Fairground Attraction

mantiques

Drew with two incredibly rare (and slightly Satanic looking) American showman’s carvings, removed from a horse drawn wagon

» Fairground Attraction Childhood was one never-ending fairground ride for Drew Pritchard of TV’s Salvage Hunters

mantiques

This 9ft Dodgems panel was bought from the Crow Showman Estate and would have hung above the entrance to the ride. Right: Classic racing scene from the boards of Sam Crow’s Dodgems, painted by Edwin Hall in 1938

“MY BROTHER AND I WERE BROUGHT ALONG TO LEND A HAND WITH GILDING, AND APPLYING THE CHALK LINES AND TRACINGS ON THE WALTZER SIDES”

Early 20th-century finger boxes for a shooting gallery game, scratch-built by an artisan showman

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lost my heart to the fairground when I was just a boy – what child didn’t? But for me, the magic wasn’t just a fleeting afternoon fling or a holiday affair but part of my family life. My father was an old-school signwriter, and his

best friend was from show folk, so every summer we would get in Dad’s minivan and drive to where the travelling fair made camp on the old donkey fields in Llandudno, to give it its annual wash and brush-up.

This was the mid- to late 1970s and my brother and I were brought along to lend a hand with the gilding, and applying the chalk lines and tracings on the waltzer sides and the large Foden trucks they had at the time. Dad would even write the signs on the back of the hot dog stands! I vividly remember helping with my first gilding when I was only about eight years old – it was on the rounding boards of a large ride.

Sometimes the work was overpainting, which meant mimicking older styles. But it could also come bang-up-to-date, as some showmen were at the time: for a time Star Wars characters were painted on anything that moved!

But the best bit for us boys though came once our duties as apprentice to our father had finished, when we would be allowed to ride the dodgems free, gratis and for nothing for the rest of the day, sometimes for hours at a time. I can’t begin to tell you how much fun that was – www.vintagexplorer.co.uk

A typical vintage fairground scene of Showmen packing away their rides

we felt like kings! And the day finished off with a grubby hot dog in the back of the van on the way home – and always in that never-ending 1970s sunshine.

Even more magical, if we didn’t go to the fairground, it came to us. Oh those mornings when I would wake up and look out of the window of our quiet North Walean rural village house to find 20 or more showman’s wagons parked up on the road waiting for my father’s attention!

My mother would despair as the showmen’s kids would steal all the water and if possible, my push bike. If I could hang on to it, I would spend hours riding up and down the road looking at all the wagons. And, even though I didn’t know it then, I was developing the love for and appreciation of this fantastic fairground artwork that I have to this day.

My brother must have really liked the work as he remains a signwriter to this day but I didn’t want to work in the family business; from eleven years old, I knew I wanted to be an antique dealer and nothing else. I didn’t know how to become a dealer, but maybe now, 33 years later, perhaps I’m on my way!

At one point in my dealing career, I started to notice large quantities of showman material of varying qualities coming on the open market. My background allowed me to recognise the better pieces and I started collecting. The exceptional items are, I should stress, very few and far between. For every good piece, there’s 500 rushed-out, poorly executed pieces that can be snapped up for as little as £20 or £30 and that’s all they’re worth. It helps that I befriended and was befriended by a few showmen; the best pieces are generally held onto by the family long-term, so these relationships have helped me to some of the best pieces in my collection.

My collection remains small, but choice, with my particular favourites being the racing car which hangs above my home office, and the astonishing shields – commissioned for the Crow Family. I’ll continue to collect: not to sell, www.vintagexplorer.co.uk

One of Drew’s favourites - the complete set of 12 shields that were origionally commissioned for the Crow family gallopers (carousel), painted in enamel on tin circa 1905

“MY COLLECTION REMAINS SMALL, BUT CHOICE, WITH MY PARTICULAR FAVOURITES BEING THE RACING CAR WHICH HANGS ABOVE MY HOME OFFICE, AND THE ASTONISHING SHIELDS”

but strictly for my own pleasure, and only buy the best or the rarest. Beautifully naive pieces that show true ingenuity like the red painted finger boxes, which would have been knocked up for less than a pound in their day by an unknown artisan showman.

One recent purchase is a full set of early 20th century carved carousel figures. Unfortunately I can’t show you these yet – there is one extremely rare figure amongst them so we’re

keeping these under wraps for now!

I’ve been lucky enough to own, at various times, items produced by the pre-eminent 19th century carvers and painters, Orton and Spooner, who in my opinion produced the best of the carved work. One of their particularly unusual items was a large running ostrich galloper, which is very much on my want list but has so far eluded me. If you happen across one in your garage, can you let me know? ve

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