There seems to be this very strong stereotype of carnival workers as being shady, creepy, untrustworthy, scary, or somehow deviant in some other way.
Here’s my take on it - it isn’t that they’re any different than anyone else in a highly-transient, blue collar labor force, it’s just that they’re the only ones in such a position who come into contact with average families and kids in a situation where they’re ostensibly supposed to be having “fun” and the environment is supposed to be happy and jolly. Therefore there’s a psychological disconnect created by the incongruity of the bright flashy lights and colorful displays and cheesy music and rides, and the down-trodden, rough-necked cigarette smoking laborers who set it all up and keep it running.
In other words, “carnies” are not any more “shady” than other types of work crews that perform similar tasks - it’s just that people are put off by - to paraphrase Philip Marlowe - having to see “the works” when the lid is lifted off of life.
Well… I don’t think they’re “shady” as much as they simply look like they have come from extremely impoverished environments, or have led very harsh lives given the state of their average dental health, and their overall haggard look.
The old classic carnivals with geeks & shows of dubious morality etc. have largely been replaced by a bunch of rides and cheesy (somewhat rigged) games of skill crammed into a municipal or shopping center parking lot.
They’re not really shady, they’re just poor and scraping by.
Well, up until this year the State Fair would hire a lot of day workers from the local homeless population. I’m a public librarian, and I gotta say I really don’t like Larry who drinks in the bathroom checking that “safety” catch on the Scrambler, ya know? We got a magazine which has since ceased called Amusement Business which had information on that kind of job for my Regular Patrons.
This past year I noticed all the workers at the Fair were hot young European men, clean cut and in uniform polo shirts.
It’s not a gig where they ask too many questions about your personal or employment history or your plans for the future. As such, yeah, they do sometimes attract the less than savory folks. But really, what field doesn’t?
I think the reputation of “carnies” goes back much, much further to the suspicion and hatred of people like the “Gypsies” and extending today to our dislike of “fucking hippies”. Basically, sedentary people don’t like transient people. They don’t have ties in the community. They’re Other, therefore they’re not to be trusted.
It seems to me you’re putting a lot of mental effort into coming up with a high-falutin’ intellectual explanation, when it’s simpler and more accurate to say the stereotype stems from carnies who are indeed shady.
Not to say that all carnies are no-goodniks, but I think there’s enough evidence and history to see where the reputation comes from. For example, this letter - from someone actually defending carnies and who says they’re much-maligned and decent people, acknowledges “obviously rigged games” as a given. Do a little googling on carnies and carnival workers and you’ll find that’s a common assessment. You’ll also find quite a few references to various arrests, some of which are for rape and murder.
Carnival life is its own world, detached from mainstream lifestyles. Many have no address, pay no taxes, and are otherwise isolated from everyday society. Add to that the fact that their livelihood is specifically and directly derived from extracting money from members of said society, and it shouldn’t be surprising that there is some shadiness there.
I’m not sure what other “highly-transient, blue collar labor force[s]” you’re alluding to, but I disagree that carnies only seem different from such groups because of where and how they interact with the public. Rather the way they interact with the public is a large part of what makes them different.
I disagree. These are people that the term “transient” doesn’t even begin to touch. “Drifter” is closer, if you ask me. The long hours of travel, erection (no pun intended, as I can’t even imaging a Carny getting a hard-on with all the Meth in thier system) and tear-down of the carnival are custom-made for Meth abuse and Nut-jobs. These are people that would otherwise be homeless if not for the ability to count to 2 with both hands. Really scary people, actually.
Other “blue collar” labor force workers generally have a predictable place to spend the night, if only because they need to be at work the next day. So, they either rent or default on thier sub-prime mortgage. Either way, you can generally find them within a few miles of where they need to show up for work the next day.
Carnys got nothin’! No roots, no stability. Commit a petty crime in every town they go thru. Human flotsam. Drift along, into the next jurisdiction to start it all over.
