From the
back cover:"The life
and times of George Baker himself span almost exactly the entire era
of steam on the fairground. George was very much at the heart of it
all, as a contractor he was among the first to harness steam for
hauling a fairground ride and he was in the thick of the competition
to introduce the first mechanically animated 'galloping' horse
roundabouts.
His marriage to an ambitious
travelling girl, Carrie Hall, set him on the road as a showman in
his own right whilst he often attempted to retain a steadier income
by more conventional and reliable means. Fierce competition from
already established showmen drove George and Carrie to make their
own way, notably, on the Isle of Wight where they and their growing
family developed a self contained travelling show combining the
thrills, skills and humour of fairground, circus, music hall and
cinema.
The Great War caused a temporary
eclipse of the fairground world but provided George and his three
sons, Dan, Len and Reg with the golden opportunity of forming a
major haulage enterprise which quickly expanded into the further
realms of contracting, engineering and aggregate extraction.
Soon after the formation of George
Baker & Sons Ltd. Dan Baker was drawn to retread the dusty path back
to the fairgrounds of his childhood, where he and especially his
daughters Eva and Doris, would eventually become deeply woven into
the rich tapestry of showland families."
Condition: Very good. (Click on
cover image to see close-up of condition.)
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