it was 1944 when John Murphy and his wife Gladys, bought the Howard Amusement Company for approximately $35,000 (about the cost of today's small rides).  The show consisted of five rides, and John changed the name to Tri-State Shows, playing Minnesota, North and South Dakota.

Tri-State Shows was truly a family business with sons, Jerry and Jim, working along side their parents, selling tickets, and helping set up the show.  The childhood experiences gained on their father's small show planted the seed that would one day flourish into a multi-million dollar corporation.

John Murphy sold Tri-State Shows in 1955, but in 1957, father and sons started Northern States Shows, playing their first date in Chadron, Nebraska with a merry-go-round, Ferris wheel, and two kiddie rides.  Traveling a hurried schedule of small towns, Jerry and Jim learned the business of advance work and bookings in short order.

Northern States Shows became Murphy Shows in 1962 with Jerry and Jim managing the business under the guidance of their father.  The show grew to the point where it could be split into two units to accommodate more dates on their expanding route.  The Red Unit and Blue Unit would merge to play larger dates, which by 1965 included the Sioux Empire Fair in Sioux, Falls, South Dakota and the Steele County Fair in Owatonna, Minnesota.

By 1970, Murphy Shows was considered one of the strongest shows in the western regions.  Another contender was the William T. Collins Shows, started in 1943.  The time was right for a merger.  1971 saw the Collins/Murphy merger complete with the addition of several impressive dates including the Nebraska state fair in Lincoln.  It was a special achievement to Jerry and Jim to play their first state fair in Nebraska, where their fledging Northern States Shows had started 15 years earlier.  To reflect their increasing presence in the amusement industry, Murphy Shows became Murphy Brothers Exposition.

Jerry and Jim lost their principal consultant and mentor when John Murphy passed away in 1972.  With wisdom and foresight, John Murphy had seen fit to transfer the reigns of management to his sons years before, and though the loss of their father was a heavy blow, the brothers had been well prepared for the rapid expansion that lay ahead.

Within a five year growth period, 1975-1980, tremendous changes occurred with acquisitions and birth of a brand new corporation.  The changes began with the powerful merger of the Mighty Bluegrass Shows (started in 1946 by Col. C.C. Groscurth).  This merger put two of the strongest shows under one umbrella and heralded the birth of a huge corporate conglomerate that would be known as Worldwide Amusement Corporation by 1979.  A series of very significant acquisitions including Hale's Shows of Tomorrow in 1978, Century 21 Shows in 1979, and the Dell & Travers Show (later changed to Olympic Expositions) in 1980, expanded the powerful portfolio of Worldwide Amusement Corporation.

The news decade brought corporate re-shaping of Worldwide Amusement Corporation, when the showing of economic activity of this decade demanded efficiency of operation.   Smaller shows in their portfolio were absorbed by larger ones, some were dissolved, still others acquired.  As a result of this corporate reshuffling, the two strongest shows emerged to divide the enormo