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Jackpots — Troupers’ tall tales (regular folks might say "war stories") of their former exploits. "Cutting up jackpots" is the expression given to swapping these stories.

Jake — One of the stock medicine show characters: a comic blackface character.

Jam — A small-time confidence game, or high-pressure selling by pitchmen.

Jam Auction, Jam Pitch or Jam Joint (see previous definition of "jam") — A show on the midway where giveaways of slum merchandise are used to excite and confuse the audience into purchasing inferior goods, usually under the pretense that the auctioneer is distributing valuable items as an advertising promotion by the manufacturer. The technique involves giving away small slum items to everyone at the start, then unexpectedly alternating giveaways of slightly more valuable items with sales of them for almost nothing, confusing the marks as to whether, at any given time, they are putting up money "as a good faith gesture" that they will get back or whether they are tendering payment. When the audience is thoroughly confused the agents add the final wrinkle: the sale of almost worthless (but apparently valuable) merchandise for what seem like outrageous "bargain" prices. (A much more detailed description is contained in my ON THE MIDWAY e-book)

Jenny — A merry-go-round.

Jig Show — Black girl show, from "jigaboo", a very uncouth epithet for black people.

John Robinson — To give an abbreviated performance, or to set all the tops on the back end end-to-end to increade the midway's apparent size.

Joing — To "jo" a game is to rig it so that it cannot be won.

Joint — Any carnival midway concession. Described by their layout for placement purposes; line-up joints fit with others in a row, center joints attract customers to all four sides and need to be in the middle of an open area. You could have a stick joint (built on the ground) or a trailer joint.

Jointee or Jointy — An agent, a person working a game. There is a fairly firm social division between jointees and showmen.

Juice — Another term for bribes paid to local police.

Juice Man — The carnival electrician and operator of generators that can fill an entire 18-wheeler. Collects fees from each operator for "cut in" to the power supply.

Jump — The move to the next engagement.

Kadoty — "Stock" (merchandise in the joint).

Kayfabe — Primarily a wrestling term, occasionally heard on the carnival lot. Inside information about the business, not to be disclosed to the public — "the straight dope." Sometimes used as a signal to stop talking too frankly because outsiders, or the authorities, might overhear: "Kayfabe, guys! Have you met my good friend Officer Jones?" To let something slip out because you just won't shut your mouth is to "break kayfabe." To "kayfabe someone" is to withhold information from them.

KB — When an operator has to give a disgruntled and complaining customer his money back.

Keister — A portable display case for the pitchman's wares, or a circus wardrobe trunk, or any luggage. You set up you keister on top of your 'tripes,' or tripod.

Key Girl — A swindle in which an agent sells keys to the room of a woman working in the carnival to players who believe she will dispense sexual favors. The foolish victims might find anything from an empty room (the carnival having moved out while the victim went for his "reward’). In a variation more commonly known as a "badger game", the girl’s angry "boyfriend" shakes the victim down for more money under threat of violence or exposure.

Key to the Midway — Any non-existent thing that you might send a pesky kid off to locate for you. "Hey, kid, you seem like a smart fellow, so go down to the other end of the lot, find Big Sam, and get the key to the midway for me." Or "lightbulb grease" or a "left-handed monkey wrench" or a "board stretcher," maybe some "red lightbulb paint." Maybe send them somewhere to see if they have a "Long Weight." You might send them looking for the donniker foreman, or send them to a specific carny just to bug your buddy, too.

Kick — The pocket (or wherever) a carny keeps his personal money.

Kid Show — Circus term for a sideshow.

Kootch Show — The raunchy version of the "girl show" … no revue, no "posing," and definitely no clothes, just a close-up view of what men want to see. According to stripper Ann Groff, quoted in Lewis' Carnival, "Only a few peddle their asses. A girl has to be pretty hungry or pretty drunk to lay a mark … it just isn't done."

Kunstkammer and Wunderkammer — German for "Art Chamber" and "Chamber of Wonders," rooms or cabinets housing private collections of art and curiosities gathered for scholarship or merely wonder. These early "Cabinets of Wonders" were precursors to the museum, dime museum and sideshow. 

Larry — "Something's wrong with it." Might describe damaged merchandise, or something worn out beyond any usefulness, or even a person who's a loser (however affable) - "He's just a larry."

Lay Bear — "Well hey, little darlin', you wanna win one of these big bears? Come on, you get five balls to knock these milk bottles off the shelf, you can do it … wait a minute, you know, we're closing now, but there's one of these bears I got put away special for you in my trailer, would you like to see it? You would? Just come with me … how old did you say you was? Fifteen … I mean, you said 18, right? You're just gonna love this bear … is that your sister? She can come too, I might just have two bears…"

Laying it Down — When the agent describes how the game is played.

Layout or Laydown — The place on a joint’s counter where the "mark" puts his money to bet, or the chart that shows odds, payouts, etc.

Layout Man — See "Lot Man."

