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[MUSIC PLAYING] SUZANNE STRICKLAND: This little eight horse merry-go-round from the '30s is one of the many outdoor exhibits at the History Museum. There's also a series of antique horse carriages, an old race car, and some wheels from circus caravans. 72-year-old Gale Frost has been collecting carnival curiosities and state fair memorabilia since he was a youngster.

GALE FROST: Now, that exhibit over there, you probably wouldn't even guess what it was, the black. That's a circus tent stake driver, see? And why should I put that out there? Well, the carnival people and the circus people think that's wonderful. It says hand-built circus tent stake driver.

And what they call a Georgia buggy there, that's to pull the stakes out, see, which was a big part of their life, you see? So they come up here, and they think that's wonderful.

SUZANNE STRICKLAND: Among the indoor exhibits, you'll find a history of ice shows featuring every kind of skate ever built and costumes of the skating stars of the past. A display of old carnival relics, like the seat from the first tilt-a-whirl. A racing garage displays old auto tools and a portrait of winning Minnesota racehorse Dan Patch.

Inside the main museum, you'll find a universe of historical relics-- a telegram from Bob Hope, a typewriter from 1885, and a pair of Huey Lewis' shoes. The rock star left his sneakers backstage after his grandstand show last year. All of these displays, from those shoes to a three-car train coach, were donated to the museum. Adding to the displays and making room for more keep Frost busy most of the time, but in a spare moment, he likes to amble over to his favorite part of the fair, the rides at the midway.

GALE FROST: They're fantastic. You know, to bring that stuff in on trucks and then have it way up in the air like that, and you look at it. And I think, it's-- well, it's a-- a-- a miracle the way they can build them, you know?

SUZANNE STRICKLAND: But you won't get Frost to actually climb onto The Zipper or the Ferris wheel.

GALE FROST: I get dizzy easy and always have. And I've been on every ride up to, oh, maybe 1950 that was ever built. But then I kind of quit, you see?

SUZANNE STRICKLAND: But you still like the--

GALE FROST: I like to look at them, watch other people enjoy them.

SUZANNE STRICKLAND: Frost's father, Henry, started working at the fair in 1909. So Gale, born in 1913, virtually grew up there. He says it hasn't changed much, only gotten bigger. He says the people enjoy it as much too.

GALE FROST: Same as ever. They don't change. Love it. They love it. You can see that, you know? They're coming down the street there just having a great time. They pay $3 and a half. And they can get a whole day of seeing, well, a good cross-section of the whole state.

SUZANNE STRICKLAND: The fair officially hired Frost as curator of its museum in 1976, after Frost had retired from a sales job. He says he'll stay on as long as he can. He loves the annual get together just as much as when he was a youngster.

GALE FROST: It's better and better every year. And it's very clean. They do a good job of keeping it clean, and the shows are clean. It's a-- it's a very nice place for people to come and have a good time and have a family picnic, you know? Very nice place. Nothing wrong with any part of it.

SUZANNE STRICKLAND: Gale Frost is curator of the Minnesota State Fair History Museum. I'm Suzanne Strickland reporting.

GALE FROST: In there, you see a little merry-go-round in there and a little band leader, and you can hear the music. This exhibit was built by a gentleman in the Twin Cities here by the name of Roy Payne. And it's--