“It began with my grandmother, Olive Lord,” said Bary Bunts, present concessionaire and owner of The Apple Cart. “She started with a stand named Lord’s Lunch.”

It was a family affair with aunts, uncles, cousins, brothers and sisters helping out.

He wasn’t certain of the date his ancestors actually began a food stand at the fair, but did have a record of a grandfather running a one in the 1920s. Bary said his other grandfather was a gate ticket-taker during the fair.

The Lord’s Lunch was set up on a counter top under a tent canopy prior to World War II and was renamed by Olive to “Victory Lunch” in 1945.

Harry Bunts Jr.’s first concession trailer was purchased in 1955 and was used to sell cinnamon candy apples using the family’s special recipe. (Photo courtesy of Bary Bunts)

Shortly after 1945, Olive’s son Harry purchased a small snow cone stand and he was in business at the fair.

In 1955, Harry and Pearl Bunts (Bary’s father and mother) decided to really get into the concession business. Harry was known around town as being one of the members of the Canfield High School state runner-up basketball teams around 1940.

In 1955 Harry purchased a rickety old confection trailer and a “stick joint” pop stand.

“The stick joint is a carnival term for a stand consisting of frames that hook together and make the stand using a tent top for a roof,” Bary said. “All the frames were numbered and could easily be assembled into the finished stand in a relatively short time.”

Along with the pop stand and trailer came a scratch recipe for old-fashioned cinnamon candy apples. The trailer also came with three scheduled, annual events at the Canfield Fair, the Columbiana County Fair and the Randolph Fair. Those routes are still on the Bunts’ schedule today.

The 1940s saw the continuation of stick joint concessions at the Canfield Fair for the Bunts family. Pictured are Wilmer Lord, Harry Bunts Jr., Pearl Bunts, Olive Lord and Bea Bunts, with their concession and beverage stand. Note the camper used to stay at the fair overnight. (Photo courtesy of Bary Bunts)

As for the recipe for the cinnamon candy apples, Harry tweaked it and came up with his own recipe that turned out to be a huge hit. That recipe has continued and is still used today.

One noteworthy detail is the fact Harry had his stand at the corner of Bishop and Beaver Roads on the fairgrounds, across from the Big Rock. The spot is still the reserved location for the Bunts The Apple Cart stand, selling candy apples, cotton candy and popcorn.

The Bunts concession was a success and, in 1959, Harry bought his first new trailer. From that time, new and improved units were added in 1965, 1971, 1989 and 1995.  Harry also added a multitude of trucks, campers and more stick joints that could be set next to a concession trailer.

“As a kid of eight, I started working in the snow cone stand,” Bary said. “I was given a stool to stand on and serve people.”

At age 16, he said Harry started teaching him how to pull and maneuver a trailer.

Harry and Pearl Bunts sell their famous candy apples and caramel corn in the trailer while Norma Diver handles sno cones, pictured here with a customer. (Photo courtesy of Bary Bunts)

“At one time, my dad had five stands and was the first to introduce chocolate-covered bananas at the Canfield Fair,” Bary said.

Bary did leave the business for a short time when he attended Broward College in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. He earned a business administration degree and also attended the Brown Institute of Technology where he earned an electronics technician degree. For a while he worked on sound and lighting systems in commercial buildings.

“My dad passed in 1996 and my mom asked me to take over the business or she was going to sell it,” Bary said. “I decided to take it over, for better or worse, for richer or poorer.”

Bary still had his father’s special recipe, and, with the trailers, he began scheduling fairs around Ohio, Pennsylvania and North Carolina. During the winter months, he would head to Florida and handle events there until spring.

He said the hardest part is in the planning. For the Canfield Fair, he said the apple order had to be placed in May. When the fair comes around, the apples have been picked up and if it rains hard and attendance is low, he may end up with a lot of leftover apples.

The second and first new concession trailer for The Apple Cart concessions was purchased in 1959. (Photo courtesy of Bary Bunts)

“I have donated a lot of apples to local food banks and churches after the fairs,” he said. “I’m not rich. I live comfortably. Like all small businesses, I work harder and take home less. I am very wealthy in friends I have from all over the country.”

Bary also believes in giving back. In the North Carolina State Fair last year, he and all his stand workers agreed to give the tips at the stand to the western North Carolina Hurricane Relief Fund. The tip jar was marked as such and the amount raised was in four digits.

This year for the Canfield Fair, Bary said he will again be located near the Big Rock and will have a second trailer on Coitsville Drive near the pony barns.

And as always, Bary will be offering the cinnamon candy apples that stand above all the rest.

As for the age of the Bunts’ concessions, the estimate is around 80 years, but could go back further. Either way, it makes the Bunts’ The Apple Cart one of the oldest concessions still run by the same family at the Canfield Fair.

An old knock-down sno cone stand got the Bunts officially into the concession business in 1955. Pictured is Pearl Bunts operating the stand at the Canfield Fair. (Photo courtesy of Bary Bunts)

Bary Bunts of Ellsworth is ready to hook up his The Apple Cart concession trailer to work the summer’s many fairs and festivals. Brunt is among the oldest vendors at the annual Canfield Fair with his parents' involvement prior to WWII. (Photo by JT Whitehouse)

Pearl and Harry Bunts, Olive and Wilmer Lord, and Emery Bunts  pose at the Nehi beverages stand the family operated during area fairs and festivals. (Photo courtesy of Bary Bunts)

Leroy Reibe, Pearl Bunts’ brother, helps out at the sno cone trailer at the Canfield Fair, near the Big Rock. The Bunts have filled that corner since the 1940s. (Photo courtesy of Bary Bunts)

The Apple Cart as it is today at the fairs and festivals around Ohio, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Florida. The stand sells The Apple Cart candy apples, cotton candy, caramel corn and popcorn. The stand is known for its cinnamon candy apples, made with the family’s secret recipe. (Photo courtesy of Bary Bunts)