Did you ever wonder what the early Kentucky pioneers did for amusement? In a day and age now in the 21st century, we take amusement as easy as turning on the television and having 100 or more cable channels available at a click of the remote. Or movies showing at the multiple-screen theatre down the street. Or dashing out to watch our child play football, baseball, soccer, basketball. Or going to a concert, swimming, fishing? Well, only a few of the above would have been available to our early settlers! For today's tip, I am going to go back just a few years into the 18th and 19th century through the eyes of Franklin Gorin, one of our ancestors. Franklin was the son of the founder of Glasgow KY and one-time owner of Mammoth Cave. He was born in 1798 while his father, John, was at a log rolling and later became a noted lawyer in the area. In 1870, only seven years before his death, he was called up to write a series of articles for a local paper on his remembrances of our county. These were later put into book form by the family and is now sold by our local historical society as "Times of Long Ago". In Chapter XII, Franklin dealt with the pioneer amusements, to which I will add a little more. "The pioneers had their amusements as well as their hardships, and if we compared their happiness with that of the present generation perhaps we would find them as cheerful and happy, if not more so, notwithstanding their deprivation of almost all things which we consider absolutely necessary for our comfort and pleasure. [Some things never change do they?] "One of the temporal amusements was dancing, in which the females, old and young, unless restrained by piety, participated. The men and youth engaged in horse and foot races on the roads and streets, (we had no race courses then), wresting, pitched battles, cock fighting, shooting matched at a target, ball plays either at a ball alley or in an open space, corn shuckings, pitching quits or dollars and snow balling. Snows were more frequent and deeper in those days than now. "Perhaps the most profitable and exciting amusement was hunting the bear, deer, turkeys, squirrels, &c., all of which was plenty, especially deer, which were frequently seen in large herds. Deer driving was a favorite and exciting pleasure. Fishing was to some a great pastime. Our many streams were full of fish, larger than now and in greater varieties. They were caught with a hook and line, or gigged. "Shows also contributed greatly to the amusement of the pioneers. The first in town were at an early date, and when there were but few people here to see them. The first was Punch, Judy and the Devil." A bed quilt hung across the northeast corner of the room served as a curtain. The performers were behind the scenery, while Punch, Judy and the Devil made their appearance above the top of the quilt, and greatly amused and astonished the audience by their dialogue. The devil then, as now, was hideous and made all believe the "Devil was after them." The second was an elephant, exhibited in a frame house then being built by John Matthews, Jr., on Green Street, opposite the court house. It drew nearly the whole county, as many had never seen an elephant. The third was a circus composed of one horse, a bay pony, gaily caparisoned, and a single performer, who exhibited on the west corner of the square on which stands the Urania College. The fourth was a guinea pig, exhibited from house to house, and on the streets and by ways. As for those shows, they afforded as much pleasure to the primitive settlers, as the menageries, circuses and theatres of this day do to the present race of sightseers. "Barbecues are of an early date in this county. They were had on the Fourth of July, when the Declaration of Independence and a Fourth July speech were generally delivered; also during canvasses for Representatives for the Legislature and Congress, and not unfrequently by private parties. Reader, let me tell you what was a primitive barbecue, when were cooked or barbecued over hot coals, venison, beef, mutton, lamb, pig, squirrels, birds, turkeys, ducks and chickens. Franklin mentioned other activities in a pioneer's life which took away, for a short time, the memory of sore backs and hungry stomachs. Agricultural Fairs began in the 1840's in many Kentucky Counties and boys proudly showed off their prize horses, cattle, chickens or other livestock and the womenfolk baked their beset pies. Political rallies would rival current day events, albeit much drinking normally took place and the speeches lasted a lot longer! Franklin concludes by telling a story which is well-known here of a Samuel Fowler. He was a well-digger and a wagoner, thought to be very eccentric and full of jokes. He once bet, being very low on funds, that he could fly. He let it be known that he had learned how to fly while on a trip and he had invented a pair of appropriate wings. He would allow bets to be made as to his success on his solo flight from the 2nd floor of a house on Front Street. The bets were 25 cents each and in a short time, he had a lot of willing "takers." Early the next day, people were lined up outside the house, knowing full well that they would win their bets! The sash was soon raised and with no one daring to take a breath, the "herald came flying out of the window head foremost; but lo! and behold, before he had crossed the street his wings failed and he landed in the street at full length. A piercing shriek was heard and all thought good old Sam Fowler was gone. The crowed rushed to his aid, and picked up, to their amazement, a stuffed manikin. By this time Sam Fowler was in the public square entertaining the few who had not been gulled by his wonderful voyage through the air." Other amusements were available too, depending on the location of the settler. Franklin mentioned the circus, and of course this was an exciting event to young and old alike. It was the traveling circus that wiped out the populations of many towns across Kentucky, Missouri and Illinois (and others) in 1854 when the circus people exposed the citizens to cholera. The American Circus, as it was known then, began approximately in 1793 by an Englishman named John Bill Rickets who put on his first show in Philadelphia. It was a little fancier than the one described by Gorin, it even included clown acts still loved to this day. This was expanded on year by year and by the 1830's farmers, not show people per se, began showing the menageries. This consisted of exotic beasts from far away lands. They combined this with trick horseback riding, clowns and other acts. Elephants and tigers along with giraffes and other strange animals made their appearance and shocked and amazed the country pioneer man, woman and child. In some parts of the United States, "mud tent" circuses were in business as early as 1804. Over the years a great competition arose between these traveling circuses and through the competition developed a lot of the things we are familiar with today - handbills, barkers, loud music and showy costumes. Another form of amusement existed in the towns near the river - the gorgeous show boats. The thrill of hearing the showboat approaching the town! The wondrous music, the lights, it could thrill the soul! Many carried traveling show groups from England who performed Shakespeare or other popular plays of the time. The entertainment could be on board the ship itself with dancing and partying, or the cast of players could disembark and perform in a nearby building. Many churches took dim views of this time of "devil amusement"! Horse racing was banned by most churches, the racing was fine, the gambling wasn't. If there wasn't an official race track, the riders raced down the widest street in town or across the fields. Race Street in Glasgow was so named because this was a favorite race track - which the city father banned immediately, but seems to have been ignored! There are many other things that would count towards pioneer amusements - barn raisings (though work), shuckings, quilting bees, church parties, taffy parties, horse shoes, musclemen contests, singings at the church, camp meetings, and some children's games that still exist to this day. It was a hard life, but they took time to rest too! I hope you enjoyed this! Source: Times of Long Ago, Barren County Kentucky by Franklin Gorin, published by the South Central KY Historical and Genealogical Society, Glasgow, KY. (c) Copyright 16 Oct 2003, Sandra K.Gorin Colonel Sandi Gorin SCKY Links: http://www.public.asu.edu/~moore/Gorin.html SCKY surname registry sites: http://www.rootsweb.com/~kyclinto/reg.html http://www.rootsweb.com/~kyclinto/forms/SCKYreg.html Gorin Publishing: http://ggpublishing.tripod.com/