Coca-Cola Fair Ad (1920)

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Interesting artwork, state fair theme, with the midway, featuring favorites of the sideshow, Cora the Fat Woman (450 lbs.), the Smallest Man Alive, Mazye the Snake Handler, and who knows what all else. A barker calls to patrons, barefoot children share a bottle of Coke, and everyone seems to be having a great time. It's August, a hot summer day on the midway!

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Aug. 7, 1920, p. 2. Approx. 4-1/8" x 7", the heavy black border's dimensions.

Maine Fairs

Maine, 1916

Oxford County Agricultural Association, South Paris, Sept. 12, 13 and 14.

Cumberland County Fair Association, Gorham, Sept. 19, 20 and 21.

West Oxford Agricultural Association, Fryeburg, Sept. 26, 27 and 28.

Cumberland Farmers' Club, West Cumberland, Sept. 27 and 28.

Grangers' Fair Association, Saco, Sept. 27 and 28.

Northern Oxford Fair Association, Andover, Sept. 28 and 29.

New Gloucester and Danville Fair Association, Upper Gloucester, Oct. 3, 4 and 5.

Sagadahoc County Fair Association, Topsham, Oct. 10, 11 and 12.

Freeport Poultry Association, Freeport, Nov. 22, 23 and 24.

Shapleigh and Acton Fair Association, Acton, Dec. 3, 4 and 5.

York County Poultry Association, Sanford, Dec. 5, 6 and 7.

Maine State Poultry, Portland, Dec. 12, 13, 14 and 15.

Maine State Pomological, Portland, Nov. 14, 15 and 16.

Western Maine Poultry Association, South Paris, Jan. 2, 3 and 4.

Berwick Poultry Association, Berwick, date not fixed.

—The Fryeburg Post, Fryeburg, Maine, Sept. 12, 1916, p. 2.

Maine Fairs

1916

West Oxford Agricultural Association, Fryeburg, Sept. 26, 27 and 28.

Cumberland Farmers' Club, West Cumberland, Sept. 27 and 28.

Grangers' Fair Association, Saco, Sept. 27 and 28.

Northern Oxford Fair Association. Andover, Sept. 28 and 29.

New Gloucester and Danville Fair Association, Upper Gloucester, Oct. 3, 4 and 5.

Sagadahoc County Fair Association, Topsham, Oct. 10, 11 and 12.

Freeport Poultry Association, Freeport, Nov. 22, 23 and 24.

Shapleigh and Acton Fair Association, Acton, Dec. 3, 4 and 5.

York County Poultry Association, Sanford, Dec. 5, 6 and 7.

Maine State Poultry, Portland, Dec. 12, 13, 14 and 15.

Maine State Pomological, Portland, Nov. 14, 15 and 16.

Western Maine Poultry Association. South Paris, Jan. 2, 3 and 4.

Berwick Poultry Association, Berwick, date not fixed.

—The Fryeburg Post, Fryeburg, Maine, Sept. 26, 1916, p. 3.

Our Day On Earth

1916

F. E. Barlow, employee of Frankfort arsenal, Philadelphia, has invented a bomb, and offered it to the United States government, which is most deadly of aerial bombs, spreading gases over a radius of 100 yards. Bomb is six feet long and five inches in diameter, formed like a torpedo.

Webb Weeks, a young farmer, near Geneva, O, did not want to miss an early car to the county fair. His watch was broken. He slipped his alarm clock into the pocket of his overhalls so he could keep posted on the time. While he was busily milking a somewhat nervous cow the alarm went off. Weeks did not go to the fair.

—The Fryeburg Post, Fryeburg, Maine, Sept. 26, 1916, p. 1.

Note: 'O' means Ohio; 'overhalls' is original to the article.

Proofs of Prosperity

1916

Mr. Boyce's Talks

If there is any one who is in doubt about the general prosperity of the farmers, let him go to the county or State fairs and have his eyes opened. "Seeing is believing," and at the annual agricultural exhibits being held in all parts of the country there is plenty of proof of prosperity and progress.

Where the hitch-racks used to be, the visitor sees parking places for automobiles, filled with cars and frequently "overflowing." In fact, providing adequate facilities for the parking of autos has become one of the big problems at county and State fairs. As an instance of what the auto is doing for the fair, seven cars filled with representatives of twelve families came in a bunch from the little town of Loretto, Neb., to the State fair at Lincoln, a distance of 125 miles. Probably not half of that number of people would have come by train, yet they felt no hesitancy about making the long trip in the autos. This is only one instance. There is no doubt that in many other cases longer journeys are being made, over good roads which the autos have helped to provide.

Attendance has been large at all the fairs that have been held this month and the others which are to open between now and the middle of October are making preparations for record-breaking crowds. This in itself is a big proof of prosperity, to which may be added the reports from manufacturers and merchants telling of unusually good business in the placing of orders, now that the harvests are over.

