By WILLIAM LINDSAY GRESHAM (Dunce Books; 1953/2022)
A 1953 book that prior to its January 2022 re-publication was impossible to get ahold of for a reasonable price, this is a nonfiction anthology that explores all aspects of early Twentieth Century carnival lore, as observed by William Lindsay Gresham (1909-1962). Gresham is best known for NIGHTMARE ALLEY, the ultimate example of dark-hued carnival-themed fiction (or “carny noir”), and for a full understanding of that masterpiece a familiarity with MONSTER MIDWAY is required.
…a nonfiction anthology that explores all aspects of early Twentieth Century carnival lore…
The book, with its straightforward journalistic prose, may lack the gonzo charge of better-known carnival-themed tomes like CIRCUS PARADE and MEMOIRS OF A SWORD SWALLOWER, but it does have a quirky autobiographical component. The opening chapter details how as a young man Gresham learned about circus geeks, which so impacted him that “Full-blown, the plot for a story leaped into my head.” That story was NIGHTMARE ALLEY, whose 1946 publication afforded him an entry into carnival circles, which led to MONSTER MIDWAY.
Explored are the origins of carnival rides, which according to Gresham’s research emerge primarily from Russia, the source of the “Russian Mountain” (or rollercoaster). There’s a rather lengthy study of the motordrome, in which motorcycles are raced along a perpendicular wall, with the survival of the drivers dependent on a “highly developed set of balance reflexes.” Further chapters explore knife-throwing (with step-by-step instructions on how to do so), fortune telling (with more detailed instructions), sword swallowing, snake handling and, of course, sideshow exhibits, which include “General Tom Thumb” (a.k.a. Charley Stratton), the “Mule Faced Women” (Grace McDaniels) and the “largest couple on Earth” (Mr. and Mrs. Gottlieb Fischer).
The opening chapter details how as a young man Gresham learned about circus geeks, which so impacted him that “Full-blown, the plot for a story leaped into my head.” That story was NIGHTMARE ALLEY…
Gresham also includes a scrupulously researched chapter on his childhood hero Harry Houdini, which serves as the nexus for Gresham’s iconic 1959 biography. I say this condensed Houdini portrait is every bit as authoritative and satisfying, if not more so, than the book.
The world unveiled in MONSTER MIDWAY is, needless to say, completely foreign to our own. Political correctness is nowhere to found in these pages (consider that a trigger warning), whose unthinkable-by-modern-day-standards descriptions include a classified ad transcript reading “Wanted—freaks, no one-nighters, drunks, prima donnas. Write full details. I will give you a fair shake,” and a description of some waxworks exhibits that graphically depict medieval torture methods.
“Wanted—freaks, no one-nighters, drunks, prima donnas. Write full details. I will give you a fair shake.”
Then again, though, there’s much here that hasn’t changed in the 70 year interim. Example: the observation that “There are always a group of people who make an avocation of being shocked…They are the attackers of gangster radio shows, comic books showing violence, and midway crime walk-throughs. I think these people are off their trolley.” Amen to that, Mr. Gresham!