Do-gooders — Individuals who are self-righteously convinced that the carnival business is too disreputable to allow, that all show animals are certainly being mistreated, and that the display of human oddities is demeaning and immoral. They have succeeded in getting many restrictive laws and regulations passed, resulting in a lack of show work for freaks, who almost universally disdain do-gooders and their motives.

Dodge-'Em Cars — The bumper-car ride.

Dog House — An enclosed control booth occupied by the ride jock. 

Dollar Day — (See "ding" above) One of the hated "hidden costs" that a showman may be forced to accept, offered as a promotion to the public by fair sponsors: $1 parking, $1 admission, $1 rides. You may have the most spectacular ride on the lot, but on Dollar Day everybody rides for a buck, and you can't "opt out" even if your regular charge is $2 or $3 or more. 

Donniker — A rest room or toilet. Derived from 'dunnekin,' in common use among lower-class Britons in the 1700s meaning 'outhouse.' Probably derived from 'dung' and "-kin", a suffix referring to a small container or private room (many euphemisms for 'bathroom' refer to it as a 'closet' or 'the small room'). In Australian slang today, an outhouse is a "dunny".

Donniker Joint, Donniker Hole — A particularly unfavorably placed joint, or unfavorable place to locate a joint. A bit like being seated next to the kitchen or restroom door in a restaurant. Also "Larry loc," from "larry", meaning anything broken.

Double — A two-performer medicine show bit; or to perform more than one role. Also, a $20 bill.

Drag the Midway — The practice of going between your attraction and the gate and enticing people to come directly to your joint, show or ride.

D.Q. — Short for "disqualified" (probably from wrestling parlance). To be thrown off the lot and ordered not to return. Might happen to a rowdy mark or to a worker who steals or messes with something he should leave alone, or causes more problems than he's worth. An employee fired from one joint can consider himself d-q'd, because no one else will hire him.

Draw — (1) Money, a small percentage of total pay, advanced nightly to the ride help. Give them too big a draw and they'll come back tomorrow drunk, if they come back at all. (2) An outside talker's inducement for the tip to pack together close to the bally platform - "Come in closer and look at the hole right here in the stage. If you're standing too far back, you won't be able to see the hole. I'm going to need everyone to come in closer so everyone can see this little hole right here in the stage…"

Drop the Awnings — To close down a joint after the night's work is done.

Drop Counter Box — Ticket box with a specially-rigged counter designed to drop a portion of the change a ticket-buying mark is due into a hidden box as it is pushed toward the buyer. 

Dropcase — (1) A briefcase-size case which opened to reveal a bagatelle betting game (a board with an array of pins on which you roll down coins or marbles into slots at the bottom indicating prizes). It was used by street grifters (who almost always rigged the game). (2) A briefcase or suitcase equipped with folding legs often used by street vendors to display their wares. The pitchman's "keister and tripe" was a different arrangement for the same task.

Drop-Offs — Banners in a lengthy banner line for which there is no room at the current engagement.

Drug Abuse Show — An act where the performer supposedly has been driven insane, become deformed or mutilated, or has even given birth to a hideous mutant baby because of drug abuse. It's a basic geek or "wild man" show dressed with a modern theme. The pitch or banner would usually say something like "See the shocking victim of drug abuse!"

Ducat (sometimes 'ducket') — A free game ticket or other free pass to something, dispensed either as an enticement to play or as a gift to cool down a disgruntled player. Give an unhappy man a ducat to the girl show and his attitude may improve … especially when the girl show operator, seeing the ducat, points the customer out for a little special attention from the girls. The agent who gave out the ducat will get a bill from the girl show for 'services rendered.' Sometimes also used to refer to money.

Duck Pond — Game in which customer selects a numbered toy duck from among those floating around in a circulating stream.  Can be run straight or as an alibi store ("See, kid, those red numbers mean a prize from the bottom shelf only.") Or those 6's (the giant stuffed dog) become 9's (a tiny plastic soldier).

Duke — When a shill (game operator's employee posing as a member of the crowd) persuades someone to play, especially to play a rigged game. The shill gets a fee for this, often a percentage of what the agent extracts from the mark.

Duke Shot — A demonstration game-shot made by the operator of an unwinnable game, or by the shill, to convince the mark that the game can be won.

