The Sweet Story of Fairy Floss

Love it or hate it, fairy floss has stuck around our carnivals and fairs for over 100 years. Originating from Europe and the USA in the late 1800s, fairy floss is thought to have been made in Australia by the turn of the century, and was reportedly on sale in Kalgoorlie as early as 1906. 

In the early 1930s Bill and Mary McDonald became captivated by a magical substance being produced and sold on Manly Beach. This led to them purchasing their own fairy floss machine from one Jack Christenson, whose son was apparently making his fortune selling it at the Sydney Show. Keen to test out the new gadget back at their boarding house, Bill managed to blow all the lights out at the People’s Palace as he plugged in the DC device into an AC circuit.

Bill and Mary’s first foray into their new business was to launch the machine at the Narrabri Show. With no power available, Bill rigged up a bicycle wheel he found at the local rubbish tip and turned it by hand.  The couple then found their way to WA and took fairy floss to the Perth Royal Show, possibly in the late 1930s.  Bill McDonald became a regular at the Show in the following decades, progressing to a two-story stall by the 1950s that also sold waffles.  Early fairy floss had to be eaten immediately before it melted, and as more operators came on the scene, each would keep the machinery out of view where possible to keep their unique production techniques a secret. 

Bill and Mary’s daughter Jill McDonald shared her sweet memories and photographs with RASWA in 2012.