Hermanner Volksblatt. [volume] (Hermann, Mo.) 1875-1928, 1910-09-30
MANY FAIR DAYS
IN OLD MISSOURI
THIS SEASON is "FAIR TIME"
IN THE @sHoW ME'
STATE.
FIRST REAL STATE FAIR
It Was Held in Roonvllle in 1858,
Small F%orerunner Of Present
Miiion-DoIlar Exposition
In sedalia.
FIRST REAL STATE FAIR

These are fair days in Missouri.
They are fair days in the sense that
they are fine, as are most early fall
days In Missouri. with the feelings
Of the first frosts. They are fair days
in another sense, for it's fair time
in the .'Show Me- state. There's
scarcely q Missouri county in which
the call OF 'Hera's your hack or
All aboard for the fair grounds" has
not been heard curing the last few
weeks. lust as almost every county
has had Its agricultural fair, SO have
most cities of size, and some small
ones, too, held or arranged for a street
fair, a harvest festival. a home-com-
Ing or something OF the sort, Mis-.
sourians are thoroughly i~noculated
j with the fair microbe. They believe
IN fairs.
Fairs are not novelties. American
fairs are probably direct outcomes OF
the Cid Worlds market days. when
the people Of Southern Europe
brought their produce, exhibited it for
comparison. then sold 1t in a com
petitive way. These competitions
proved a stimulus. the rural people
II coming to see that they must have
better products or that their goods
would not sell on such days. The
early history OF fairs takes us back
to the time when two neighbors
brought together their oxen to com
pare them, learning something by
comparison. Then came the blowing
matches, always popular in a new
country where virgin soil is to be
turned. From time to time the lead
ing features of fairs have changed
until today we have great state fairs
such as the Missouri state fair, the
ninth annual exhibition OF which will
be held 1T Sedalia, October | to z,
and which promises to be a magnih-
cent exposition of the states live
stock and agricultural resources.
The present Missouri state fair.
while the first Of such magnitude and
the only one having extensive i'm
provements, suitable grounds and all
those things that make for perma.
nency. is not the first to be known
as the Missouri state fair" BY an
act Of the legislature, approved Feb,
ruary "a, 1853, the Missouri State Az
ricultural society was Incorporated, ii
being the first society ever organized
within the limits Of Missouri and un.
der the patronage Of the state. The
first fair conducted under the aus.
pices Of this society was held at
Boonyille in the fall OF 1853. The
premiums appropriated amounted tc
$1,351.50. The annual address, pro
nounced by G. d. Bent, corresponding
secretary Of the Missouri State Board
of Agriculture for the year 1865. to be
"a valuable and appropriate address
well worthy OF preservation" was de
hyered by Uriel Wright of st, Louis
The secretary OF the fair was JOSEPH
L. stevens, founder Of the old Cen
trail bank at Boonyille, and father o,
ex.Gov. Lon ". Stevens, q native O.
Cooper county, but o residing in st
Louis. The second annual state fai,
was held at Boonville in 1854. In 1885,
the third and last annual fair OF thu
State Agricultural society was held
on December 4. 1856, the st. Loui
Agricultural and Mechanical associa
ton was chartered by the Missouri
legislature, At the annual exhibition
Of this association, held in 1860. tn,
receipts reached the sum Of 4 7,231.SC
and 1t was estimated that 100, 900 pei
sons were on the grounds on the da,
Of the visit OF the Prince Of Wales
the Duke Of Newcastle and othe
members OF the royal party. It vii
Y be known Just what the al
tendance was on that eventful day
for so large Was the crowd. and s
great the rush ct the gates that tn
fences ~inclosing the grounds wer
broken down. the authorities bsin