FERRIS WHEEL CELEBRATES 100 YEARS; FARROW AMUSEMENTS BRINGING WORLD'S LARGEST PORTABLE FERRIS WHEEL

A hundred years ago the Ferris wheel was a novelty, a major attraction at the world's fair in Chicago.

Since then, it has transformed the landscape of both big and small fairs. The ride itself, originally called a "pleasure wheel," has become an integral part of carnivals.

"You have to have a merry-go-round and a Ferris wheel to have a carnival," said Mike Sievers, vice president for Farrow Shows of Jackson, Miss.

Farrow Shows' midway has become a fixture at the SEMO District Fair and this year is no exception. The company will have about 18 to 20 carnival rides, as well as games and food concessions at the fair.

The midway will open on Saturday, Sept. 11, at the fairgrounds at Arena Park and close a week later.

Farrow Shows does about 30 fairs a year in the Southeast and Midwest. The season runs from February to November.

Some of the fairs are large ones such as the Indiana State Fair. "In Indianapolis, we had 48 rides," said Sievers. Farrow also provided the carnival rides at this year's V-P Fair in St. Louis.

Farrow carnivals provide traditional, family-oriented entertainment, said Sievers. "We work hard to serve families. We offer a lot of family and kiddie-type rides."

Naturally, one of the major attractions on the midway is the Ferris wheel.

But Farrow Shows doesn't have just any Ferris wheel. "It is the world's largest portable Ferris wheel," said Sievers. The $1 million carnival ride is 100 feet tall.

The four-year-old Ferris wheel is one of only 12 such giants in the nation, he noted. Its 20 gondolas can carry a total of 120 people.

"It's the kind of a ride that people always just ride," said Sievers. "This is a ride that anybody can participate in. It is one of the oldest rides around."

The original wheel was built by Galesburg, Ill., engineer George W. Gale Ferris for the 1893 world's fair. He dreamed up the idea for the wheel after plans to duplicate the Eiffel Tower fell through.

The wheel was used at the St. Louis World's Fair in 1904 and then sold for scrap metal.

Ferris' wheel was the largest ever built 250 feet in diameter, with 36 enclosed cars that each carried 60 passengers.

The Chicago world's fair, officially called the World's Columbian Exposition, introduced not only the Ferris wheel but the nickname "Windy City," picture postcards and the hootchy kootchy. It also inspired the Pledge of Allegiance.

A century later, the cultural icons it introduced are still there. And for fairgoers, the Ferris wheel remains just plain fun.