With Higher Insurance Rates and a Shrinking Clientele, Creating Fun Has Become a Serious Business for Carnival Managers. Still, It’s . . . : A THRILL A MINUTE

As soon as the portable generator rumbled to life, the carnival on the parking lot at Vermont Avenue and Jefferson Boulevard opened for business.

The five-story Zipper ride began twisting and turning while lights flashed across its steel frame in a computer-controlled dance. Nearby, the song “Tequila Sunrise” blared from the Gravitron ride. Deep fat fryers in the snack wagon began to burble after corn dogs were immersed into hot cooking oil.

Everything seemed to be in working order, but from the carnival midway, manager Larry Brennen took note of the stubble on the chin of a young carny, as carnival employees are known. Shave it off, Brenner ordered.

“We work with the public,” Brenner said. “The cleaner we are, the better image it gives us.”

A better image, it is hoped, will mean better business. That’s one of the many new strategies followed by 500 or so American carnivals as they cope with competition from theme parks and the decreasing number of teens--prime carnival customers.

“The carnival industry is changing from a super-secret, hit-and-run Gypsy-type operation to a corporate business,” said David Garrett, a consultant with Haas-Wilkerson, Wohlberg Insurance, which writes policies for the amusement industry. “They must change. They must adapt.”

The business of carnivals has become much more complex since the first traveling sideshows appeared on the American scene in the late 19th Century.

Higher Insurance Rates

Carnival owners must be savvy marketers and advertisers. Carnivals, most of which are still family owned, must comply with an increasing array of state, local and federal regulations related to everything from ride safety to noise.

Liability insurance costs for carnivals have skyrocketed about 300% since 1984. Some of the larger carnivals with 50 to 60 rides pay premiums of as much as $600,000 a year, while the carnivals that travel through Los Angeles pay about $75,000 to $100,000 annually, insurance agents say.

Soaring insurance rates have caused a 20% to 30% increase in ticket prices in recent years. An adult can expect to pay up to $1.75 to ride some of the larger rides, industry executives say.

The added pressures have forced many carnival owners out of the business. “Over the last 10 years, we have seen a lot of consolidation--there are not as many of the smaller shows as there used to be,” said Stephen Chambers, executive director of the Western Fairs Assn.

To boost revenues, carnivals, which make most of their money at state and county fairs, have begun to play at more company picnics and civic fund-raisers. “That’s a whole new market that’s become available in the last few years,” Garrett said.

Carnival owners hope to make up for the decreasing number of teen-agers by offering rides that are less rambunctious and more family-oriented. Rides such as the Sea Dragon, a huge ship that swings back and forth like a pendulum, are aimed at this market. “They’re thrill rides but they are gentle,” said John Streeter, president of Chance Rides Inc., a maker of amusement rides.

Besides the rides, carnivals have also paid more attention to the midway games--by offering more expensive prizes--and a greater variety of foods. “They are turning more and more into food festivals,” said R. K. Larson, executive director of the Outdoor Amusement Business Assn.

Although executives estimate that industry revenues were up 10% to 15% last year, per-capita spending at carnivals remains low. The average visitor spends about $5 at a carnival versus $20 at a theme park, Larson estimates. “A carnival is kind of a poor man’s pleasure,” Larson said.

The relatively low prices of carnival rides and attractions have made them very popular in low-income, working-class areas, industry executives say. Visitors to the carnival at Vermont and Jefferson, for example, walked in from the surrounding low-income black and Latino neighborhoods to pay as little as 25 cents for kiddy rides.

Brenner, the carnival manager, says some wealthier communities have banned carnivals. “They don’t allow carnivals in Beverly Hills--they’re too high class,” he said.

The carnival, owned by Davis Enterprises of Fontana, is one of about 35 that travel through the state. Composed of 11 rides and 10 game booths, the carnival is actually one of two Davis carnivals that were traveling through Southern California last month. The two carnivals regroup later this spring to play county fairs in Northern and Central California.

Although carnivals in other parts of the country take a winter hiatus in Arizona and Florida, the mild weather in Southern California allows carnivals to travel beyond the traditional March through October season.

And they do travel.

Brenner and his crew have stopped for one-week stints in Bell, Hollywood and Huntington Park before arriving at Vermont and Jefferson. After what was considered a long 10-day run, the Davis carnival and its 30 permanent employees headed out to the next stop--a parking lot near Venice Boulevard and La Brea Avenue.

The carnival is arranged to draw business. Large thrill rides with dazzling lights--such as the Zipper and Tilt-a-Whirl--are placed nearest the street. They can cost up to $300,000 and can handle up to 1,000 riders an hour.

The center portion of the carnival site--the midway--is occupied by the game booths and food concessions. The concessions belong to independent operators who contribute about 25% of their revenues to the carnival.

The midway is where carnival goers toss streams of quarters so they can win drinking glasses with a beer company logo that cost 38 cents. At the shooting gallery, would-be sharp shooters hope to bag $12 stuffed poodles as a prize. Those who manage to throw a ping pong ball into a glass of colored water go home with a live gold fish.

Still Transient Business

Parked behind the row of shooting galleries are the semis, U-hauls, motor homes and cars that belong to the carnies. A motor home--parked behind the Rambo shooting gallery--serves as the carnival office and Brennen’s home on long distance jumps--or trips--up to Northern California.

Brenner says few of the 30 employees--most of whom are paid minimum wage--were around last year. “It’s a very transient business,” he said. “They get paid and they’re gone. They just disappear. It drives the bookkeepers crazy.”

Brennen, a former carpet store owner from Florida, got interested in the carnival after a weekend visit. “On Monday, I put my stuff in storage and I hit the road,” he said. “I love it. I’ve been doing it the last 18 years.”

Still, Brenner concedes that the carnival business lacks respect in many circles, despite moves to improve the industry’s image. Says Brenner: “My own mother, when I call her, still asks: ‘Are you still in that carnival business?”’