The Street Fair
The
Way We Were
Mem'ries,
Light the corners of my mind
Misty water-colored memories
Of the way we were
Scattered pictures,
Of the smiles we left behind
Smiles we gave to one another
For the way we were
Can it be that it was all so simple then?
Or has time re-written every line?
If we had the chance to do it all again
Tell me, would we? Could we?
Mem'ries, may be beautiful and yet
What's too painful to remember
We simply choose to forget
So it's the laughter
We will remember
Whenever we remember...
The way we were...
The way we were...
Light the corners of my mind
Misty water-colored memories
Of the way we were
Scattered pictures,
Of the smiles we left behind
Smiles we gave to one another
For the way we were
Can it be that it was all so simple then?
Or has time re-written every line?
If we had the chance to do it all again
Tell me, would we? Could we?
Mem'ries, may be beautiful and yet
What's too painful to remember
We simply choose to forget
So it's the laughter
We will remember
Whenever we remember...
The way we were...
The way we were...
Recalling
summers' past memories of Keokuk’s annual Street Fair light the corners of my
mind. They are like faded water-colored
images of the way we were. Fifty plus
years have passed since I rode the Rollercoaster, Ferris wheel, Scrambler,
Tilt-a-whirl, Himalayan Express, and Merry-go-round that were set up along Main
Street for one magical week each summer.
The
summers of my high school years, 1962, 63, 64, and 65 I recall walking the
fairway each evening, meeting friends, riding rides, and eating cotton
candy. I came home the summer after my
freshman year in college, 1966, and walked that midway once again; perhaps for
the last time. The Street Fair was
forced off of Main Street when the four lane highway was constructed through
Keokuk. The Fair was moved to Main and
South 2nd to Exchange and down Exchange to 4th and back
to Main. It used this venue in 1967, 68,
and 69 and moved to the river front’s Victory Park in 1970. Once it was moved from the original Main
Street location the allure of this annual event changed. Scattered pictures, sound of laughter amidst
the noise of the carnival, smell of greasy food, if we could do it all over
again would we?
Remember
the laughter, the faded water-colored prints of memory, the smiles we gave to
each other, and the smiles we left behind…frozen in time. These are reminders of the way we were.
Evening along the Midway
The
sun is finally going down. Darkness
grows across the sky spreading from east to west. My friend drives her old ’46 Plymouth and we
park it on Blondeau Street that runs parallel to the carnival midway on
Main. We walk the block to Main and
enter at the midpoint between 3rd and 13th streets. A stage that hosts free acts and family entertainment
sits here and a band is performing. Four
blocks down the street is the place where Hugo Zacchini, the human cannonball,
is shot out of a cannon over two double Ferris Wheels and into a net on the other
side.
Games
are interspersed with the rides on the midway and barkers stand outside trying
to shill fair goers to their tents. As
we walk toward 3rd and get nearer the river the carnies become more
incessant in their bid to draw us in.
The kiddies rides are blocks away, the family entertainment stage is
back near 8th street, and here at the last block of The World’s
Largest Street Fair the games become bolder, the barkers more aggressive, and
the crowd more desperate.
The
Girlie Show tent sits here and as evening closes in the dancers become more
suggestive, the barkers more provocative, and the male audience lined up to pay
their cash to enter the tent and see the show are more frenzied. Just a block
down S 2nd street is where Keokuk’s red light district once was. A remnant of the infamous era still exists at
the Hawkeye Hotel, scene of a double unsolved murder in the early 1960’s, and this
sits just a couple blocks west of The Girlie Show Tent on the midway.
Someone
has said that looking back and remembering the annual street fair in Keokuk
during the 60’s you realize that “the closer you got to the river the weirder
things became”. I would add that the closer Saturday night/the last night of
the street fair got the more frantic the shills, barkers, and the remaining
crowd became. Another year of this
week-long event was coming to a close.
The next day, Sunday morning, Main Street was empty of carnival rides
and open to traffic as the good citizens drove to church and the carnies,
barkers, shills, and performers moved on to their next town; often taking with
them a few disgruntled young people who hoped to see the world from the fairway
of this World’s Largest Street Fair.
Last Call
The
first street fair was held at the end of the Spanish-American War in 1898 and
Keokuk celebrated this with a Fall Celebration.
This event became an annual occurrence; the time eventually moved to
summer months and in the late 1960’s it was held in June. At some point the Fall Celebration became the
Street Fair and eventually The World’s Largest Street Fair.
This annual event was held along Main Street until 1967 when construction of a 4-lane highway moved its venue off of Main and onto side streets. In 1970 it was moved to Victory Park along the river at the foot of Main. It returned to Main Street in the mid 1980's until its end in 1989; a 91 year event that was an earmark of Keokuk’s history.
By
the time it returned to Main Street its popularity was waning. The advent of Theme and Amusement Parks drew
away the fair goers to their glitzy parks, theme based shows, IMAX Theaters,
and clean well dressed staff who were often college students working summer
internships in their college degree programs.
Gone
were the days of carnival barkers, games of chance, girlie shows, and
midways. An evening of walking up and
down Main Street, meeting friends, eating cotton candy, corn dogs, the music
and noise that could be heard for blocks, and the rush of riding The Mad Mouse are
now only dim memories of a time long past.
Uniformed
well spoken staff and maintenance people have replaced the carnies. Clean, neat, homogeneous faces greet the
Amusement Theme Park customers rather than the sweat stained shirts, grease
covered hands, and dirty hair of the carnival roustabout. Costumed actors draw visitors into games,
theatres, and attractions at the park.
The barkers and shills removed from these upscale expensive venues by a
middle class desire to find wholesome entertainment for the entire family.
No
more traveling carnivals populate Main Streets, USA. The summers are not heralded by the arrival
of the rides, games, barkers, and side shows. Dissatisfied young people no
longer are tempted to leave home called by the allure of the gilded midway. The way we were plays quietly in the
background. The noise of the midway
recedes as the strains of this song grows stronger
Life moves on but we still cling to the faded memories of a time long passed. We remember the laughter and we never do forget the scattered pictures and the fun we once shared. The Last Call has been given on the midway. In time memories will fade and be lost but until the last midway stroller is gone the spark of days gone by is fanned into the flames of The Way We Were.
