On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
stinger
No, not the 1932 novel by Phil Stong, nor the several movies based on it, but the real thing. Now 169 years old, it runs for 11 days and attracts more than a million visitors.
The north entrances to the fairgrounds look out across a small valley, so that you’re actually standing higher than some of the midway attractions. I don’t like crowds, don’t care about “rides” and never go in the midway area, yet a frisson tickles my tummy when I first come in and see, hear, and smell The Fair.
State and county fairs across the country originated as places to exhibit and be judged on your best produce, livestock, pies, quilts, jams, etc. It’s so old-fashioned and charming, yet there’s a lot that is contemporary. Especially fun are the 4-H exhibits (kids grades 4 through high school) in all the above categories and more.
The Agriculture building is for produce, including rows and rows of fruits, vegetables, herbs, seed corn and other grains. and a great display on Weed Identification. This photo shows about a tenth of the apples that were on display.
Onions and other produce. I spent too long in the Agriculture building, amazed at and admiring the amount of prize-winning food within! The pumpkins on the right were entered for quality; the pumpkins entered for size were displayed out of doors.
At the other end of the same building were flowers. This photo shows two of the three counters holding small floral arrangements — roped off to keep the tall glass vases full of water from being elbowed to the cement floor by over-enthusiastic fairgoers.
A nearby section held larger floral arrangements, table settings with flowers, potted plant arrangements, etc.
The upper level is mostly informational and vendors — things like honey, wood crafts, and other agricultural products. I didn’t even go up there, as I knew I still had a long day ahead.
This is this year’s Biggest Pumpkin winner, with a human beside it for size. The pumpkin weighed more than 1,200 pounds, outweighing the Champion Boar by more than 200 pounds, which surprised me. I didn’t get a good pic of the boar, which was lying down indoors, so you are spared that — but just so you know, it was a Red Wattle named Sasquatch and sold at auction for $150,000, proceeds to an ag scholarship fund.
If you’re not into growing or making things, you can still enter contests, such as beard growing, husband calling, backgammon, fiddling, pie eating, twins/triplets, arm wrestling, spelling bee, and the Bill Riley Talent Search, held annually since 1959.
This is a fraction of the quilts entered this year, more than 600 altogether. Another large space had long tables with sewing machines and piles of fabric. Volunteer quilters worked throughout the eleven days at the State Fair Sew-In, making more than 200 quilts that were then donated to family services groups, adoption centers, homeless shelters, and other organizations serving children and families.
Despite the acres of healthful produce on display, one of the biggest attractions at the fair is fried food. Every year, the best “new” food entry is voted on (it doesn’t have to be fried, but I suspect it usually is). This year’s winner: Deep Fried Bacon, Brisket, and Mac-and-Cheese Grilled Cheese Sandwich.
Slices of bacon, beef brisket, and American cheese, with a layer of mac-and-cheese, stacked between two slices of bacon cheddar bread, then dipped in egg and deep fried. Served with raspberry chipotle dipping sauce. Heart attack on a plate. I stood in a long line to get it. It was tasty, and only $12, but would have served four, so I didn’t finish it.
It would not be the Iowa State Fair without the Butter Cow. Larger than life-size, it’s been one of the Fair’s attractions since 1911. During that time, only 5 people have been the sculptors, including two women.
It is built on a wood and metal frame and takes 600 pounds of butter to complete — enough for 19,000 slices of toast or all 30,000 missing emails.
Since 1996, the butter cow has had “companion sculptures”, honoring a variety of American individuals and cultural markers.
These are, to me, the most iconic images of the fair, but I took a million photos, so if there’s interest, I can share more!
eclare
Thanks for the photos! I would never have guessed, but there are several exhibits that would interest me, for example the quilts.
raven
The Illinois State Fair in Springfield was really cool, especially the time The Beach Boys played!
Ceci n est pas mon nym
Makes me nostalgic for the New York State Fair, which was a major event every Labor Day week in my hometown.
For a few days this suburban kid would be into cows, petting baby chicks, demolition derbies and tractor pulls. Not to mention the amusement park, fair food and ripoff penny arcade games.
mrmoshpotato
Great photos.
What’s “husband calling?”
Well done.
Jeffg166
Never been to a state fair.
Central Planning
@Jeffg166: Same, but we once went to the Monroe County Fair here in Rochester, NY. The best thing we saw there was piglet races. They were adorable!
OzarkHillbilly
I’ve never been to a state fair, I find county fairs to be just the right size for me.
Baud
Whatever happened to World’s Fairs? They used to be a big thing.
Central Planning
@Baud: The World got smaller.
