Teds Model Showmens Wagons

1903 HOWCROFT TUBE SHOOTER

Originally owned by Gordon Warrington from Pickering in North Yorkshire. It was built as a horse drawn wagon but I have seen a very early photograph which shows it being towed by a Showman's Traction Engine although it was still on it's wooden wheels (picture bottom left). At some time in it's early life it was put onto small wheels with pneumatic tyres.

The wagon was laid up at some time in the 1930s in a field and stayed there until about 1964 when it came to light and was purchased by the late Phillip Swindlehurst.

It was in a pretty sorry state but Phil got it back into full working order and travelled it for a number of years.

The show front had to be rebuilt and decorated and the artwork was done by some art students (so I am told). This makes sense as there is not much evidence of authentic fairground decoration. Part of the decoration shows a lions head at one end of the front and a tigers head at the other but the names have been switched showing the tiger as Nero and the lion as Rajah. The top and bottom boards at the front were originally 10ft long but these have been divided into 5ft lengths to make them more manageable. The tubes are both of equal length now but it is thought that there would probably have been one long and one short. The other big change was to the targets which are now of the removable paper type. When built they would have been thick sheet metal with a hole in the middle representing the bulls eye. Any bullets passing through the hole would strike a piece of hinged metal, which would be knocked backwards to make an electrical contact. This would ring a bell at the front to let the customer know that they had scored a bulls eye. It was all for fun and there were no prizes given.

Automatic rifles were used firing live .22 ammunition. Any marks made on the targets by the lead bullets were removed by a whitewash brush operated by a lever on the target box, leaving it clean for the next customer.

After Phils death the wagon was purchased by Jack & Judith Schofield and travelled by them for a few years. It was bought by its current owners, Barry and Marilyn Two and is undergoing gradual restoration. The main body of the living wagon has been restored but the show front is showing its age since it has not been redecorated since the 1960s. It is still on pneumatic tyres and is lacking an original style stove.