Fortunes and Funnel Cakes

An aerial photograph of the 1977 Canadian National Exhibition catches the scale of one man’s legacy and an entire industry in transition. At the top sits Ontario Place, the provincially owned entertainment venue built on a series of artificial islands that was as contested back then as it is now. In the middle is the imposing Exhibition Stadium, steadily expanded since 1948. While not yet at full capacity, its bleachers are filling — drawing tens of thousands of those fairgoers from the midway to the east. And what a midway it is, arguably the world’s finest. Close to a whirling Round‑Up, supposedly the champagne of rides, spin three Ferris wheels in a row. Nearby is one of five masts holding up the Alpine Way, a 2,100-foot cable-car ride permanently suspended 100 feet in the air. On the viewer’s far left stands the iconic Shell Oil Tower. Sunnyside, where a small affiliated amusement park geared toward children once operated throughout the summer months, is just out of frame...