Duker — A person handing out "Good for One Free Game" tickets (see 'Duke' above). Commonly used to get the mark to try a build-up game requiring many plays.

Dukkering — Gypsy fortunetelling. This is a word directly from the most common of the Romany languages indicating fortunetelling conducted by Gypsies in the traditional Gypsy style. From a recent forum post: "There's a very good reason I don't do a lot of dukkering anymore. People act like they're doing YOU a favor for letting you pull out your cards (or your tea leaves, or whatever). Just got sick of the hassle."

Educated — Knowledgeable. A mark who has been "with it" at some point in life is probably too 'educated' for the game.

Eli — Ferris wheel. After the Eli Bridge Company, an early maker of portable wheels.

Electric Chair Act — An act, often called "The Human Dynamo" or "Electra", in which the performer appears to be immune to the effects of electricity. Actually a phenomenon of high voltage, high frequency, low amperage electricity which permits an ungrounded person to light neon or fluorescent tubes at a touch, and do other similar stunts without being harmed. Some of these props operate like Tesla coils. The widespread availability of second-hand "quack" medical devices suitable for powering this phenomenon (the Violet Ray device is classic) made it easy for carny electricians to rig the gaff, but this is a very dangerous stunt if done wrong. See Ray Bradbury’s classic fantasy novel "Something Wicked This Way Comes" for a wonderful depiction of this act.

End — The percentage of the gross a paid agent gets from the owner of the joint.

Emby — A particularly gullible mark.

Fair Date — An attraction booked to draw crowds to a fair. Often big-name concerts, stunt driving shows, or wrestling matches. "Kenny Rogers is playing a fair date on the 15th" means that he will be a special featured attraction at [whichever] fair on that day.

Fairbank — When the agent allows the player to think the agent has "cheated" himself, giving the player an (illusory) advantage.  He may allow the player to win a small initial game, give him an extra ball, miscount the score in the player's favor, all to get the player play longer in hope of winning big.

Fakir — The "Indian Fakir" was an early embodiment of the "Blockhead" and similar modern performers. With his "lifelong study of mystical Hindoo yoga," he might lie on a bed of nails, swallow swords, eat fire, etc. The word does not mean "faker," but comes from the Arabic "faqir", literally meaning a poor man (from "faqr" meaning "poverty"). A Muslim holy man who lived by begging, a fakir (like religious ascetics all over the world) might engage in stunts to show his piety and increase his income from begging. 

Feature — A game that an agent operates especially well, his specialty.

Fence-to-Fence Operation — A carnival where the carnival management also owns all of the concessions and rides.

Fireball Show — A carnival of the most disreputable sort, full of dishonest games, really strong kootch shows and the like. Also a "Burn'em Up Outfit."

First Call — The right to a favored spot on the midway. Strategically good placement (see "first on the right") can mean the difference between profit and poverty. Who gets first call can be affected by ownership (joints owned by the show definitely get good holes) and how much you kick back to the layout man.

First Count — The right to be the first person to count the tickets or money, on the theory that the first count is most likely to be the most accurate and honest count (unless, of course, they've been rehashing some of the tickets). Also a good opportunity to divert some of the funds into your own pocket.

First of May — A novice performer or worker in his first season. Shows usually play the season's opening spot on the first of May, so the term means someone "green" who is new to carnival life.

First on the Right — The first 'hole' or two on the midway just to the right of the entrance. The sweetest loc (location) for most joints, as joints in that location are usually the first ones the crowd gets to. 

Fix or Ice — A payoff to operate without too much scrutiny from authorities, either as "protection money" to keep the police from shutting you down even though you're operating legally, or as a bribe to allow you to operate fixed games and 'strong' shows. Also 'patch,' which is also the term used for the person who puts in the fix with the local authorities. "Sheriff, we need a couple of your men to work off-duty security. Some of our games are a little tough, but we don't play to no kids. If a player feels he's been cheated have your men bring them to me and I will personally take care of any problem. By the way, we want to donate this $500 to your favorite charity, I'm sure you'll see that they get it." Many other euphemisms have been heard, like 'smice' or (here it comes again) 'ding'.

Flag's Up — Signal that the cookhouse is open.