Hey! Step right on up! Pop two balloons and get your pick of any prize!
I was a carnie for a summer. Loved it, although I didn’t get along too well with my coworkers - it seems that girl is supposed to equal slut, and I never got the memo. As for my petty crime, I smoked a lot of pot. As for the coworkers I got along with, I never asked them about their criminal background, so I couldn’t tell you.
Aww, you almost had it that time! You’ll win it this next time for sure.
Dang, and I bet the smile you give would’ve made me buy more of whatever you were selling…
Back on topic, I never did carnivals, but I have worked a freak show / side show. I don’t know if it compares, but I do know that some people there worked the ‘shady’ angle purposefully. There’s something inherently interresting in flirting with the danger of putting your entertainment in the hands of a untrustworthy-looking stranger, and I know more than one of our crew made extra money just off of their image / appearance in that way.
I had a black-sheep uncle who did carny work, as well as tons of other transient jobs. He never held a job for long, as far as I know. I was just a kid, so I don’t know what all kinds of things he did, but I do know he had a few brushes with the law. He was an alcoholic. He would work hard when he worked, but then would go on benders.
Good ol’ Uncle Cecil. (No, not that Cecil. ;)) He was a fun drunk, too!
I remember he went about two or three years (jobless) chasing down an injury lawsuit when he got hurt on a job. He would come up to my Mom’s (his sister’s) house and stay while he would talk to the lawyers and go to court and stuff. He finally got his settlement, and actually gave my Mom and Dad some money for their trouble. He died broke shortly thereafter.
So - I don’t know how that applies to all carny workers. But maybe they’re not all completely bad, huh?
I don’t have children, however, I do not plan to bring them [when I do] to the “carnies” that come through town here. No way. Yes, they are scraping by and yes they are poor, but labor ready hires anyone who is there to work at 6am in the morning . That could be anybody. I’ve seen horror shows and I’ve seen highschool kids. You never know - like a box of chocolates.
What sideshows have you worked in? East coast or west? Ward Hall? Bobby Reynolds? I’m curious because I’ve worked shows for many years, both as a canvas boss and business manager.
Carny life is not an easy one. Arrive at location in the afternoon, after working the last spot all night. Get one night’s sleep and start setting up in the morning. Work until your ride’s set-up, which can take up to ten hours of ass busting dangerous work. Party one night. Get up to work twelve hour days for the next two weeks or so, then work a twelve hour day, take down your ride, show, what have you and drive it to the next spot, without sleep, usually a few hundred miles away.
Repeat for nine months. Not an easy life.
I know that around here, when they need to hire local workers they pick from the pool of people on day parole, so take that as you will. Of course, one of my friends who went home from university for the summer and has no criminal record was also one of the local workers this year. It’s a mix. I’m more afraid of the patrons than the carnies.
These small carnys get seedier every year. the truth is, there is little money in it, and the rides seem to be falling apart. How many kids want to go to a sideshow these days? Six flags is much better and safer. You see these guys when they beak up the show and leave-their trucks are all blowing blue smoke and look like they are ready for the junkyeard.
I think most of these businesses will be gone in a few years.
Yeah, maybe. But at least half the time, it’d backfire, and I’d have guys my grandpa’s age trying to convince me that since I said “anything in the truck,” and I was standing in the truck, that meant when they won I was gonna give them the night of their life. Ugh.
Gummo was about white trash in a small dirt-poor town. They never went anywhere and interacted at least occasionally with normal society.
Yeah, it was a great movie, but I don’t get the connection to carnies.
As for the OP, I second WhyNot. Civilized folks are always suspicious of transients, and it goes back a lot further than Gypsies. It goes back to the Nomads versus the Egypt, Rome versus the Barbarians. It’s a fundamental divide in human society, and the sedentary city-folks have mostly won. The few drifter-lifestyles left are heavily frowned upon.
