verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . september 2011 learn how and when to remove this template message conklin & garrett ltd. type privately held company industry amusement midway founded 1916 headquarters brantford ontario key people jim conklin son of founder frank conklin grandson of founder products amusement ride rental operation and traveling carnival management divisions world s finest shows conklin supershows carnival group website conklin shows conklins super shows world s finest shows conklin shows was the largest traveling amusement corporation in north america . 1 the 75 year old company operated traveling carnivals at various summer agricultural shows across north america and is based in brantford ontario and formerly also in west palm beach florida . the company has a long history in canada providing entertainment for generations of kids and adults . the organization used to operate the midway services for some of canada s largest summer fairs including the canadian national exhibition in toronto the calgary stampede and edmonton s k days . in 2004 conklin shows international route and equipment were sold to north american midway entertainment . two of the remaining companies world s finest shows and conklin super shows still are part of the conklin group of carnival companies . world s finest shows route includes more than 60 fairs all in ontario canada . they are both based in ontario canada . conklin shows as it was known in canada and the us now operates under north american midway entertainment name . the carnival provides the midway at fairs and exhibitions including miami florida s miami dade county fair edmonton alberta s k days calgary alberta s calgary stampede and toronto ontario s cne the canadian national exhibition . contents 1 history 2 current operations 2.1 conklin supershows 2.1.1 current games 2.1.2 current rides 2.1.3 former rides 2.2 world s finest shows 3 see also 4 references 5 external links history edit conklin shows was founded by james wesley patty conklin b. 1892 in brooklyn new york and raised by adopted parents the conklins . he got his start as a sideshow host at coney island in the early 1900s . by 1915 he was running his own gambling games at various midways across the southern united states . in 1916 patty conklin joined up with his adopted father and established clark & conklin shows . lasting four seasons playing at various shows around the mid west the company folded after the death of the father . in 1921 patty moved the show north to play at the winnipeg exhibition . due to a problem with the fair their participation was canceled . while returning to the united states with a train car full of prize merchandise patty stumbled upon a show just outside winnipeg . they joined up with the operator of the fair international amusement company and worked all of the remaining canadian shows that year . after working the road hosting small fairs coast to coast for 20 years conklin shows bid on and won the midway contract for the 1937 toronto canadian national exhibition . the fair one of the largest in the world was a prized show . having the cne contract helped turn it into a profitable company in the early 1950s conklin shows borrowed over half a million dollars and began to build permanent attractions on the cne fairgrounds of exhibition place . in 1953 they constructed the mighty flyer a wooden rollercoaster that lasted until the early 1990s . the early 1970s saw the company begin to diversify including establishing maple leaf village now casino niagara in niagara falls ontario along with running a venue at the base of the cn tower in toronto . in 1975 conklin shows biggest rival royal american shows declined to return to fair dates in canada due to later disproved charges of tax evasion . in 1976 conklin was awarded the contracts previously held by ras including the calgary stampede and vancouver pacific exhibition largely due to conklin being a canadian business . the 80s and 90s were a time of growth for conklin as it operated across the prairies with stops in winnipeg edmonton calgary regina and saskatoon . it also opened up a number of smaller fairs as well as provided a schedule and route for many smaller independent shows such as lauther amusements and billy truax amusements . these companies although bound by contracts to the larger conklin shows operated as separate shows . conklin also added many of its super spectaculars some of which were never seen north of the border . conklin was the first and only show in north america to have a traveling double loop roller coaster which took 28 trailers to move . this mammoth coaster named the doppel looper only made the trip as far north as toronto and even this was not financially feasible after the late 90s . along other rides that were one of a kind in a traveling carnival were the drop of fear the g force and the mark 1 roller coaster . as time progressed conklin began to show signs of financial strain that was synonymous with the entire traveling carnival industry . favorites such as the zipper and octopus as well as the kamikaze and rainbow were phased out and sold as cost cutting measures . independents that had long traveled as a part of conklin shows were also phased out as a cost cutting measure . finally other rides such as the drop of fear and the wildcat roller coaster were phased out as cost cutting measures and allowed to be sold to competing companies and shelved in west palm beach . finally conklin shows joined with the former farrow shows from jackson mississippi thebault blomsness astro amusements and all star amusements and former president and ceo of ticketmaster group frederic rosen to form the newly minted north american midway entertainment co. or n.a.m.e. n.a.m.e. website . this became official in columbia south carolina in 2004 . in january 2006 n.a.m.e. also acquired mid america shows press release and several contracts and rides from cumberland valley shows . n.a.m.e. provides rides at over 145 fairs and events yearly . now included are cinco de mayo in new orleans as well as the dade co. fair the illinois state fair the kentucky state fair the indiana state fair and the big e eastern states exposition . new and more expensive rides have been added to its line up but at the cost of many of the old favorites . frank conklin while owning part of n.a.m.e. has left the management of the combined company to others . current operations edit the conklin midway at toronto s canadian national exhibition . conklin group is made up of two operating units world s finest shows and conklin supershows . this is a list of some of the venues they provided midway services for in the past edmonton k days toronto canadian national exhibition ottawa ottawa superex regina regina exhibition association vancouver pacific national exhibition west palm beach south florida fair miami miami dade county fair calgary calgary stampede conklin supershows edit conklin supershows is one of conklin shows smaller sub companies . it currently owns 13 game trailers and 17 rides . current games edit duck pond ballons 2 shooting star bottle break machine gun basketball 2 surprise bags soccer ball bike racer cork guns skee ball froggie chicken ring toss punk rack water racer 2 current rides edit kite flyer wave swinger polar express zero gravity scrambler vertigo flip n out chainsaw ring of fire enquiox orbiter spin out moonraker pharaoh s fury free fall crazy surf kamikaze magnum sky wheel sizzler inverter cortina bob rock star silver streak gondola wheel century wheel chilly willys carousel safari carousel apple spin 911 fire brigade super tilt a whirl red barron ship ahoy mardi gras consturction zone heavy haulers cars magic maze jump jaction the great western train hy 5 wheel speedway bikes boats fire trucks motorcycle dune buggy sailboats demolition derby atv vehicle glass house cuckoo haus fun house slide 5 lanes former rides edit sea dragon dragon castle maze super scooter bumper cars emergency 911 victory lap slide super space sled super silver streak super bumper cars jolly roger the round up the hard rock and roll the himilaya the super loop the zipper the gravitron gee whiz world s finest shows edit main article world s finest shows one of conklin shows more successful sub companies is the world s finest shows which travels throughout ontario canada . the company owns more than 40 rides and concessions . see also edit maple leaf village a now defunct small amusement park in niagara falls ontario . canadian national exhibition former client now operated by north american midway entertainment exhibition place toronto site of one of the world s largest fairs lake ontario park kingston ontario rides removed after 2005 references edit telescope patty conklin . cbc.ca . cbc archives . retrieved 6 september 2011 . external links edit conklin shows official web site conklin shows official web site . cbc archives patty conklin gives a tour of the cne with cbc radio 1958 cbc archives cbc television story about patty conklin 1971 . cbc television life and times special cbc television special the life and times of patty conklin . retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title conklin shows & oldid 741652339 categories entertainment companies of canadatraveling carnivals1916 establishments in ontariohidden categories articles needing additional references from september 2011all articles needing additional referencesuse dmy dates from september 2011 navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages add links this page was last modified on 28 september 2016 at 21 14 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; additional terms may apply . by using this site you agree to the terms of use and privacy policy . wikipedia is a registered trademark of the wikimedia foundation inc. a non profit organization . privacy policy about wikipedia disclaimers contact wikipedia developers cookie statement mobile view