Rainmaker back for 2010!

Junior · April 18, 2010, 03:52:44 PM

I was cruising the SDC official website last night, looked under the "shows" section under "street troupe" and saw that the RAINMAKER SHOW will be back this year as part of the entertainment on Main Street! So...has anyone visited park this year and seen the Rainmaker show, or will the show not begin until anniversary weekend?

rubedugans · April 18, 2010, 05:52:32 PM

I heard the rainmaker this past week. No not at SDC but on the sounds of SDC LP. It brought back great memories. I wish that album was on iTunes so I could listen to it other than from my record player.

Ozark Outlaw · April 18, 2010, 05:55:28 PM

Good catch! I am not old enough to have had a chance to experience the original version. It's good to know that Silver Dollar City is including so many throwback attractions this year! I hope the new version will have just as much charm, and excitement as the old version.

We need new reviews!

Copper · April 19, 2010, 12:09:36 PM

The Rainmaker's wagon was outside the paint shop last Saturday, so I'm thinking he will be making an appearance in the near future!

haytater · April 19, 2010, 12:30:32 PM

My parents have great memories of the rainmaker shows although I have never seen it. Hopefully that will change this year! I was also perusing the SDC website and noticed they have added stories of how each shop came to Silver Dollar City. There were stories for the more popular shops (Brown's, Sullivan's, etc.) but now there are stories for nearly every one. Take a look - they are very imaginative! Some are a bit of a stretch but for the most part, they are pretty good.

oldsdcer · April 19, 2010, 02:33:02 PM

I hope that the rain in the rainmaker show will come from a sprinkler in the trees like in the 70's and not from a guy with a hose on a roof behind you like in the 2000's.

rubedugans · April 19, 2010, 02:52:50 PM

"Now folks, we're all ready on the old rainmaker's wagon, but we do need one more ingredient for a good rainstorm and that just happens to be Electricity. Now after years of studying and calculating, and deciphering I finally figured out that each and every one of you has just a little bit of electricity in you........."

Hopefully it will be the same as OldSDCer said-1974 Rainmaker wagon

"Alright everybody touch elbows!"

Junior · April 19, 2010, 04:03:19 PM

The Rainmaker did his show on Main Street, at the foot of the old shot tower. I think the shot tower was replaced with some sort of fire tower with a fire deptartment pump wagon under it. But that was the location. (Between the church and the gazebo/stage) Shower heads hidden at the top of the shot tower released the "rain" at the end of the show. Another costumed character, usually the sheriff or one of the Hatfield/McCoy clan depressed a hidden button on the side of one of the legs of the shot tower to start the rain at the right moment. The fun of this show was not only the silly speech the rainmaker gave, but also the audience participation (precipitation) with people touching elbows to get electricity generated, and the kids that helped the rainmaker on the wagon with the thunder machine and cranks and so on. The rainmaker handed out little umbrellas to shield folks from the rain. I loved his claim that he was the seventh son of the seventh son...on both sides of the family...and that's a mighty rare thing! (Think about it mister...you'll get it in a minute.)

rubedugans · April 21, 2010, 11:02:40 AM

SHOT TOWER!!!!!!!!!!!

Ozark Outlaw · April 21, 2010, 11:49:03 AM

Thanks a lot rube now I have so many questions!

Was the shot tower built specifically for the rainmaker show?
When was it taken down? Was it taken down after they stopped performing the original rainmaker show?
Why was it taken down? Was it to make room for a new attraction?

Junior · April 21, 2010, 12:43:36 PM

The shot tower was there since the 60s. Originally, according to ozarks history, lead which was melted was dropped through holes or a screen above, and it formed pellets of lead which cooled as they dropped to the ground. Apparently the lead shot was ammo for rifles. I think the shot tower was removed sometime in the late 80s or in the 90s, probably because it was in bad shape or because every now and then they remove a structure and spruce up or change an area. Maybe the fire tower thing goes back to the gay 90s "gaslight square" theme in the early 90s that they tried, I'm not sure.

Copper · April 21, 2010, 05:02:55 PM

Great photo Rube! This makes sense now. The shot tower was built without the windmill on the top. Eventually the windmill was added, maybe because they no longer used the tower for shot. When the square became Gaslight Square the fire tower was built (1989). The fire engine was brought up from FITH; it used to sit out front of the building and may have been inside where the pumper is currently located. I was very young, but I remembered the water coming down from a windmill and now that I have seen this picture it makes that memory clear. I may be ranting, but I get excited when I can prove my memories right.

Junior · April 21, 2010, 07:30:56 PM

You are on target! Some dates are approximate, but that's close enough.

rubedugans · April 21, 2010, 09:49:46 PM

If anything my photos from the late 70's can serve for those purposes, to correct out memories when they get a little dusty! Glad I could help!

KBCraig · April 22, 2010, 04:46:57 AM

Quote from: Junior on April 21, 2010, 12:43:36 PM
The shot tower was there since the 60s. Originally, according to ozarks history, lead which was melted was dropped through holes or a screen above, and it formed pellets of lead which cooled as they dropped to the ground. Apparently the lead shot was ammo for rifles.

Shotguns. Round balls for muskets/rifles was poured into molds. Shot towers produced smaller pellets for shotguns, which don't require as much precision for shot diameter.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shot_tower