Seventy years ago, the 1956 Lorain County Fair was underway, and it probably looked much like the Fair did Monday night when I was there this week. The Fair is seemingly frozen in time and that's what I like about it.
Headliners in 1956 were the Buddy Morrow Band, The Four Freshmen and Kochman's Hell Drivers. (An article on this post about the 1969 Lorain County Fair explains the relationship between the various 'Hell Driver" thrill shows.)
Here's an ample sample of photos, articles and ads to give you a taste of what the Fair was like back then. This first batch is all from the August 18, 1956 Lorain Journal.
The Fair continued to show up in the Journal during the week, including as the subject of a well-written editorial.
August 20, 1956
August 21, 1956
August 24, 1956
August 24, 1956
From that last article, it sounds like it was a wet County Fair that year. I've been to a few over the years when it rained hard. I remember one year it rained so hard we were trapped in the building with the roosters. They were all nightmarishly cock-a-doodle-do'ing at the top of their lungs right in the early afternoon. I can still hear their screeching.
Sixty years ago, the 1966 Lorain County Fair was taking place. The Lorain Journal seemed to make a special effort to cover it well, perhaps to let the Chronicle-Telegram know who's boss. Plenty of Fair photographs graced the pages of the paper each day.
Headliner that year was Eddy Arnold. Also of interest: Mayor Mathna milks a cow; and a French teenager visits the Fair and offers his observations.
Well, it's Lorain County Fair week – my favorite time of year!
Unlike my pilgrimage to the Ohio State Fair (which left me somewhat disappointed due to all the changes since my last visit), a trip to the Lorain County Fair is like a visit with an old friend who always stays the same. It's comforting to know that some things don't have to change.
I'll be heading out to the Fair early in the week. I keep planning on going to the Demolition Derby on Sunday. We'll see.
Anyway, as is the custom here, we'll be looking back at some past Lorain County Fairs through clippings from the Lorain Journal. First up: the 1976 Lorain County Fair.
Fifty years ago was our nation's Bicentennial, so the Fair has something special planned: an exhibit of paintings by Archibald Willard that included the last of six original oils of the "Spirit of '76."
We'll close out Lorain County Fair Week here on the blog with a look at the 1975 edition. As usual, the promotion started weeks before the fair started.
The Lorain County Fair has always brought in the big names in country music and 1975 would be no exception. Below is the announcement of the grandstand headliners: the Statler Brothers, and Tammy Wynette and Sonny James. The listing appeared in the Journal on July 1, 1975, and the follow-up ad ran on July 30th.
1975 promotional photo of Tammy Wynette
The full-blown ad for the Fair appeared on August 18, 1975, the day before it opened.
That same edition of the Journal contained the schedule and a tall ad highlighting fan favorite Dan Fleenor and the Hurricane Hell Drivers.
The next day, the Journal ran an interesting article designed to reassure fairgoers that the amusement rides were safe.
And as usual, tall ads ran in the Journal daily informing readers what the attractions were for that day. This one ran in the Journal on August 20, 1975.
As expected, the Statler Brothers, and Tammy Wynette and Sonny James were big hits with the Fair crowd.
Sixty years ago, the 110th Annual Lorain County Fair opened on August 23, 1965. Above is the promotional ad that appeared in the Journal a week before the opening.
Headliners that year included two performers from the Lawrence Welk Show on TV – JoAnn Castle and Myron Floran, as well as Walt "King" Kovaz and His Auto Daredevils.
JoAnn Castle promotional photo of Sept. 1965
A 1967 King Kovaz program
The first day of the Fair on August 23rd was commemorated with a special Gene Patrick cartoon on the front page of the Journal.
The Journal provided excellent coverage of the Fair that year, with lots of reports and full-pages of photos.
August 23, 1965
August 26, 1965
At the conclusion of the Fair, the Journal did an interesting thing: send a reporter to find out whether the Fair helped or hurt local businesses.
