num_pages: 264
description: Teddy Roosevelts head sculpted from butter. The Liberty Bell replicated in oranges. The Sioux City Corn Palace of 1891 encased with corn grains and grasses and stretching for two city blockswith a trolley line running down its center. Between 1870 and 1930 from county and state fairs to the worlds fairs large exhibition buildings were covered with grains fruits and vegetables to declare in no uncertain terms the rich agricultural abundance of the United States. At the same fairsbut on a more intimate levelice-cooled cases enticed fairgoers to marvel at an array of butter sculpture models including cows buildings flowers and politicians all proclaiming the rich bounty and unending promise held by the region.Often viewed as mere humorous noveltiesfun and folksy but not worthy of serious considerationthese lively forms of American art are described by Pamela H. Simpson in a fascinating and comprehensive history. From the pioneering cereal architecture of Henry Worrall at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition to the vast corn palaces displayed in Sioux City Iowa and elsewhere between 1877 and 1891 Simpson brings to life these dazzling large-scale displays in turn-of-the-century American fairs and festivals. She guides readers through the fascinating forms of crop art and butter sculpture as they grew from state and regional fairs to a significant place at the major international exhibitions. The Minnesota State Fairs Princess Kay of the Milky Way contest Lillian Coltons famed pictorial seed art and the work of Iowas butter cow lady Norma Duffy Lyon are modern versions of this tradition. Beautifully illustrated with a bounty of never-before-seen archival images Corn Palaces and Butter Queens is an accessible history of one of Americas most unique and beguiling Midwestern art formsan amusing and peculiar phenomenon that profoundly affected the way Americans saw themselves and their countrys potential during times of drought and great depression.
language: English
title: Corn Palaces and Butter Queens: A History of Crop Art and Dairy Sculpture
publisher: Univ Of Minnesota Press