1948 Humboldt County Fair
by
Carolyn Saul Logan
“The Fair was the biggest event of the summer!” Romaine Lee is describing the County Fair of his boyhood. “We went early, had fried chicken for dinner, went home and did the chores and came back again.”
Marilyn Solbeck Hundertmark’s family had a picnic dinner of fried chicken as well. “My folks didn’t care much about horses but we always attended as a family on a race day. We ate the leftover fried chicken for supper.”
1948 was the 90th annual Humboldt County Fair and it ran from Monday through Thursday—August 16-19.
What was it like to go to the Fair in 1948? Read on.
Monday the 16th –Entry Day
Monday was the day all entries and exhibits had to be in and everyone got in free.
All livestock entries had to be entered and on the fairgrounds by 6:00 p.m. Judging would begin at 9:00 a.m. the next day. No livestock were to leave the grounds before 5:00 p.m. on the last day of the Fair.
This was good, because it didn’t matter which day you went to the fair--you could go down to the barns any day and look at the animals. It was always shady and cool in the barns and the animals were looking their best. For a town kid with little experience of farm animals it was a thrill to get up close to these animals that were so ordinary for farm kids.
The Girls 4-H exhibits and displays had to be completed by noon on Monday and would be judged the next day. In 1948, the 4-H girls set up their displays in the top floor of the old Floral Hall. It was extremely hot up there, and even today, that heat is commented upon by former 4-H’ers. So if you wanted to see them, it was best to take in those exhibits early in the day, before the heat really set in.
The 4-H boys were allowed to stay overnight with their animals, sleeping in the loft of the barns. The girls, of course, went home and ironed their uniforms, ready for the next day. Proper dress was the rule for the 4-H clubs and wash-and-wear had not been invented. Being properly dressed involved washing, hanging out to dry, starch, hot irons, shoe polish, and elbow grease.
The midway was also set up on Monday—there was always a merry-go-round with wheezy organ music, a Ferris wheel, and a cotton candy stand. The churches and local organizations set up their food stands, a food stand was in the Grandstand, and there were numerous stands where you could shoot a duck or toss a ring over something and win a prize, perhaps a kewpie doll.
Tuesday the 17th—Children’s Day
Tuesday was Children’s Day and all school children under 15 were admitted free. Adult admission was fifty cents. In 2007 this fifty cent fee would be $7.62—fifteen times as much.
Everyone dressed up for the fair. Women and girls wore starched and freshly ironed cotton dresses, skirts, and blouses. Girls did not wear jeans—neither did the boys. Many of the women wore hats and so did some of the men, who were dressed in trousers and a starched and ironed shirt. The ladies and girls wore white shoes and sandals, which were polished every night for the next day because the Fair Grounds was so dusty underfoot. As Romaine Lee said, the county fair was the main summer event in Humboldt and you wanted to look your best for it.
In the Boys 4-H judging contest for 1948, five clubs competed. Classes judged were market pigs, Holstein calves, Hereford steers and market lambs. Corinth Junior Farmers 4-H club won the contest. Its three members were Holland and Roland Fevold, and Dale Reedy. They collected a total of 1146 points out of a possible 1500. Lawrence Jensen led the field of 4-H boys’ demonstrations with “War on the Fly.” Robert Olson, representing his 4-H Club, the Delana Deer, received grand champion of the breed for his Holstein dairy heifer. The newspaper stated that “he is quite proud of the fact.”
In the Floral Hall, the Open Class baked goods were judged first at 8:30. Then followed the judging of the canned goods, textiles, clothing and art exhibits. All of these made a magnificent exhibit in the Floral Hall and were there on display until the last day. The Floral Show entries were on display in the Floral Hall and so was an educational display of the best of that year’s work in the schools.
