HALP. I know next to nothing about traveling carnivals!
I got bitten by a horror story that involves a traveling carnival..ish... thing. Unfortunately I know very little about traveling carnivals. If anyone has resources they can point me toward, I would be most obliged - fiction or non-fiction, it doesn't matter.
I'm looking mostly for 19th century stuff and earlier, but I intend to munge together different elements, so 20th century stuff might also be helpful as long as it's still a vintage setting - tilt-a-whirls aren't what I'm looking for. The sideshow aspect is especially important. Also relevant would be resources on traveling medicine shows. And if anyone can point me toward some sort of pictorial guide as to how a traveling carnival and/or medicine show tends to be laid out, I will KISS you. (Unless, of course, that's a bad thing...)
Possibly relevant detail - this story I'm writing involves a very small outfit touring to small towns, not a large one. Resources on large carnivals would still be helpful and appreciated, but small ones would be ideal. ETA: Also possibly relevant is the location, which is, I think, a little bit of American west, and a little bit of European country-side smooshed together..
Stuff I'm already aware of: The movies Freaks and La Strada, and the books Water for Elephants (Sara Gruen) and Sideshow (Sherri S. Teper), and I read Something Wicked This Way Comes way back in the day. ETA: Oh, I left out the HBO series Carnivale, I'm getting that too.
If anyone has anything else, I'd be most grateful!
I'm looking mostly for 19th century stuff and earlier, but I intend to munge together different elements, so 20th century stuff might also be helpful as long as it's still a vintage setting - tilt-a-whirls aren't what I'm looking for. The sideshow aspect is especially important. Also relevant would be resources on traveling medicine shows. And if anyone can point me toward some sort of pictorial guide as to how a traveling carnival and/or medicine show tends to be laid out, I will KISS you. (Unless, of course, that's a bad thing...)
Possibly relevant detail - this story I'm writing involves a very small outfit touring to small towns, not a large one. Resources on large carnivals would still be helpful and appreciated, but small ones would be ideal. ETA: Also possibly relevant is the location, which is, I think, a little bit of American west, and a little bit of European country-side smooshed together..
Stuff I'm already aware of: The movies Freaks and La Strada, and the books Water for Elephants (Sara Gruen) and Sideshow (Sherri S. Teper), and I read Something Wicked This Way Comes way back in the day. ETA: Oh, I left out the HBO series Carnivale, I'm getting that too.
If anyone has anything else, I'd be most grateful!