FEATURE Memoirs from By Andrew Hanschen


Secretary / Executive Director of the Showmen’s League of America


Showmen’s League of America member Katherine Petree submits this essay on one of the curiosities accumulated by a family with almost a century in the outdoor amusement business. Katherine is part of the Tomas family, who have been SLA members since the 1940s and were among the founding members of OABA. Today she and her hus- band Brandon operate a fleet of concession stands on the Mighty Tomas Carnival midway. Te rug in her story is a great jumping-off point into the sea of colorful personalities and ofeat experiences that make this industry unique.


grew up on carnival midway in the 1980s. Free admission on ev- ery thrill ride, as much popcorncorn as we could eat, flashing ligh


I n ev- v- n htts and nd


big crowds: all this was norma or our crew of carnival kids, maybe even unv n unbear-ar- ably boring at times. Children wiilll adaptdapt to almost any experience. So, I guess iess it seemeeeme normal, too, to visit my great-aunt Paul n her


al for our ve


ur nbear m d


house and lie on the tiger rug i her o icffice—a ug


real, honest to God tiger skin rug made from the skin of a once-alive tiger.


g, mad


unt Pauline s er office—a ade fro


uline’’s om Samoa the Tiger (Rug) th the str


the stre om


reet, but it was filled with relics ffromrom a bygone era of show busi- ne


ness (like the giant, ornate cash r gregister she once used to ring sales in her cotton can- dy stand.


It must have


weighed 150 pounds). I remember lying on the tiger rug with my broth- ers and cousins, reach- ing my hand deep into its open mouth, touch- ing the teeth and whis- kers, and measuring its length against my own. Inever askedtohear


Pauline’s house was a cozy little place in a suburban neighborhood. It looked just like every other house on


the story of how it ended up in her office; luckily, we can piece the history together from photos, letters, and second-hand recollections. John Dorland was my Aunt Pauline’s uncle. In the 1930s, he was a prohibition-era rum runner, and from


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