Heck, here in the South they used to be held on the courthouse lawn on a Saturday, and everybody came with their families and picnic lunches to watch !..................
Those were the good ol days........
Same thing with hangings at Tyburn Tree (gallows) in London. People would flock there selling food, wares, biographical publications of the more famous people being hung, along with pickpockets, and other sundry criminals plying their trade. The Marble Arch in London is where the Tyburn gallows once stood.