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Man with skin of a crocodile left mark on me

Jeffrey Gentry
The News Journal
Two-headed animals were among the oddities that were part of the sideshow at state fairs in the 1970s.

The man with the skin of a crocodile. You'll have to see it to believe it.

And there was the half man, half beautiful woman. It depended on which side of his face, or her face you were looking at.

The next tent featured odd animals, like the two-headed sheep or the real unicorn.

Alex, that would be: What are things you don't see at the average state fair anymore?

One of the most vivid memories of my childhood day trips to the North Carolina State Fair in the 1970s were of the sideshows. It's funny what will stick in a kid's head.

In the small town I grew up in, the oddest thing we ever saw was the neighbor's three-legged dog running down the street, following one of the kids as they pedaled their bike home.

So you can imagine a man with the skin of a crocodile was something to behold. How did he put his clothes on without ripping them?

I also remember riding an elephant, seeing the farm animals, playing the games of (no) chance and having some guy guess my weight. One year we saw Ronnie Milsap in concert. Hey, that was a big deal for us. Not as big as the crocodile skin man, but who can compete with that?

I'm not even sure sideshows like the one I remember seeing are a part of carnivals and state fairs like they used to be.

James E. Strates Shows, the carnival company that handles the rides and shows at the North Carolina State Fair, even says so on its site. "In our technological society, the animals and rare 'freak shows' have become a thing of the past. Today, fairgoers are more attracted to large spectacular thrill rides."

I haven't been back to the North Carolina State Fair since we moved to Delaware and it's been a few years since I made it to the Delaware State Fair.

My parents started taking the grandkids each year. They'd go around and get all the free stuff the politicians and exhibitors were giving out. Practically get all the pens, pencils and rulers they needed for back to school.

Then they'd take them over to the rides and watch them spin, speed, whip and swing. As the grandkids – and my parents – got older, my parents would sit in the shady grove near the rides and wait for them.

They always said they had fun. The rides, the food, the animals, the free stuff.

But they never got to see the man with the skin of a crocodile. And I did. And I'm not about to let them forget it.

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