PROCEEDINGS IOWA STATE FAIR MANAGERS ASSN. 37 



night shows costs, a regular invoice so you actually know day after 

 day. I have asked several secretaries and they can't tell me. 



President Estel : The hands of those who know what your night 

 show costs you. There are fourteen. 



Mr. Clark : The Marshall county fair keeps the gate receipts 

 and ampitheater receipts separate from the day. Commencing at 

 five o'clock in the afternoon a new rate of admission is made at the 

 outside gate and the receipts from then on, and also the grandstand 

 receipts for the evening are kept separate. The past year our free 

 shows, music and fireworks cost us about $4,550 and our receipts 

 after five o'clock from the outside gate and the grandstand were 

 $4,200, so you can see whether we made any money or not, and we 

 had these shows for the afternoon and the music, too. 



Mr. Arnold : There is one thing about our night shows. We al- 

 ready have these attractions ; the price is absolutely the same whether 

 we put on a night show or not, and we are pretty near compelled to 

 have a night show. I don't think the night show with us has been 

 a great money maker. We put on a picture show besides our gen- 

 eral attractions, and I will say this, that we didn't get what we ex- 

 pected. 



Mr. Clark: Another feature: it would be worth something on 

 your concessions. If you did not have a night show your con- 

 cessions would not get as much as when you do have a night show. 



Mr. M. E. Bacon: I would like to ask the question of some of 

 these fairs that claim the night show didn't play even, if the night 

 show increased the day attendance. I know one fair in Iowa had 

 not put on a night show, had the largest crowd in the day time the 

 first night they put on a night show they ever had, and they at- 

 tribute that to having the night show. A lot of people staid over to 

 the night show, of course they didn't get the second admission, but 

 it drew the people and I think it showed in their receipts. 



Mr. Young: I can say the first year the president took hold of 

 our fair in 1919 we paid off the mortgage on our fair that had been 

 there for years. When we got clean the next year we put on a night 

 show and increased the prizes and premiums and I want to say so far 

 as we are concerned I think the night show has helped us to get 

 where we are and has been a winner greater than anything else, 

 because our attendance both day and night has increased every year 

 and this year was the best one we ever had and we made plenty of 

 money. We are a little differently organized from any of the other 

 fairs in the state. In our fair every man can be a stockholder 



