Originally posted by PatrickMullins:
Michael, thanks a lot for asking Ray about the Dust Witch. It was worth a shot!
I should take Walloon's thoughtful suggestion, and track down the Waukegan city directory for the late 20s. My bet is that there was a penny arcade--complete with fortune teller machine--at Waukegan's lake front, like the one in Dandelion Wine.
One can still see those fortune teller machines around here and there. You may recall that one of them was central to the plot in the Tom Hanks movie, "Big." You can't tell me the screenwriter wasn't a Bradbury fan!
Cori mentioned "Ching Ling Soo" as another recurring carnival motiff in Ray's work. Ray nicely combined the two motiffs when he inspired Mr. Holloway to treat the Dust Witch to the bullet trick!
If you'd like to read about the life of the real Chung Ling Soo and his death-by-bullet-trick, follow the link below. The online story isn't as evocative as Colonel Freeleigh's version, but I guess you had to be there!
BTW, Sam Weller said that his next book project will be a novel based on the life of Chung Ling Foo, the Chinese magician who was the inspiration for Chung Ling Soo.
Drunk on Dandelion Wine,
Patrick
http://www.hat-archive.com/chunglingsoo.htm