Welcome back to The Kids Are In Bed! This week, Tim and Jenni dive headfirst into the wild, woolly, occasionally fried world of the county fair, where the air smells like nostalgia, livestock, and deep-fried mystery meat, and the odds of encountering a guy in a Korn T-shirt with two goth girls on his arm are statistically… not zero.

Why do we love county fairs so much? Maybe it’s the small-town chaos, the endless parade of characters, or just the hope of winning a neon green gorilla at the ring toss. But it’s more than that. County fairs are a slice of true Americana: a mashup of agriculture, spectacle, and human invention that somehow still brings a whole community together (even if nobody agrees on what actually belongs in a caramel roll).

This week, we get to the root of it all:

• Did you know that the first American county fair started in 1807 in Massachusetts because one man was determined to showcase his sheep? (Shout out to Elkanah Watson, original sheepfluencer.)
• The “Midway,” that magical place of games, rides, and questionable decisions—gets its name from the Chicago World’s Fair, where America’s first Ferris wheel stood taller than your average grain silo.
• Pronto Pups (yes, the OG corn dog) and the Tilt-A-Whirl were both born right here in Minnesota, which means you have permission to roll your eyes at anyone from Texas claiming otherwise.
• The Zipper? You know it, you’ve hurled on it, and you might have seen Tim and Jenni riding it together at a county fair back in the day.

Personal tales abound:

• Tim’s mom? Real-life carnival performer. (We’re talking actual balancing acts, not just balancing kids and groceries.)
• Tim’s grandma? Blue ribbon caramel roll queen at the Minnesota State Fair. (And yes, we’re still waiting on the recipe.)
• And don’t get us started on the infamous Lions Club cheeseburgers—a county fair rite of passage that Tim still dreams about.

You’ll also get:

• The secret history of greased pig wrestling (banned in Minnesota, still legal in Iowa… because, of course, it is).
• Cow chip tossing tips and husband-hollering contests are truly works of Midwestern art.
• Our pitch for how to finally adapt “Devil in the White City” for the screen, with Leonardo DiCaprio, Martin Scorsese, and at least three murders happening in soft focus behind the Ferris wheel.

Why listen?
This episode isn’t just about the weird, wild history of county fairs; it’s about what happens when you mix nostalgia, family lore, and a little chaos in a tent with bad lighting. If you’ve ever felt strangely at home with a root beer float in one hand and a blue ribbon rhubarb pie in the other, this is the episode for you.

So pour yourself a lemonade, fire up the episode, and join us as we get “fairly” weird (see what we did there?). And if you spot an impossibly skinny guy at the fair with two goth girls and a massive stuffed animal, tell him he’s already internet famous.

🎧 Listen now!