a fairground life(standards)

The standards of funfairs are rising, the prizes, the equipment, the rides and even the venues. Lets look at the prizes. When I was a boy, a typical prize for a game in the late 60s was a record (old fashioned Cd for those under 25 years old) or a cheap glassware vase. The early 70s had chalk figures (usually a poodle or lady) about 3 inches (75mm) in length or a "Gonk". This consisted of a cardboard tube (not unlike a used toilet roll) wrapped in a coloured fun-fur with cardboard face and feet stuck on, pathetic! to say the least, but people won them and took them home, well the fun is in the playing not the prizes, right??? Then came the key ring fad and everyone won plastic keyrings from small highland kilties to plastic miniature pound notes. Then in the early 80s a clever dick of a showman decided to give away prizes when you lost! (Not to be out done, everyone had to do this.) These losing prizes started as posters from Abba to Zztop and all sporting teams in between. This practice became the norm. Then came the mirror with a popular theme printed into it much the same as the poster. At first the mirror had no safety edges and they had to be wrapped in tape to prevent the lucky win,I mean loser from cutting his fingers off while taking it home. Eventually they did come with a plastic edging. This prize giving for losing had some odd effects on our trade. The customer now asked what do I get when I lose? This some how seemed to convey the message that you can't win anyway that's why we give you a prize when you lose. Also it led to what became known as "con" games in our trade. You know the games I mean, when there is a large cuddly teddy on display with the sign saying "me if you lose", of course you can't lose even if you wanted to and when the unlucky lose,I mean winner, does win he gets- you guessed it- a key ring! To operate these games you had to be either a beautiful busty blonde or six foot six tall with a neck as broad as Tyson's and made of solid Brass!
Unfortunately another prize was given away also for losing, the Goldfish and with so many unwanted Goldfish being given away, many of them were tossed onto the ground and perished, this led to an animal welfare outcry and is why most local authorities have banned live animals as prizes on funfairs (I totally agree). In the 90s the "Plush Toy" appeared. At last something that looked worth winning, the soft toy got bigger and those clever orientals could copy anything even if they weren't licensed to!(it wasn't only funfairs that used these cheaper imports) This of course led to legislation that all toys had to have the CE tag on them and manufactured to a standard. This did have other benefits as it meant Mickey's eye wasn't going to come off when little Johnny chewed it and choke him. Today you can win Gameboys, mobile phones, TVs, Mp3 players, videos, CD players etc etc. Some prizes that we are glad to see the back of is "Pomagne"(cheap plonk, all alcohol prizes were banned by the Showman's Guild in the early 80s) and the Coconut (especially if you got one that was thrown back at you). Standards are definitely rising!
My favourite funfair prize was the rubber Jaws shark , available from 6 to 12 inches in length. If you over Thirty five I bet you can remember them. The worst must be the "I shot JR" bumper sticker.