a fairground life(standards2)

In the late 60s to mid 70s there wasn't much variety of equipment compared to today, but the fair made up for this by having more "side shows" and live acts such as boxing booths or freak shows. In this politically correct world neither are welcome (rightly or wrongly). Then rides mainly consisted of the speedway, waltzer, dodgem, twist,ferris wheel, skid, octopus, dive bomber, trabant or paratrooper (upright). Some rides are still here today , but modernised, the waltzer,dodgems and twist are evergreens and will never go out of date. In Scotland now I do not know of any speedway, ferris wheel, octopus, dive bomber, trabant or upright paratrooper on fairs and there is only one skid ride. These all slowly disappeared over the last twenty years. Now the new thrilling list contains rides that would have defied imagination in those earlier years- miami,frisbee,freak out,the bomber, top gun, tagada, frogs, dropzone, orbitor, skyliner, superbob, matterhorn, inverter, magic carpet, breakdancer , mobile roller coaster the list goes on and on. Not only are these rides more thrilling but also some are computer controlled and have various safety systems built in to prevent operator error. Also these rides are designed by computer and structurally tested far beyond earlier rides. Even the power system has changed from old 110v DC to 415v AC with earth leakage trips and overload cut outs. The generators that power them too have improved to super silent operation and emissions are lower. Yes standards are improving.