Layout Pin — Stake used by the lot manager (sometimes called the "layout man") to mark where your joint is supposed to go on the lot. You may desperately want to move one of these while the lot manager's not looking … but if you do, the lot manager's going to take that stake and whack you upside your head without any doubt.

Lecture Store — A storefront rented temporarily by a pitchman.

Lecturer — An individual who talks inside the show, lecturing on the various acts. Often, acts (especially human oddities) lecture on themselves.

Left Hand Side — In relation to the entrance or main ticket booth, the left side is considered a poorer location for concessions than the right side. Most people tend to enter and turn to their right, and many have spent all their money when they come around to the left hand side. Newcomers to the amusement business and people who don't make the lot man happy end up on the left hand side.

Light Plant — The "genny," the huge 18-wheel-trailer containing massive diesel-powered generators supplying electricity to the lot. Notorious for being an added expense ("ding") charged to carnies along with their rent, even more notorious for being shut down immediately when the lot closes for the night, leaving tired carnies to trudge back to their trailers in the dark. 

Lineup — The row of concessions side-by-side along the side of the midway.

Lobster Man — Human oddity with any of what are now called "limb reduction disorders," a birth defect giving their arms and/or legs the appearance of a lobster's claws.

Marker Stake — The lot man places marker stakes to define your joint's space on the lot. Get caught moving one and you might get hit with one.

Mender — A patch or lawyer who travels with the carnival.

Mentalist — Magician, often working with an assistant, whose act consists of 'reading the minds' of the patrons.

Merchandise Wheel — A "wheel of fortune" that distributes as prizes blankets, dolls, novelties, groceries or any kind of merchandise. A classic "hanky pank" in which the prize (won on every play) always costs far less than the fee for a single play. That means the wheels are making a profit and everyone is satisfied. Many carnies and townies alike preferred this arrangement, because both the "games of skill" and games certified to have an element of chance both often ended in disappointment, but merchandise games always sent you home with something and drew large crowds.

Merry-Go-Round — Carousel (q.v.)

Midway — There's no "midway" on a carnival. When games and sideshows were attached to a circus, the midway was the game and sideshow area between the main ticket booth and the entrance to the big top, literally "midway" between the two. You would often hear sideshow ballys claiming that "the big show doesn't start for 45 minutes, there's plenty of time to see this entire exhibit." A carnival is really just a midway without an accompanying circus. The carnival lot, instead of being a straight alley leading from entrance to big top, is U-shaped, with the best locations on the right side as you enter, and the big rides and shows at the apex.

Museum Show — A show in which the exhibits are not alive. The show might contain preserved, stuffed, or mummified freak animals, or other exotic items of interest, such as the weapons or cars used by famous murderers. Also called a still show. A very easy grind show to work, it could still be truthfully billed with the claim "$1,000 reward if not absolutely real — please do not touch or feed the animals on exhibit".

Nut — The "overhead," or operating expenses of a show or a joint (still used in the movie theater business as "the house nut"). Supposedly from the idea of creditors removing the nuts from wagon wheels and not returning them until paid. A show always seeks to 'make the nut' and begin making a profit above expenses. A show that hadn't yet 'made the nut' was said to be 'on the nut' and one that had was said to be 'off the nut'. It was good if you could count on your show to always 'carry the nut.' Also "burr".

(to) Oach — To skim money from your boss - like a jointee pocketing a few of the many dollars that come in over the course of the night. This, both in common parlance and on the lot, would be "holding out", but carnies abbreviate it to "H.O." and through heaven knows what process, "oach" or "oaching." Some sources read this as "oats", defining such horse fodder as the money that is held back ("I put a few oats aside.") Isn't a living language full of surprises? 

"On The Lot And In The Air" — "I have arrived at the lot, the attraction is set up, and we are ready to begin serving customers."

Pitch — To sell merchandise by lecturing and demonstrating, once common on carnival lots and city street corners, now almost exclusively found on late-night TV infomercials (which would, in the old days, be called a "gadget pitch.") Many pitches included promises that valuable prize coupons would be found in certain boxes. Medicine pitches had a life of their own. Medicine pitchmen would travel rural areas, carrying entire crews of entertainers/salespeople, offering free entertainment and repeated opportunities to buy the sponsor's "medicine",  usually a type of liniment.

Pitch Cards — Cards containing photos and biographical information, sold for extra income by human oddities in a ten-in-one. The example pictured here was sold by Grace McDaniel, "The Mule-Faced Girl." She was a famous human oddity, much in demand for her genuinely freakish appearance as well as her intelligence and professionalism. From a "Fat Lady" on the Strates Show in 1941: "I know you folks in here would like to see me walking around. And while I'm walking around I have a few little souvenirs that I'll pass out to the men and the men only. Something you boys can have fun with and you'll get more laughs out of than anything you've ever seen before. You can show them to the girlfriends or the wives, it's perfectly alright. Now as I said before I pass them out to the men and the men only for 10’ each. If you'd like to have one now I'm going to start on one end of the show and pass them around here just one time."