Doc Rivera, carnival historian, once said that when a man or woman dies, an entire library is lost, and that is the truth.
He shared his lived experience and firsthand knowledge about the American carnival. That made it possible for him to write such colorful stories and build replicas of an actual midway at the Showmen’s Museum. He has a vast collection of carnival and circus photographs some of which are on this site. He was working hard on a documentary about the American carnival and nearing completion before he passed away in 2024. Yes, his library is gone, but all of us can keep the history alive.
‘I wanted to chase those ferris wheels ’til they threw the dirt in my face!’ – Doc Rivera from the documentary Gibtown: The Movie.
Doc Rivera is a well-known show painter and scenic artist, a knowledgeable historian of carnivals and circuses, and past curator and executive director of the Showmen’s Museum in Riverview, Florida, where he built exhibits, restored donated carnival and circus artifacts, wrote hundreds of stories as well as articles on the carnival and amusement industry, and gave numerous tours and interviews while personally greeting each visitor that came to the Showmen’s Museum until his death December 14th, 2024. He had been working on a documentary about the carnival Business he loved so much, and there are plans to complete that last part of that documentary. Check out the Gibtown Documentary.
Stream GIBTOWN http://bit.ly/1QXrDR3
The above photo was taken before a lecture at the Tampa Museum of History. As usual, talking in front of an audience was as natural as walking for David, and he got to share a bit of that library he carried in his head, too.