More and more each season, stress has been laid on quality at the fairs, and progress in quality is especially noticeable in this year of good prices for all farm products. Not only is it to be seen in the exhibits and in the increased number of the educational features of the fairs but in the amusements, which have been put on a much higher plane. "Barkers" still "bark," but the shows that remain are of better class, as a rule, than the old-time tent entertainments. "Bosco, the Snake Eater" has disappeared, along with the sword swallowers and other freaks that used to contest with each other for the dimes and quarters of amusement seekers. Carnival companies which furnish entertainment at many of the fairs have eliminated most of the old objectionable features. Good bands are engaged, to give the people the kind of music they want. Many of the big fairs hire aviators to make day and night flights for the crowds and some of the fairs this year have put on elaborate historical pageants in which the schools have assisted.

For those who view the fairs with understanding and appreciation, the farm exhibits are, of course, the big features of interest. These tell the story of progress not only in methods of raising crops and stock but in the improvement of life on the farm. A visit to the machinery exhibits is an education for the city dweller who may not have kept in touch with the advances that have been made. Thruout these exhibits he will see how the power of motors is being applied to agriculture, to facilitate work, lighten labor and improve results in hundreds of different ways. He will see 1 horse power gasoline engines, selling as low as $25, for pumping water and running electric light plants, and big tractors that do heavy work, such as pulling gang plows. He will see electrical devices for thrashing, cutting up feed, cutting grass, pumping water and for many other purposes, including the family washing and similar domestic uses. He will see how gasoline engines and electrical plants have brought comforts and conveniences to the farmhouse and made it the equal of any city home — and a better place to live in than the average city home.

Then there is the automobile show, which is a feature of every big fair. These exhibits are larger this year than ever before, and the reports on orders, like those of other manufacturers who are selling to the farmer, are proofs of the prosperity of the country.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Sept. 16, 1916, p. 6.

A Woman's Odd Victory

1896

At a country fair held near Dedham, Maine, the prize offered for unhitching and hitching up again in the shortest time was won by a woman, and won under circumstances comic as well as curious.

The winner was Mrs. Linus Pond, of Dedham, who, since the death of her husband, two years ago, has carried on the work of the farm alone. She does the plowing and hauling with a Hereford bull, and works the bull just as she would a horse.

When she goes to market she hitches the bull to her wagon with a pair of traces and guides it by ropes running to a ring in its nose. In the harnessing contest she had the Hereford unhitched and hitched again in a twinkling. — New York Sun.


Deer On The Track

Three deer jumped on the railway track a few hundred yards or so ahead of a locomotive near Trout Lake, Michigan, a few days ago, and remained staring in surprise at the headlight until they were struck by the pilot and tossed from the track.

Instances of a single deer being thus attracted by a locomotive headlight and falling victim to its curiosity are not uncommon in Michigan, Maine and other regions where deer abound; but for a trio of the animals to be hypnotized in this way at one time is a novelty. — New York Sun.


Saved By A Cracked Plate

Two hundred barrels of oil, part of the cargo stowed between decks of the steel steamer W. H. Gilbert, shifted during a gale while the vessel was rounding Kenawee Point, on Lake Superior. Ten of the barrels were broken and the oil rolled down into the fire hold and was ignited by the furnace fires.

The crew turned to and fought the fire with but little impression and it was thought the vessel was doomed. The heat of the blazing oil, however, cracked one of the steel plates below the water line, through which the water poured in volumes, and, converted into steam, smothered the fire.

The pumps were started and, finding them adequate to keep the steamer afloat, she continued on her way and reached Duluth, Minn. The vessel was bound from Buffalo with a cargo of general merchandise. — Chicago Times-Herald.

Wife Rifles Her Husband's Pockets

Indiana, 1905

Discovers Compromising Letters and Files Suit for Divorce — The Courts

Mrs. Leonora D. Butler's testimony was heard this morning in her divorce case against William D. Butler and at the conclusion Judge Heaton took the matter under advisement.

She stated that she found in her husband's pockets two letters and two notes signed by a woman named Angel and while she could not remember just what was in them she knew enough to state that the terms of all the epistles were very endearing. She didn't know the woman until she had made an investigation.

Butler's love grew cold. He went to the fair at St. Louis last fall and upon his return told his wife that he did not have any regard for her and refused to perform the duties of a husband. He is employed by the Wabash Valley Traction company and she asks $1,500.

—The Fort Wayne Sentinel, Fort Wayne, Indiana, Aug. 17, 1905, p. 2.

Brittany's Hair Harvest – Country Girls Selling Their Hair

1916

It is at Easter time that the curious "hair harvest" of Brittany is "reaped" by the traveling merchants, who go from village to village buying the beautiful hair for which the Breton belles are famous. This is later destined to be made up into "transformations," "fringes" and other mysterious arrangements with which ladies less abundantly endowed by nature make up their shortcomings in the matter of "woman's crowning glory."

The clients of the hair buyers are chiefly country lasses in the remoter districts, who are only too pleased to sell their tresses in order to obtain a little money to spend at the Easter fairs. The "harvest" however, is said not to be so good as formerly, as with the spread of education and the love of display many girls prefer to keep their hair.— Wide World Magazine

—Stevens Point Daily Journal, Stevens Point, Wisconsin, July 29, 1916, page 3.