Bringing joy to Western Australia for nearly eight decades

The Beginnings…

1948 – After serving in the war in P.N.G. as an infantryman, Bill Burke (Bill Payne’s uncle) returned home struggling with PTSD and found it difficult to work indoors. The open-air life of a showman gave him the airy freedom he needed, along with a renewed sense of purpose.

He began with a sideshow game called “Froggo” — a ball-in-the-frog’s-mouth game, with the frogs being cast in a foundry.

1952 – His wife, Aunty May, hand-painted the frogs, adding colour and character to the game. That same year, his two brothers Ron and Ben, along with their wives, joined the sideshow circuit. Ben later teamed up with a MANX showman named John Meeley, further strengthening the family’s presence in the industry.

1980 – Bill Payne (Jodie’s father) expanded the family’s footprint by building a go-kart track with 10 karts. He also purchased two sideshow “joints” from Ben — a coin slot machine and a Tea Chest Hoopla.

That same year marked a proud milestone: Bill Payne’s daughter attended her first Royal Perth Show at just 11 years old, operating under her father’s banner. With what was the smallest stall on the grounds - just 3 feet wide - she ran a two-runway “Knock ’Em Down” game, with head boppers and panic buttons as the two prizes.

Today, Bill Payne’s daughter Jodie, her husband Leon Marsh, and Bill’s two grandsons Dylan and Jaxson Marsh proudly continue the tradition of the travelling showmen. Carrying forward generations of experience, they exhibit at rural Agricultural Society shows far and wide across Western Australia, keeping the family legacy alive.