Butch Visits 1958 Indiana State Fair

   During all of the years that I spent at home as a child, our family never went on a vacation. No matter…I was happy and had plenty of things to do to entertain myself. However, three or four times Dad took me to see  Indianapolis Indians baseball games, and one time my brother and I went with Dad and his friend to see the Chicago Cubs play the Milwaukee Braves in the windy city. I was in heaven that day!

   In 1958, when I was 10 years old, Dad wanted to watch harness racing at the Indiana State fair, and I got to go along with him. I had no interest in sitting in the grandstand to watch harness racing, so Dad gave me $2 and told me to be back in a couple of hours. I was on my own…free to search the entire fairgrounds for anything exciting! No use looking at the livestock or garden exhibits…I could see those things any day at home on our farm. I immediately forked over a quarter and gobbled down a cinnamon-sugar elephant ear…Yummy!… and headed for some real excitement…the midway!

    I soon discovered that the midway at the State Fair is another world all its own…noisy and full of people, sights, and sounds. There were all types of rides to go on, and an endless number of booths in which a person could try their luck to win a prize…and of course the tents set up in which you could purchase a ticket to see strange oddities of the animal world…such as the two-headed chicken, the world’s smallest horse, etc. or human “freaks”…such as the Bearded Lady, Monkey Boy, Alligator Man, Lobster Girl…well, you get the idea. Each time I passed by these booths, the “barker” tried to entice me to spend “one measly dollar bill to come inside and be amazed.” I admit I was curious, but I wanted to win one of those big stuffed teddy bears!

   I looked things over and decided my best bet, since I was my Little League team’s pitcher back home, was knocking down three milk bottles with a softball. I hit them all three times, and they didn’t even budge. Hmmmm…then I shelled out two more quarters and tried a couple of other games which required skill. No luck at those either. With a dollar left, I decided to go on a ride. The ferris wheel was extremely high, and since I did not like heights, I got in line for the “octopus ride” since it looked like everyone was having fun on it.

   As the ride began, I smiled and held on tight. The kid sitting next to me exclaimed, “This will be fun!” But then it started to go up and down and all around…faster and faster and FASTER. It was then that I remembered that I usually got “car sick” just riding with my folks to town, unless I could look straight ahead from the back seat. I was no longer smiling. I became dizzy and nauseous. I just wanted the ride to stop, and in what seemed like an eternity…it finally came to a halt. As the attendant unbuckled my safety belt, I presented the boy next to me with a present…my previously devoured elephant ear. Yes, I vomited on his pant leg. He was not real happy about that. Feeling terrible, I then walked over to a bench and sat down. I wanted to throw up again…No more rides for me!

   After sitting there for a half hour or so, I began to feel better, and tried my luck at two more games. Failed again. There had to be something I could win at…Ah yes, the booth where you toss nickels onto glassware, and if it stays on the plate or in the cup, you win that item. I had 25 cents left, enough for five tosses. Success! I won two plates. Older guys were carrying around those big stuffed animals they had won for their girlfriends. I doubted that my third grade girlfriend would like a plate as a gift, but at least my mother might appreciate it.

   Since I was then broke, I made my way back to the grandstand to sit and watch the horses race around the track….and an hour later we headed back home. On the trip back, I vowed that I would never ever get on the octopus ride again…and next time I would WIN a big stuffed teddy bear! All in all, I had a good time and saw lots of things I had never seen before. I found out a few days later that a Montgomery County girl, Carol Parks, the daughter of local auctioneer Emery Parks, was selected as the first Indiana State Fair queen that year. Now that is someone who I would have enjoyed seeing!

John “Butch” Dale is a retired teacher and County Sheriff. He has also been the librarian at Darlington the past 36 years, and is a well-known artist and author of local history.