Grandstand Show
There was a full program at the grandstand for Tuesday afternoon and evening. As the grandstand filled, the Humboldt High School Band gave a concert. In the afternoon, we band members sat in the sun on a little stage extension on the front of the grandstand and usually ended up badly sunburned. But we had a good spot for viewing the races—betting dimes and nickels.
The races came after the concert. The purses for each of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd races were $100 and the lengths were 4 ½, 5 ½ and 6½ furlongs—these were horse races. The 4th race was 4-H Boys, the purse was $20 ($300 in today’s money) and the length was 1/8 mile. The last horse race had the biggest purse, $125 as well as the longest at 7/8’ths of a mile (7 furlongs).
Next were Free Acts by the Silverlake Troupe. According to the program, this was a “dandy family combination as they do acrobatics, aerial work, Roman rings, and plenty of good comedy numbers to keep the crowds in a good mood.” They also had a small dog act that was guaranteed to be “fine and fast and great for the kiddies.”
You have to remember that entertainment for Humboldt residents in 1948 did not include television. We got our news, market reports, comedy and drama from the radio, visual drama from the movies, saw an occasional live show that rolled into town and was staged in the school auditorium. Some years a circus would come to town. So the Grandstand acts were something to be appreciated.
If the Grandstand shows bored you, there was an afternoon Baseball Game—Humboldt vs. St Joe—at 2:00 sharp. On this Tuesday in 1948, we defeated St Joe 8 – 7. We weren’t so good the next day when we played the Thor Cardinals, who beat is 6-0.
The Evening Program was another concert by the high school band, more of the Grandstand acts and an American Legion Dance.
Wednesday the 18th
The 4-H girls’ demonstrations were judged in both the morning and afternoon. Elaine Haaland and Marilyn Gangsted, members of the winning girls’ 4-H demonstration team gave “Tips on Pressing.” They represented the Lake Clippers 4-H Club.
The special feature put up by the Wacousta Do-It-Best club was selected to be taken to the North Iowa Fair. This feature was based on pattern alteration. Four record books and four long-time accounting books were also part of the feature.
Wednesday’s horse race program was more of the same with the 4-H Boys again racing for $20. The 5th race had a purse of $175 and ran 1 and 1/16th mile. Probably the most popular afternoon act in the grandstand was Beverly Harnett and Company. Beverly was known as “Cindy from the Ozark and her trained mule.” It was rated as one of the best mule acts in show business. Accompanying Cindy and her mule was a big school horse being worked by long lines. This horse could dance, do a cake walk, a rumba, strut and was described as a “beautiful animal and a willing worker.” Trick roping and whip popping were the other part of Cindy’s act.
In the evening there was the livestock parade and more Grandstand shows with Arline and Dowling, a novelty duo from Cuba, who did a balancing act on a high pedestal, and Maureen and Moore who did a juggling and globe rolling act and “some nice tumbling as well.”
This was followed by another American Legion dance.
The Last Day—Thursday the 19th
Thursday morning the Livestock Auction Sale began at 9:30 sharp. The Grand Champion Baby Beef, a Hereford steer weighing in at 995 pounds, was sold to Pioneer Hybrid Seed Corn Co. and brought the highest price for animals sold that day. The Grand Champion was owned by Farrell Wright of Bradgate.
One of the highlights of the Fair was the girls’ 4-H style review held on the last day. In 1948, 13 girls entered in three different classes—School Dress, Wool Suit, and Best Dress. In the Wool Suit class, Lois Korslund was selected to represent Humboldt County at the State Fair style review in Des Moines.
The big draw in the Grandstand for the final afternoon and evening program was Father Flanagan’s Boys’ Town Band. Thirty-seven boys presented an hour and a half program of music—a full, balanced concert of marches, overtures, symphonic and glee club numbers. There were vocal solos, instrumental solos, and dramatic numbers with musical accompaniment and comedy.
After the Grandstand, there was the last American Legion dance.
Then, it was all over. In four short days the results of a year’s planning and work was judged, viewed, in some cases sold—and then everyone packed up and went home.