"We were a closed society, it was us against the world. That’s not the case today and hasn’t been for a very long time."
In the right company, Frank Zaitshik sometimes finds himself slipping into the jargon of his upbringing. He can, for instance, speak in ciazarny tiazalka, which is carny talk for “carny talk.” One of his earliest memories is of wandering behind a booth, lifting the “night wall” and finding a hidden man pulling levers, rigging the game.
Home back then was nominally Miami, but Zaitshik grew up traveling the country with his game operator parents in the 1950s and 60s. Today, his company Wade Amusements owns or facilitates all of the rides and games, and much of the food, at the Florida State Fair.
Read more at the Tampa Bay Times