Gomez Addams Was Just an Old-fashioned Guy.

[adorshki]

Quora poster Vikas Vaid says:
"On September 15, 1896, two trains collided head-on about 14 miles north of Waco, Texas. Upon collision, the boilers of the locomotives exploded, scattering debris over a wide area and leading to the death of at least two onlookers and injuring many more.

Yet, no one fled the scene.

Following the crash, a multitude from the surrounding area surged forward, eager to collect a fragment of the debris. This was because the crowd of approximately 40,000 had anticipated the collision, having paid to see the spectacle.

From 1896 to the 1930s, orchestrated train collisions were a crowd-pulling event at many U.S. fairs and festivals, a phenomenon predating the concept of demolition derbies or monster truck rallies."

Sideshows. Hah. Pikers.

 

[Bill Ashton]

Probably where the term "a train wreck, but I could not look away" came from...

 

[Rocky]

I'd watch that, somewhere beyond shrapnel distance

 

[JohnW63]

What about this?

 

[twocorgis]

Gotta love a guy who carried around already lit cigars in his breast pocket!