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Title details for Carnie King by John Thurston - Wait list

Carnie King

The Story of Patty Conklin and Conklin Shows

by John Thurston
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The story of the audacious showman who built the greatest carnival dynasty in North America.
Enter the realm of the carnie king, Patty Conklin, the flamboyant founder of what would become the world's largest carnival company. Patty started on the mean streets of New York selling peanuts before becoming a a small-time operator. Willing to try anything to promote his show, he established himself as a carnie celebrity. Winning the midway contract for the Canadian National Exhibition in 1937, he made it his personal world's fair. It became the foundation for his son and grandson to expand Conklin Shows until they were playing the biggest fairs and exhibitions throughout North America.
Carnie King begins with the birth of Joseph Renker to German immigrant parents, tells of his personal transformation into Patty Conklin, and follows his incredible life through to his death in 1970. It covers his company's history after Jim Conklin took over, expanded it beyond recognition, then handed it on to his own son.
Not only a history of Conklin Shows, Carnie King explores how midways work and their commercial and popular presence in North America The story it tells is based on dozens of interviews with carnies and access to the Conklin archives. It includes anecdotes about a range of characters and insights about life on the midway. Carnie King is at once a revealing look at a unique part of twentieth-century culture and a vivid account of three generations of showmen and their dominance of midways across the continent.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    July 2, 2024

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Read

      • ISBN: 9781459749948

    • EPUB ebook

      • ISBN: 9781459749948
      • File size: 20166 KB

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Library Journal

      June 28, 2024

      Writer/editor Thurston, who was once a carnival worker, offers readers a delightful treat: an even-handed, non-nostalgic, fact-filled foray into the history of the carnival industry in 20th-century North America. Using legendary performer Patty Conklin, founder of the largest carnival in Canada, as the personification of the industry, this story follows his life, career, and legacy in dense, detailed prose that rests on neither adulation nor condemnation. Instead, it opens readers' eyes to the risks, challenges, opportunities, and consequences that defined the rise of outdoor entertainment. Along the way, this book candidly portrays the tawdriness and false mythology of Conklin without sacrificing his more human side. The emergence of his larger-than-life persona serves as a fa�ade for the growth of the traveling carnival as outdoor entertainment for the masses. That graft, bribery, and other forms of corruption upheld this fa�ade is both acknowledged and explained. VERDICT Changing times, economic conditions, social tastes, and the rise of stationary amusement parks complete the tale of carnivals as they arc downwards towards the end of the century. A strongly recommended title for both fans and scholars of the history of entertainment.--Karen Bordonaro

      Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Formats

  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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