Tangled Branches: Cultivated
happenings in and around my zone 6b gardens in northern Virginia and in central Virginia
Wednesday, September 09, 2009
The County Fair, Part 1
Poets call autumn the melancholy season, but to American farmers it was the season of fulfillment and a time of rejoicing. Why else would they have chosen September as the Season of Fairs?
Eric Sloane, The Seasons of America Past
Virginia is a wonderful place with a rich agricultural history, but its county fairs leave a lot to be desired. So I'm off to Illinois to see a good county fair - The Sandwich Fair. You see, I'm interested most in the agricultural and homemaking exhibits, and the Sandwich Fair has them in abundance.
Here's Eric Sloane again, lamenting the decline of the county fair:
European fairs, and those of early colonial days, involved the sale of cattle and produce, but the Great American Fair became a farmer's holiday and general exhibition where prizes were given for products and handiwork of the community.
The downfall of the old-time American agricultural fair to the level of the modern American carnival is regarded by many as a national disgrace which belittles the institution of farming. The introduction of a circus midway has made the agricultural exhibits only a side show to the fair, and many of America's oldest fairs have degenerated into collections of barkers, salesmen, freak shows, Ferris wheels, and "girly shows." The farmer's carnival of today is far removed from the institution it was a century ago.
Well, yes, but the agricultural side of the fair is still important in the Midwest, and that's why I'm traveling there to see it.
I'll have full report later, but in the meantime you could read a general history of agricultural fairs in the 19th century, or the history of the Sandwich Fair.
Labels: county fair
4 Comments:
I had a good laugh looking at the Sandwich Fair website when I read "Livestock Judging" and thought I'd read "Livestock Juggling"! Now THAT would be worth traveling to Illinois to see!
Frau Farmer: LOL!
Will keep an eye out for any livestock being juggled - you never know. ;-)
Haven't been to a fair in years, Entangled, but now feel the need to see silky chickens!
Just read a story about the Michigan State Fair - grandaddy of them all since 1849- had its final fling this month... hope the county fairs hang on!
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
Annie: I have a picture of a silky chicken! Still in the camera. The chickens had just been fed when I was there and they were too active for good photographs, but I do have one. Not very many silkies this year - mostly regular barnyard roosters.
Hadn't heard about the Michigan State Fair - that's a shame.
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