Above is the front page of the August 24, 1954 Lorain Journal with the story of the opening day of the 1954 edition of the fair. Apparently it set an opening day record with more than 10,000 attendees.
In her report, Molly Maloy crafts a nice description of the Fair. She notes, "The Lorain County Fair is underway and the Wellington fair grounds have been turned into a combination carnival, amusement park, rodeo and grand exhibition.
"It promises to be a great week. People from all over the county are invading the grounds and every imaginable club, organization, and business is represented with a booth of some sort. You can buy anything from a fine bone china cup and saucer to a cup of salty french fries.
"The fair is alive with sounds, smells, sights and children. On stepping on the grounds your ears are greeted by the gay music of the merry-go-round, the blaring of a polka played over a loud speaker, and the excited hum of many voices.
"The barkers' deep, husky callings dominate the scene, telling you to "Step right up and try your luck" or "Get your ticket now and see the monkey drive his own automobile."
"Every five minutes a man's voice drones over the microphone announcing the next event, paging someone or summoning Officer Jones to Police Headquarters.
"You are attacked with odors from all sides. The smell of the stock mingles with that of hot food. The tempting odor of hot buttered popcorn or onions on a foot long hot dog is wafted beneath your nose.
"The midway is a gala sight to see. There are gaily painted rides, the tilt-a-whirl, midget racers, a huge ferris wheel, hundreds of try your luck booths, a merry go round, monkey hot drivers, fun houses, innumerable concession stands.
"The stands were packed with spectators watching the horse show and they cheered and applauded the high stepping parade horses and the thrilling rescue races."
These are just a sampling of Maloy's charming descriptions of the Fair. Many of the sights and sounds of the Lorain County Fair haven't changed in the 70 years since her article. That's why the Fair is so great – it's timeless, old-fashioned fun.
However, some things – such as monkey speedways – seem lost to the vagaries of time. What's a monkey speedway? Visit the Curbside Classics website (here) for a well-researched article about the popular fair attraction.
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| Courtesy CurbsideClassic.com |
6 comments:
I can only imagine how the monkeys were beaten and whipped in order to learn to "drive" those race cars for everyone's enjoyment.Stuff like this is better left in the history books.
At least the well-researched article that I've linked to explains that the monkeys didn't 'drive' the cars (which were operated electronically) as much as 'ride' in them.
That odd headline on Page One makes it sound as if those two disparate actions are somehow linked.
The "monkey speedway" looks an awful like some business meetings I attended through the decades.
Monkey speedway? Never heard of such a thing, not that I have spent much time prowling around county fairs (which I do like, let me add).
Did the Lorain County Fair ever have real live freaks on exhibit,like The Elephant Man?Or a real bearded lady or an Alligator Man or a pin head like Schlitzie?Or was that too risque for Lorain County?
As recently as the 2013 Lorain County Fair, there were still 'freak' shows. But I think they were mainly fun illusions (such as a Spider Girl or Snake Woman); there might have been a few truly unusual individuals who made their living performing.
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