JeanneT
Ha! I loved the mention of ‘smelling’ the state fair! It wouldn’t surprise me if each state fair had a slightly distinctive smell depending on the mix of food vendors, livestock and tractor pulls or demolition derbies. Alas, I had several occasions to go to the Illinois State Fairgrounds the day AFTER the fair closed: that hot summer after-the-fair smell was much more eau de landfill.
twbrandt
I admit I did a double-take when I read that.
JPL
Butter her emails won the day!
thanks for the pics
Dorothy A. Winsor
@mrmoshpotato:
You’ve heard of hog calling? Same thing.
OverTwistWillie
Cage of Death!
I’m always up for a touring roller-coaster, some big fairs have them, some don’t, I’m not sure why. Regulatory or cost?
I believe once upon a time horse racing was more prevalent, and that morphed into motorsports on the tracks. Sprint cars outside of the southeast. I suppose you can track the southern strategy and trumpification along with the NASCAR-ization of rural America.
mrmoshpotato
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
No I haven’t. 😁
stinger
@eclare: I’m not a quilter but my best friend is, so I took a lot of photos in the Fabric and Threads area. I’ll put a few of those together.
@raven: I’ve been to that fairgrounds, though not during the fair. I love fairground architecture, which seems to be a thing. Decades ago I saw Liza Minelli perform at the fair — a knockout performance, one of the best live shows I’ve ever seen. She really gave her all. Beach Boys (the originals) would have been something!
@Ceci n est pas mon nym: I hadn’t been to a state or even county fair for years, though I go to renaissance fairs quite a bit. That same sense of excitement strikes on coming through the gates!
stinger
@mrmoshpotato: @Dorothy A. Winsor: I imagine it to be something like “Reuben! Reuuuuuuuuu-bennnnnnn! Rue-BEN! Reuben, you get in here right now–supper’s on the table!”
stinger
@OzarkHillbilly: There are at least 5 county fairs within an easy drive of me, but I never seem to hear about them until they’re over and the winners are announced in the paper. The state fair gets (buys) a lot of advance publicity. I’ll probably do a county fair next year — I think the size would be better, as you say.
UncleEbeneezer
@stinger: For your quilter friend: check out Jennifer Hokanson Mahnke. She’s a friend/neighbor of mine from grade school who makes amazing quilts for Bound By Love, a company that donates proceeds to support trafficked women. Here is her Instagram page. She’s also married to Aaron Mahnke the creator of the Lore podcasts. Very cool, progressive woman who I recently reconnected with after many years as strangers.
Also, if your friend has never been there, the Shelburne Museum in Burlington, VT has a really incredible quilt collection. The Shelburne was one of the coolest surprises of our New England trip in 2016. It’s huge and you could spend days looking at all the folk art. It’s almost overwhelming.
UncleEbeneezer
Great pix!! Makes me miss my hometown of Topsfield, MA. Home of the oldest fair in the US.
stinger
@UncleEbeneezer: Interesting links — thanks!
TheOtherHank
@twbrandt:
When I was a kid my grandfather was the county weed inspector for Pope County, MN. Minnesota has a list of “noxious weeds” that a land owner is required to kill if they’re growing on their land. The county weed inspector drives around from time to time looking for those weeds. If any are sighted, the land owner is notified and if they aren’t taken care of within a reasonable time the inspector can contact someone to go spray the weeds and have the bill sent to the land owner. One of the weeds on the list is wild hemp (aka weed). When I was a little kid I used to go with my grandfather when he did his rounds. I got pretty good at identifying hemp while driving down rural roads at speed. “Papa, I see some hemp!”
pieceofpeace
Next year, I’ll attend a fair, somewhere in the far west, and full of those food n flower displays these photos show. I question whether my smallish city in Idaho continues to have fairs that feature homemade goods, as they’ve become less 4-H-ish and more for the kids attending.
But who knows, maybe it’s better than before! Thanks for trip down a really far away memory.
stinger
@pieceofpeace:
Seems like everything is becoming more “family friendly”. A nearby U-Pick orchard used to be a place where you could peacefully pick a few apples while enjoying sunshine and birdcalls. Last time I was there, they’d brought in a shrieking calliope and added a mudslide, face painting, etc. I suppose if I had young kids I’d appreciate it.
NutmegAgain
Best state fair song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPuNkAQo1lI&ab_channel=TheBreeders-Topic
stinger
@NutmegAgain: That was new to me. Thanks!
WaterGirl
This was better than actually going to the fair! It always seemed to be 90+ degrees when I went.
I would love to see more quilts, for sure.