When I very young in Coney Island, I would go to the Boardwalk with my grandmother, who was originally from Roumania. Some of the merchants on the boardwalk were gypsies; my grandmother told me to stay away from them because they would steal small children. This terrified me but not enough to mitigate the fascination their exhibits generated in me…memorable was a bird, (I think a mynah or parrot) that hopped the length of a stall and picked the correct card.
There were also strange contraptions that people were pushed in…I never did but always want to get in….