Gleesome Gladness
Ninety-seven years ago today was the first day of the first "official" Kansas State Fair, held on September 13 -20, 1913. The Old Mill, or Ye Olde Mill, made its debut two years later, at the 1915 fair. It promised to take fair-goers through "gloomy caves of gleesome gladness". I can't figure out what that means.
The Old Mill has been spruced up. When I was a kid I remember it as looking more run-down and creaky.
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ah, the state fair. always a special treat for us band geeks! i don't remember that mill, though. of course,,i don't remember a lot of things from the 60's.
ReplyDeleteHow can you forget Ye Olde Mill? It's the ONLY ride worth going on in the whole dang place.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I'm amazed Sue doesn't remember. Gosh I think I can even remember the way it smelled --the dampness of the water..
ReplyDeletehere is what i remember from the state fair:
ReplyDeletethe old mill, salt water taffy, the matterhorn, people people people.
i loved the old mill but i can't imagine where the gleesome gladness came in - unless maybe it was from the water that ran upside down or the wacky cans that rotated on their ends. it was my favorite thing at the fair.
i imagine the fair would seem really small to me now.
Yes, salt water taffy and the Matterhorn. I remember getting a snow cone that got me all sticky. I remember being hot and miserable, and waiting waitng waiting for the grown-ups to do something boring in the hot heat. I remember us going up to some window or something to meet someone who was supposed to be a local celebrity -like a tv newscaster or a politician. But it was so hot we may as well have been meeting the devil.
ReplyDeleteAnd the old mill ---I remember a mirror that made it look like you were seeing another boat full of people, but it was really your own boat. I remember it being dark and creepy and these buzzers going off and bright, scary things popping out in front of our boat in the dark. I remember the sound of the boat hitting the side of the wall, and warnings not to stand up in the boat --I was pretty nervous the whole time and thought there was a strong possibilty of falling out and being sucked into some secret part of the ride and never making it out again.
ReplyDeletevague, vague, memories coming back now,,but still not very prominent. about all i remember is marching thru the midway, and then walking back to the buses at the end of the day,,i think we had to walk by the racetrack/grandstands, and there was ALWAYS something SO interesting-sounding going on behind those walls. either a race or a concert. but we were only able to imagine as we trudged by.
ReplyDeletei just looked on their website and i don't see the matterhorn on there anymore...**sniffle**
ReplyDeleteit's not like i want to ride on it again. but i liked to watch these idiots going round and round and this guy in the middle saying "do you wanna go FASTER?" and everyone screams NOOO but they go faster anyway.
Yes, I remember riding on the Matterhorn and them saying that. But that was one of the few rides I could actually handle. I rode the rollercoaster once at the Fair and that was enough for me.
ReplyDeleteSue, I DO remember leaving the fair and hearing something going on behind the grandstand walls! That really rings a bell. In my memory I associate that sound with feeling cheated that we had to leave--though I was just talking about how bored and hot I was. Probably I wanted to ride on something or eat something, was refused, and then we had to leave, which is why I think of that grandstand noise as being the backdrop of deprivation.
i rode the "bobsled", aka "matterhorn", with aubrey last year at the fair. omg! not only do they sling you around going forward, but then the darn thing stops, and they reverse it! is this the same ride as the matterhorn? sounds like it,,because there was a guy running the controls, like y'allspeak of. that ride always has the real heavy rock music too, as i recall. carney with cigarette hanging out of his mouth...looking supremely bored. love it!
ReplyDeletejust looked at the list of rides for the fair, and see that they have the "himalaya"....i bet that's the replacement for the matterhorn. interesting how this particular ride always keeps a 'snow/mountain' theme.
ReplyDeleteDid they have a ride with the name "mouse" in it? I remember something that was high with circular tracks -- was that the Matterhorn? I guess I don't remember because I never did the wild rides. A Tilt-a-whirl could make me sick, so I mostly stuck with the Ferris Wheel. But I do remember going on the Cyclatron (?) It went around and around and then the floor dropped away and you would be stuck to the wall by centrifugal force. And one guy turned himself upside down while stuck to the wall. That was a cool ride.
ReplyDeleteThe centrifugal force ride was my FAVORITE of all. That ride made me laugh and laugh--a physiological response that I couldn't control, but it was great. It was the best high.
ReplyDeletemichee, thanks for throwing the cyclatron in there! i remember that one. pretty sure i wasn't laughing, though. mostly screaming in terror as the floor dropped away.
ReplyDeleteI'm a real wimp when it comes to carnival rides. But for some reason the floor-dropping away ride wasn't that scary to me. I liked the sensation of being spun so fast I couldn't lift my head.
ReplyDelete