Period newspaper accounts and photographs record that Williams County residents have enjoyed summer celebrations for more than 100 years. One of the most well documented summer celebrations of the early 20th Century was the Bryan Merchant’s Carnival held June 29 through July 4, 1908. A local committee engaged the Hatch Carnival Company, described as “the largest and best carnival company on the road today,” for the six-day event. The carnival company arrived in 19 railcars on Sunday afternoon, June 28, and by Monday “Bryan’s wide public square was transformed into a tented midway.”
Hatch offered numerous attractions to entice carnival goers including a wild animal show featuring Wallace the untamable lion, a trained animal show with Dixie the high diving dog, “The Peerless Mamie,” electrical dancer; a realistic Monitor and Merrimack performance, the Katzenjammer Kastle, the Air Dome, the Superba Beauty show, a penny arcade, a moving picture show, a dog and monkey show, and an Italian band.
Hatch provided free entertainment twice daily in the form of Achille Phileon, an “equilibrist.” Outfitted in a flashy jacket, cap and tights, Phileon balanced himself on a large ball and, using his feet, rolled the ball to the top of a narrow, spiraling ramp erected on West High Street.
In addition to Hatch’s attractions, the local carnival committee arranged other free entertainment including “aerial whirlwinds” Walburn & Whitney, and Harry Six, “the world’s champion headforemost high diver.” J. Harry Six was born in Bryan in 1881 and by 1897 was touring the country as a high diver. In 1908, Six was at the pinnacle of his show business career. He erected a tall ladder anchored by guy wires or ropes and festooned with electric lights near the intersection of North Main and Bryan streets. Although local newspapers stated Harry’s ladder was 90 feet high, other sources indicate that by 1908 Harry was performing his high dive—blindfolded—from a 110-foot ladder into a water tank 8 feet wide, 16 feet long and 3½ feet deep. Local newspapers claimed Six’s “bold and daring act” was “one that makes you catch your breath the first time you see it,” and that “the enthusiastic crowd cheered lustily each performance.” Harry performed two high dives daily during the Merchant’s Carnival.
The 1908 Merchant’s Carnival was one of the earliest, if not the first, northwestern Ohio appearance of that midway staple, the Ferris wheel. George Washington Gale Ferris cre- ated the first Ferris wheel for the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago. About 1.5 million people rode the 264-foot-tall Ferris wheel during the Exposition, including William Sullivan of Roodhouse, Ill. Sullivan was captivated by the Ferris wheel and returned home determined to develop a smaller version that could be easily dismantled and moved from event to event. In 1900, Sullivan constructed “Big Eli,” the first portable Ferris wheel. In 1906—just two years prior to the Bryan Merchant’s Carnival— Sullivan incorporated the Eli Bridge Company to produce his Big Eli Ferris wheel. In the nearly 120 years since, the Eli Bridge Company has manufactured more than 1,300 Big Eli Ferris wheels; the company, which remains in the hands of the Sullivan family to this day, is also responsible for that other midway classic, the Scrambler.
The 1908 Merchant’s Carnival culminated in a Fourth of July celebration that included baseball games and concerts by the Bryan and Edgerton town bands. Visitors swarmed to the Fountain City via Bryan’s two passenger railroads and the Toledo & Indiana Railway’s electric interurban cars. In addition, “a steady stream of people driving to town poured in from all directions.” Soon one of the largest crowds in Bryan’s history thronged the streets, and “Everybody seemed to be enjoying themselves looking for noise, something to smoke, eat and drink, zigzag, popcorn, fun, [and] a cool breeze.”
The final event of the 1908 Bryan Merchants Carnival was a grand fireworks display. The Bryan Press noted, “The display of fireworks Saturday night that ended the week’s program was very extensive. For nearly an hour the southwest corner of the square was lighted by gunpowder in all forms. A big variety of sky and set pieces was shown and held the crowd to the very last spark.”
Before carnival goers deserted the streets, the Hatch Carnival Company began dismantling its attractions; the company left Bryan early Sunday morning for their next show destination but not without leaving a brief but indelible mark on northwest Ohio history.