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Brief Biography of the Conklin FamilyJames Wesley "Patty" Conklin, the carnival king, was born Joe Renker in Brooklyn, New York in 1892. He left home around 1900, making a living on the streets of New York City selling peanuts, newspapers and herring. He worked as a sideshow talker on Coney Island. By the early 1910s, Patty was operating gambling
games on midways in the wild-west oil boomtowns of Texas and Oklahoma.
Patty joined up with the original J.W. Conklin, owner of Clark and Conklin Shows, which he began in 1916. The show played the mid-western states, folding after four seasons. Patty became one of the family, taking his adopted father's name and staying with the Conklins when they went to work for other shows. J.W.
Conklin, Sr., died on the road in the fall of 1920.
In the middle of the 1921 season, at Patty's urging, he, his 18-year old brother Frank and his adopted mother decided to try Canada. With their boxcar full of kewpie dolls, they hooked up with the International Amusement Company through its remaining Canadian dates that season.
Conklin & Garrett Shows was born when Patty bought half of this operation in 1924 from Speed Garrett. They set up their winter quarters in Vancouver. From two railroad cars, the company grew within a few years to fifteen. They played small farming, mining and lumber communities throughout the Prairie Provinces and
British Columbia. They worked the "C" circuit of fairs for several years, and eventually acquired the "B" circuit of larger fairs.
In 1930, with Speed in declining health, Patty bought his half of the show, selling it to his brother Frank. Patty met and married his wife Edythe in 1930. In 1932 he moved the show east to Hamilton, Ontario. His son Jim was born in 1933. Patty was elected president of the Showmen's League of America for both 1935 and
1936, only the second person to be re-elected for a second term. The other person was the founder of the league Buffalo Bill Cody.
In 1937, Conklin moved his office to Brantford, Ontario. The same year he bid on and won the rights to the midway at the Canadian National Exhibition. Slowly the focus of the show moved for the west to Ontario and the Canadian National Exhibition. The Canadian National Exhibition was taken over in 1942 to billet and
train troops for the war effort, the same year he won the right to play the Big "A" circuit of Prairie fairs including the Calgary Stampede. For the next two years Patty promoted a charity show called the "Fair for Britain" at Riverdale Park in Toronto. He retired in 1946.
Patty was lured out of retirement and back to the Canadian National Exhibition for 1947 with an unprecedented ten-year contract. The contract would stay with Conklin Shows until the 21st century.
At the age of 70, Patty partnered with Harry Batt to produce the "Gayway" for the 1962 Seattle World's Fair.
Still working the Ex, one of the most respected men in the business, J.W (Patty) Conklin passed away at 78 in 1970.
Jim Conklin expanded on Patty's legacy, but had his own ambitions for the show. He diversified its holdings with an amusement centre at the CN Tower in Toronto, partnership in a theme park in Niagara Falls and an amusement park on the Pacific National Exhibition grounds in Vancouver. Then fortune--and the
Canadian government--threw Conklin Shows a plum it could not refuse.
During their 1975 Canadian season, Royal American Shows was investigated by the RCMP and later by other Canadian authorities for tax evasion. Royal American was barred from working Canada. Conklin Shows acquired the "A" circuit for the season of 1976.
With a lock on almost every major fair and exhibition in Canada, Conklin Shows set its sights south. In 1978 they bought Deggeler's Magic Midway, another major American show, this one based in Florida, with its U.S. route. To expand in Canada, Conklin & Garrett Ltd. purchased the Bernard and Barry Shows, an Ontario
company. Conklin Shows even tried its hand in the Caribbean, playing Puerto Rico in 1979 with great success, but in Santo Domingo the following year they lost money badly. Back in Canada, interest rates were climbing and the country was entering a recession. The expansion came to an abrupt halt.
In 1980, Conklin & Garrett Ltd., under the management of Jim and Alphie Phillips Jr. operated permanent amusement parks in Niagara Falls and Vancouver, three Ontario travelling shows, a large carnival in the U.S. and the big Canadian show. The operations included scores of rides and a myriad of game and food
concessions, and employed hundreds of permanent and thousands of temporary carnies. In the fall of that year, the bank called in its loan. Rumours were rife that Conklin Shows was about to fold. To meet the show's financial obligations, Jim restructured and downsized all operations. He sold excess equipment, sold
or cut back on the show's permanent locations and closed most of the U.S. route, keeping only those fairs that could be played prior to and following the core Canadian shows.
Another Conklin generation became active on the midway in the 1970s. Frank, Jim's son who was born in 1959, started out moving the show's newest and largest rides. He gradually advanced in managerial responsibilities, until he took over Conklin Shows International. He rebuilt the American route in the 1980s and
'90s, until the Canadian and American operations of Conklin Shows became independent of each other.
In 1996 Jim retired and Frank took over Conklin & Garrett Ltd., retaining all of the show's personnel.
In 2004 Conklin Shows International, CSI, the big show, route and equipment was sold to North America Midway Entertainment. Conko, the clown logo, and name were not included in the sale. Conklin Shows has been reincarnated as a small family Ontario Carnival. Many of the original staff are still "with it".
The red and black Conko logo, designed by the show's graphics firm, remains the continent's most recognizable symbol of midway merriment and thrills.
For more information on the Conklin's history please see www.conklinshows.com
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James Wesley (Patty) Conklin, Showman and "King of the Carnivals".Circa 1937
Unknown
Credits:North American Carnival Museum and Archives (NACMA)
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Frank R. Conklin, brother of Patty Conklin and part owner of Conklin Shows.1930-1940
Unknown
Credits:North American Carnival Museum and Archives (NACMA)
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Conklin & Garrett Shows in British Columbia.1924-1932
Conklin & Garrett Shows
Credits:North American Carnival Museum and Archives (NACMA)
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Conklin & Garrett All Canadian Shows carnival lot in Nelson, British Columbia.September 23-25, 1925
Conklin & Garrett Shows
Credits:North American Carnival Museum and Archives (NACMA)
Jennifer Walker
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Early Conklin horse drawn wagon and the Conklin All Canadian carnival office.1934
Brantford, Ontario, Canada
Credits:North American Carnival Museum and Archives (NACMA)
J.W. (Patty) Conklin
Glenn Charron
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Early Conklin & Garrett's "Circus Side Show" banner line and bally.1931-1933
Conklin & Garrett Shows
Credits:North American Carnival Museum and Archives (NACMA)
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1934 Conklin Shows banner line.1934
Conklin Shows
Credits:North American Carnival Museum and Archives (NACMA)
J.W. (Patty) Conklin
Glenn Charron
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"Ernie and Len" banner line in front of show.1933-1937
Conklin Shows
Credits:North American Carnival Museum and Archives (NACMA)
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Early "Ernie and Len" banner line on a Conklin lot.1931-1933
Conklin Shows
Credits:North American Carnival Museum and Archives (NACMA)
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A Conklin Show's midway at night. "Ernie and Len" show to the right.1933-1937
Conklin Shows
Credits:North American Carnival Museum and Archives (NACMA)
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Conklin Shows electrical crew stringing electrical lines.1937-1943
Conklin Shows
Credits:North American Carnival Museum and Archives (NACMA)
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Oil painting by Jack Ray of a "blow down" on a Conklin lot.Circa 1937
Conklin Shows, Medicine Hat, Alberta
Credits:North American Carnival Museum and Archives (NACMA)
James Conklin
John C. (Jack) Ray
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An early motorcycle stunt show.1924-1937
Conklin Shows
Credits:North American Carnival Museum and Archives (NACMA)
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