Long a popular ride at state fairs and amusement parks (see entry under 1950s—The Way We Lived in volume 3), the Ferris wheel is a tall, upright wheel with seats suspended around its rim. Mounted on a fixed structure, the wheel rotates while the swingable seats remain basically parallel to the ground, allowing riders to enjoy panoramic views of the surrounding area. During the twentieth century, Ferris wheels dominated the midways at amusement parks and state fairs in small towns and rural areas throughout the United States as riders sought rare bird's-eye views of the surrounding landscape.

The Ferris wheel is named for U.S. engineer George Washington Gale Ferris (1859–1896), who had installed the first ride at Chicago's Columbian Exposition in 1893. It was 250 feet high and weighed 4,800 tons. Its axis (the shaft around which the wheel spun) was the largest single piece of forged steel that...