Most people living in Canada have heard of the Canadian National Exhibition, known as the CNE or the Ex. It runs for three weeks each year in Toronto from mid-August to early September, and draws visitors from across Canada and around the world.
What you might not know is that it was once the world’s largest annual exhibition. In the 1970s it attracted over a million visitors for each of its three weeks — a weekly attendance record that no world’s fair has ever matched.
It grew to its tremendous size and reputation under Canada’s most famous carnival showman, Patty Conklin. Conklin Shows held the CNE midway for almost 70 years, providing all the rides and games. Starting his show in 1924, Patty had wanted to play the Ex for many years, believing that “World’s Fairs may come and go. But the CNE goes on forever.”
Although his company was small in 1937, Patty convinced the general manager of the CNE he could take it on, partly by promising to bring the renowned Dionne quintuplets to the Ex as an attraction. He did not get the quints, and he lost money the first year because of a polio epidemic that kept kids away, but he held on to the CNE.
In 1941, Conklin Shows took over a circuit in the Canadian West that included the Calgary Stampede and exhibitions in Edmonton, Regina, and Saskatoon. Restrictions due to World War II kept the American company that had played these events from crossing the border. This gain for Conklin Shows along with the CNE led Macleans magazine to name Patty the “Carnival King” in a cover story on his success. He was known as the Carnie King for the rest of his life.
The CNE was cancelled in 1942 so that the grounds could be used to train soldiers. Patty improvised by holding what he called a “Fair for Britain” in Toronto’s Riverside Park, promoting it as a charity event for the British War Victims’ Fund. The fair replaced the Ex that year and the next, and ensured that Conklin Shows stayed top of mind for Torontonians.
When the war was over, CNE attendance grew for the next three decades. Patty focused on finding new thrill rides. He commissioned construction at the CNE of the Flyer roller coaster, the Alpine Way cable car ride, and buildings to hold other rides and games. Such installations were unheard of for a three-week fair, but Patty made money on all his innovations. The Ex gained in attendance and fame up to and beyond Patty’s death in 1970.
Conklin Shows went on to greater heights under Patty’s son Jim and grandson Frank. With the western shows and large exhibitions in the United States, it became the most successful midway company in the world. CNE attendance peaked at 3.59 million in 1978. Toronto city council and the exhibition board wanted to reduce attendance figures and the hold of Conklin Shows on the Ex. They tore down all of Patty’s installations. Attendance fell to a low of 1.24 million in 2007 and has stabilized at around a million and a half. While the CNE will never again be Canada’s annual world’s fair, it maintains its hold on the hearts of those for whom it was, and still is, a beloved family tradition.
John Thurston is a one-time carnie who went on to become a writer and editor. With Carnie King, he brings together personal experience with his interest in popular culture. He lives in Ottawa.