the fairground is linked to the decision by the Boxing Board of Control in 1947 to make fairground boxing booths out of bounds to all licensed members of the Board.

One of the more romantic and tragic stories connected with an association between a family and a particular fairground show is the Hickman tale. Charlie Hickman travelled his boxing booth with Pat Collins run of fairs in the Midlands and Black Country. However, boxing booths had been associated with fairs since the end of the eighteenth century and were a popular sight at the great London fairs such as St Bartholomew and Mayfair. The Hickman family entrance to the life of a travelling showman was owing to their ancestor Tom Hickman, the Gaslight Man. In his short but glittering career he was one of the greatest bare knuckle champions of his day until his death at the age of twenty seven when he was crushed to death by a carriage. The boxers who had known Tom collected money for his widow and children in order to purchase a boxing show and volunteered to fight on the booths free for the first year to guarantee them a good start. From this tragic beginning the Hickman Boxing Show went from strength to strength and travelled until the mid twentieth century. Many famous boxers were associated with the family, not least Charlie Hickman, great grandson of Tom the Gaslight Man who won the Lonsdale Championship at Crystal Palace in 1931, a feat his illustrious ancestor never achieved.

From Dancing Girls to the Trailer Mounted Shows

After the demise of the bioscope show the old fairground booths such as the Waxworks and Menagerie shows continued until finally both Manders and Bostock and Wombwell ceased travelling in the inter war years. However, the fairground show did not disappear: it made a comeback with the Wild West shows pioneered by the Shufflebottom family, the Arthur Stevens dancing girls and Vic Jeffries freak and novelty shows. Continuing the theme of the Victorian shows, these had trick shooting, dancing girls and comedians on the front to draw the crowd into a theatrical type variety show. Perhaps the most renowned of these post war shows was Tom Norman's London Palladium Show which was a popular sight at Oxford St Giles and the Hoppings fair in Newcastle. Gilbert Chadwick Snr was a much welcome sight at the festivities, with Newcastle being one of the last fairs where show after show could be found. Unfortunately the liberalisation of the censorship laws in the 1960s sounded the death knell for the glamour shows, which had become an essential feature of the big fairs in the post-war era. By the end of the 1960s these mildly titillating shows had all but vanished, even Nottingham, Hull and Newcastle were seeing a decline in the number of shows appearing with the striptease shows signalling the end for this once great extravagance of the fairs. The fairground show with its emphasis on illusion and trickery, relying heavily on the imagination and naivety of its audience could not keep up with the sophisticated tastes of its audience and only the Snake Show and Jim the Gentle Giant are the survivors of a once great fairground tradition.

Trailer Mounted Show

The past decade has witnessed a renaissance of the fairground shows with the emergence of the trailer mounted shows, ghost trains and fun houses. One of the most successful of the showmen to pioneer such a move was Gilbert Chadwick, whose family once exhibited freak animal shows at Newcastle Town Moor Fair. The shows are constructed around a trailer upon which the show folds out, the showmen then design the type of show the machine will be. The craze on the fairgrounds in the last two years has seen these shows become more lavish and larger, with triple decker shows appearing at both Nottingham, Hull and the Back End run of fairs this year. The British shows owe much in appearance and construction to the continental shows which can be seen at the Oktoberfast in Munich. With the increase in interest by the showmen for these types of machines or shows the fairgrounds landscape is once again dominated by rows of shows or their modern counterparts the Funhouse/Novelty shows.