ENTRANCE TO THE FÊTE DE NEUILLY
These exhibitions are of varied character. Many of them are counterparts of those along the “Bowery” of our own Coney Island, but many spectacles may be witnessed inside the enclosures of these claptrap barracks of canvas and board that are wholly foreign to us. Their ornamental façades are adorned with marvels of pictorial art representing all manner of wonderful things not found in this or any other clime.
A SUNDAY CROWD—FÊTE DE NEUILLY
Side-showing is a science. Some fakirs have become rich with little more than a dirty red curtain to screen from view the wonders promised within, a good “barker” to heighten the desire and imagination of the gaping crowd in front, and a tame ape tied outside to attract the little ones. That there was after all nothing worth even two sous to behold behind the mysterious portal, the spectators in front knew by the sheepish smirk of those coming out, yet they paid their sous just the same and filed in to see what had fooled the other fellows!
In the Fête de Neuilly I did not find these fake methods existing. It is a dangerous thing to fool a French crowd, and so it is the custom to parade upon an elevated platform at the entrance in plain view of the passer-by the troupe advertised to show within.
There stand the girl in tights, the clown, the juggler and the strong man, and the spectator may judge fairly for himself whether he thinks it worth while to part with his sous to know them better. For one franc he may study their talent from a kitchen chair, alluringly termed a “fauteuil d’orchestre.” A bench seat generally within a foot of it rents at half price, and a bleacher seat at five sous, with a reduction to children and the military.
There are certain hours and special days when the generous manager lowers even these prices—dinner hours when the passing throng thins out, and rainy days when the clown appears in a mackintosh and the girl in the pink cotton tights wraps a plush boa about her powdered neck and wears the clown’s galoshes, while the monkey at the end of his chain buries his head out of the drip and falls asleep.
