Fairground attraction

Robert Gore-Langton talks to Professor Vanessa Toulmin about bringing the 27,000 Volt Girl and five-foot earwigs back into the public eye

Vanessa Toulmin is that rare thing — an academic professor who grew up on a fair. From the age of ten she fried onions for the hotdogs, spun candyfloss, and took money for rides on the gallopers. She can remember, as a little girl, George the Gentle Giant (seven foot four) lurching home drunk with his chum Wee McGregor (two foot four) peeing on his shins.

Her early life was like a Fellini circus film. As a teenager, Vanessa actually ran away from the fair to get some A-levels. Today she has a chair at the University of Sheffield and is director of the invaluable National Fairground Archive. She also curates the annual Showzam festival in Blackpool and writes books and papers. Last year she visited 28 fairs and I bet she never paid for a ride. Everyone knows her — and they are proud as punch she’s a prof.

Toulmin’s family, from the Lancashire coast, has on her mother’s side six generations of show people. ‘My auntie Brenda was a contortionist on Blackpool North Pier who could drink a glass of water with her feet doubled up inside a box. She later became principal dancer with the Moulin Rouge. Very bendy she was! An uncle of mine had a fair he called “Fun Without Vulgarity” and he was an evangelist preacher in the winter. I travelled about 14 weeks a year. I didn’t really go to school. My brothers and sisters were on the fair until 16. One brother used to run the helter-skelter, another the clown stall, my sisters worked on the rides.’