I hear the train a’comin’
It’s rollin’ ‘round the bend
And I ain’t seen the sunshine
Since I don’t know when...
We went to Folsom Prison
To find a Ferris Wheel
So a few days ago, in one of my rabbit hole internet searches, I discovered there is a Ferris Wheel constructed of one quarter million toothpicks located in the Folsom Prison Museum.
William Jennings-Bryan Burke was born June 11, 1909. He was a small kid growing up and always felt like he needed to prove himself to the other kids. As a result of that he ended up getting himself into trouble with the law as a teen-ager. He was sent to various reform schools but always ran away from them. He was finally sent to Folsom Prison on May 19, 1928.
It was in Folsom Prison that Billy Burke’s creativity started to flourish. He first started carving cars, model airplanes and model ships out of wood. He even built a roller coaster out of shotgun shells. Eventually he starting creating carnivals. Billy built three carnivals during his years in prison. So fascinating were these carnivals that prison wardens would bring visitors to see them. Two of them were sold to amusement parks eventually.
Billy’s prison years were certainly not uneventful, however. In 1929 Billy escaped from Folsom Prison. He later was captured and returned to prison. A Sacramento Bee reporter found his life and escape story so compelling that she wrote a book based on tape recordings she made of interviews with him.
The Ferris Wheel is very detailed, as you can see from these photos.
Of course, my driver wouldn’t pose for a photo with la rueda de la fortuna so I had to sneak a shot of him. You can tell he is not happy. But he was a sport and went along with the silly little adventure.