Frost Fairs on the River Thames

Frost Fairs on the River Thamesの重要ポイントをお届けします。専門的な知識が満載です。

Forget quiet ice fishing. Frost fairs were basically a pop-up medieval theme park. You could buy everything from gingerbread to “ribbons, books, and even a whole sheep on a spit.”

There were sleigh rides pulled by horses, gunpowder-fueled puppet shows, and a game called “riding the horse” where you slid down an icy ramp on a bench. One year, some brave soul built a full-sized printing press and printed little booklets on the ice—yes, that’s right, on the actual frozen river.

Yes, there were elephants. Because why not?

In 1814, one frost fair featured a parade that included an elephant walking across the ice. The beast—named Chunee—was paraded from the Surrey side to the City of London, probably wondering where its peanuts were.

Chunee survived the ice, but the fair itself was a disaster because the thaw started mid-party, causing tents to collapse and people to fall into slush. Note to self: don’t plan a parade around a creature that weighs as much as a small car when the river is actively melting.

Frost Fair on the Frozen River Thames in London 1739