The Carnival Business

George Boyington of Portland, Ore., was fiddling around in his kitchen when he created a staple of modern day carnival cuisine: the hot dog on a stick.

The Pronto Pup, as Boyington named his creation, made its public debut in 1942 during a horse exposition at the Portland fairgrounds. Since then, the deep-fried, batter-covered hot dogs--which are also known as corn dogs--have become a common sight at fairgrounds and carnivals across the country.

Alex Sulmonetti, who bought the Pronto Pup Co. from Boyington in 1950, can’t say how many corn dogs are sold nationwide. His company just sells the batter mix to food concessionaires. But, Sulmonetti says visitors during the 12-day Minnesota State Fair gobble up a whopping 300,000 Pronto Pups.

Why Boyington, who has since died, named his creation a Pronto Pup remains a mystery. But Sulmonetti has a theory: “A pup is a dog and pronto (in Spanish) means fast. It’s a pretty good name--we never thought of changing it.”

Walk down the carnival midway this summer and you might hear: “Step right up, step right up young man and win yourself a crayon.” A crayon?

As far as the people who make carnival prizes are concerned, 1988 might be the year of the stuffed crayon. “They will be really big; people just really like them,” said John Taggart, owner of Big “T” Enterprises, a Riverside novelty supply house.

Another top contender is a stuffed version of a dancing California Raisin. “The Spuds dog was really popular last year,” Taggart said of the countless Spuds McKenzie items. “But Spuds seems to be going down hill a little.”

On the poster front, it still isn’t clear who or what will replace the rock group Bon Jovi as this year’s top pin-up prize. But salesman Fabian Mangan of Gemini Novelty Co. says you can always count on the traditional best sellers: “Girls, girls and cars.”

How safe is it to get on one of those carnival rides? Pretty safe, apparently.

California’s division of Occupation Safety and Health says that only five minor accidents were reported on carnival rides last year. A similar number of accidents have occurred in each of the past five years, says Ron Craven, who heads the state’s team of six carnival ride inspectors.

Craven credits a tougher state inspection procedure, better ride engineering and skyrocketing liability insurance premiums for keeping the number of accidents low. “The industry is finding out that accidents are very costly,” Craven said.

California has 78 permanent fair grounds, according to the Western Fairs Assn. Fairgrounds can be found all the way from Del Mar near San Diego to Ferndale in far Northern California. The Los Angeles County Fair, held each October, ranks as the largest, with about 2 million visitors. The fair industry in California generates $80 million a year in sales tax revenue and 20,000 full-time jobs, according to a report conducted by Security Pacific Corp. in 1984.