The very best family entertainment.
Family Entertainment
Mitchell Brothers and Sons Amusements is a progressive, quality outdoor amusement company based in Slidell, Louisiana, with over 50 years of experience providing safe family entertainment. You can choose our company for your next event with confidence that we will provide you with the very best service.
Mitchell Brothers now consists of over 40 portable rides that scale from kiddie rides for young children, to major family rides for the intermediate adventurer, to the spectacular rides for the daring. Game concessions are geared toward young children and families. Our food concessions offer all the classical carnival foods, ranging from cotton candy to corn dogs to funnel cakes. We have partnered with hundreds of parish, county, church and community fairs and corporate events throughout Louisiana and Mississippi.
Fully insured, licensed and inspected, we adhere to a strict preventative and ongoing maintenance program in order to assure that our rides are always safe and ready to run, because at Mitchell Brothers, “Safety isn’t expensive – It’s priceless.”
Because of our experience, size and flexibility, Mitchell Brothers will work with you to customize your event to make it a success in every way.
The traveling carnival is an American pastime.
Carnival History
Through most of the history of the 19th century, rural North America enjoyed the entertainment of traveling shows. These shows could include a circus, vaudeville, burlesque or a magic lantern show. It is believed that the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair was the catalyst that brought about the modem traveling carnival. At the Chicago World’s Fair was an avenue at the edge of the grounds called the Midway Plaisance. This avenue had games of chance, freak shows, burlesque shows and wild west shows (including Buffalo Bill Cody who’s show was set up near the fairground). It also featured the first Ferris wheel constructed by George Washington Gale Ferris, Jr. Following the Chicago World’s Fair, the term “midway” was adopted from too Midway Plaisance to denote the area at county and state fairs where sideshow entertainment was located.
Otto Schmidt, who was a showman at the world’s fair, formed Chicago Midway Plaisance Amusement Company. The company featured thirteen acts, including some from the World’s Fair, and began a tour of the northeast United States. His compony closed due to poor business practices before completing their first tour. Some members of his company formed their own successful traveling carnivals after Otto Schmidt’s company closed. The appeal of this new type of entertainment was embraced. In 1902 there were seventeen traveling carnivals in the United States. The number grew to forty-six in 1905 and by 1937 there was an estimated 300 carnivals touring the country.