CARNIVAL SPIRIT

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 80, 28 December 1935, Page 14

CARNIVAL SPIRIT

Petone’s Holiday Event Opens STALLS AND SIDE-SHOWS "Come this way ladies and gentlemen. . . . Four shots for sixpence, ten for a bob. . . . Here you are, sir, try your luci-. . . . And you, madam, bow’d you like to win this chox of boeolates?” , It was carnival day at Petone, the opening of the Beautifying Society’s Christinas holiday event, and hundreds of people were attracted by the •brisk, carefree patter of the showmen, who, with sleeves rolled up, shirts open to the waist, and perspiration dripping from theii' brows, vied with one another in extolling the virtues of their own particular stalls and sideshows, where innumerable items, from a packet of chewing gum to a grandfather clock, were on parade. And all these things were there to. be won. All one needed to do was throw a hoop over the chewing gum or the clock, which ever was fancied, and take the article away. It looked easy, and if anyone had doubts about the way the hoop should be thrown the showman would give him a lesson. The showmen were generous. And all this for sixpence or a bob! One man stood on the mark, bis eyes glued to a ten shilling note which was one of the many prizes. He tried and tried to eneirele that note, but could not just manage it. However, he did not go away empty-handed, for with his fifteenth and last attempt he won a little tiu motorcar. Encouraged by this success other people tried their hand. Some were rewarded, but others who declined the advice of an experienced showman to persevere suffered accordingly. One woman went to the sideshow with an open mind. She favoured neither doll, train, electric torch, packet of hairpins, box of soap, bottle of bath salts, the chewing gum or the grandfather’s clock. All she did was throw the hoop, and trust to providence. As a result sonyone in the household will benefit to the extent of a pipe and a packet of cleaners, the last item being a happy thought. Attitude of Public. Although the showman uiaees no obstacles in the way of clients, for “everything you ring you take.” it is curious bow the ueople smile their nleasure every time the showman hands over a present, and sigh sympathetically whenever a client just misses a prize. The public at these gatherings thinks of itself first, last and always. Probably when Robert Burns wrote those memorable lines, “Mau’s inhumanity to man.” he had in mind the lot of the showman. Withal the showman is always smiling. There must be something in the game after all! further along at another side-show there are a score of dolls each a foot high and lined closely together. All one has to do is knock over one of the dolls with a cricket ball from a range of about twelve feet and win a box of chocolates — “ehos of boeolates” in the language of the showman, who frequently successfully demonstrates how it is done. “Here is something easy,” thought the crowd, which set about cleaning up the chocolates. That was the hope, anyway. The theory of throwing a cricket ball at foothigh dolls is easy. Not so in practice, a good many learnt. Still there is always a chance of a prize, as one elderly woman, who apparently had never thrown a cricket ball before, discovered. Miniature rifle shots will find something on this ground calculated to please them. It is a small shooting gallery with a stream of wooden game ambling along. “Just knock a few of 'em over and take the chocolates,” advises the showman. The advice is readily accepted, but shooting at wooden game is no easier than Leaving cricket balls at foot-high dolls. An innovation in the shooting line is a long funnel arrangement down which the marksman fires at the target. Like the other side-shows, there is no catch here, and those who did not collect could not blame the rifle or the target. If they heed the advice of the showman they will “Come along to-morrow now that you’ve got your eye in.” There is a spirit at these carnival"? that does not exist elsewhere. Everyone, or nearly everyone, is out for a clay's fun, and the best way to get it is not to stand back, but to do as the showman suggests. “Come this way, ladies and gentlemen. . . Four shots for sixpence. 10 for a bob.” The carnival will continue day and night until January 9.