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The
additional 50 feet required that delivery trucks drive under the
coaster. John Miller stayed up all night redrawing the plans on some
butcher paper and plywood. The Douglas fir framework was made on
the ground then hoisted into position with Model-A Ford fitted with
block and tackle.
Several
pictures were taken using the roller coaster. One of these was
with the train sitting in the middle of a high curve. The coaster crew
positioned the train on the curve and set it brakes. Members of the
Western Washington Fair Board then walked up maintenance walkway of the
structure and boarded the train for their picture taking session.
When they were done, they walked back down the walkway.
Clara Peller of Wendy’s “Where’s The Beef”
fame also had her picture taken on this roller coaster. As she
had a breathing problem, it was a little more difficult to get her up
to the train. She had a unique way of putting things that made all
around her smile while taking all that was asked of her in
stride. .
Housed in a round building on the WW Fairgrounds is a 1917 Parker Toboggan Portable Carousel (PTC 43)
. This is one of five carousels that were mounted on a wagon so
they could be easily transported with a traveling show. This machine
was also donated to the fair by Robert Bollinger.
This carousel
has a Wurlitzer Band Organ (circa 1916). It was owned by Levitt, Brown,
& Higgins Shows (Earl & Bud Davis). In 1923 there were two
rides available for sale. Both Earl Douglas and Edward Bollinger
wanted to purchased the carousel so they drew straws. Edward drew
the “short straw” enabling Earl to purchase the carousel. In 1932,
Edward and Robert Bollinger purchased it from Earl Douglas’ widow.
A third ownership interest in the Skyride
was another contribution to the WWF by Robert Bollinger.
The Skyride is an overhead ride consisting of enclosed cabins that take
riders from one end of the fairgrounds to the other.
In the
early 1960’s, representatives from the Fair asked Robert to run the
carnival games at the fair. Their request was timely as it put him in
the postion of forming a traveling show, FunTastic Rides, Inc. which
solved some problems he was having. At that time, he owned more rides
than any other operator in the United States so would share “spots”
with other operators. As the others only owned a ride or two,
they would turn in a ticket count each day. The gross income
would then be split with set up, transportation and tear down expenses
taken from the portion Robert received. All that changed when
three of his employees took it upon themselves to count all ride
tickets by ride at close of day. They found the count they made
was higher than the count turned in by the ride operator. It
wasn’t much on a daily basis but by the end of the week it added
up. Rather than present this information to the operators, he
suggested that the proceeds be split after expenses were deducted. They
refused. So, FunTastic Rides, Inc. was formed. While he
owned this show, he always had a spot at the Rose Festival in Portland,
Oregon; provided entertainment at the Western (in Puyallup) and Central
(in Yakima) Washington Fairs; Oregon State Fair; Pacific National
Exposition (British Columbia, Canada) plus smaller fairs throughout
Oregon, Washington, Arizona and Texas. |
