The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1919-08-22
It Was Not Such Gigantic Spectacle
Then as 1t Has Developed In
to Later
Years.
SMALL START IN EAST
Magazine Writer Comparing Then
and Now, Sees This Season as
Banner One for ExposI-
tions.

! The Iowa state fair Of years ago,
when it was held at the grounds out
on the Main street extension, was
not the big event that 1t is now. In
fact it was hardly in the same boat
with the pageants of today, except
in the value Of horse flesh which was
turned loose on the tracks in those
days. All of the state fairs in the
country are bigger than they were in
years gone by, and a writer in Wal
lace's Farmer has given some atten-
ton to the matter as the following
from this weeks issue shows:
1.-THE largest and most imposing or
the state fairs This was the COM
ment of a writer In Boston maya
zine on the New York state fair Of
1852. With the plans Of the 1919
state fairs Of the middle west in
mind. the reader will wonder just
how large and how imposing fair
had to be in those days to earn first
place.
The official description gives the
FULL details:
Fifty acres were fenced in by a
substantial fence, affording room for
every animal and every article ex-
hibited. In the view of the fair
grounds, the large tent on the left
was appropriated to the products of
the dairy; to the right of this is
Floral Hail. and tent appropriated
to vegetables of every kind. Be
tween this and Manufacturing hail.
a plain wooden structure. erected to
shelter and display articles of a deli
cate nature, paintings, ETC., Emery q
Company Of Albany. had small tent
surrounded by farming implements
of every nature and description. The
large barn on the extreme right had
a shed erected around 1t, under
which was the finest display of poul-
try we ever saw together. Behind
Floral hall is seen the speakers
tent, and others devoted to refresh
ments, committees, etc"
This sums up to the imposing total
of two big tents, two smaller ones,
one big barn and one smaller barn.
The attendance is not given, but
prizes for the winning cattle are
enumerated with some pride. The
prize Hereford COW won $50; the
prize Ayrshire bull. $40; the cham
pion two-year-old Devon heifer won
a $40 prize. These were apparently
representative figures.
Not Much Competition.
Apparently there was not much
competition in 1852 in the state fair
line. Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota and
Kansas were frontier communities
with no chance for demonstrations
that might compare with the empire
state. The home county of the
present Iowa state fair, Polk, had
population in 1852 of only little
over 1000 and the neat cattle in the
county amounted to only a few hun
bred more than the total that were
actually exhibited at the New York
fair of that year.
The state fair, to great degree,
is the measure of agricultural pro-
gress and prosperity. To compare
the New York fair of 1852 with the
fairs OF today is to compare the agri-
cultural development OF that period
with this.
The middle western frontier farm
ers, who may have read or heard OF
the eastern fair with some wonder,
if they were here today would see
series of agricultural exhibits which
would dwarf into insignincance the
Largest and most imposing" fair of
1852
Take the Iowa state fair Of 1918,
for instance. The year 1918 was not
a particularly big fair year, on &C
count Of the war; yet In the ten
days of the Iowa fair, 322,250 people
passed through the turnstiles. Over
two thousand head Of swine were on
and other stock was pres
ent in equal proportion.
This year it is expected that the
total number of pure-bred animals
will run close to six thousand The
farm implement and machinery ex.
hibits alone will occupy twenty
acres more space than did the whole
New York state fair of 1852. Cash
pI emiums in the cattle department
alone will go over $1,000.
Banner SohW This Year.
Other state fairs of the middle
west appear to promise equally well.
The sale Of space for the fairs Is re-
ported to be unusually large in all
cases. The exhibitor evidently be.
l1GVGS IQdJ ulOIe pSoplo WILL dtISTd
the fairs this year than have attend.
ed in recent years.
B. NJ Davidson, manager OF the
Illinois state fair, is predicting the
best fair in history for his state. Our
show and display of ma
our live stock entries and
our representation of farm products
will be the largest, by far. in the his
tory of the Illinois state fair"
A. L. Sponsler, secretary OF the
Kansas state fair, gives some reasons
for his belief in 1919 as good fair
year. They apply equally we'll to the
other states of this section.
Agricultural prosperity is at IT'S
height" says Mr.. Sponsler. Crops
are good, as well as prices. The
neople are full-handed, which means
they will take the time to visit the
fair. Nearly every farmer now has
his automobile, which puts him with
In easy access Of the fair. Railroad
z-n ,nnd and oil DaaSnn