By Carol Fisher-Linn
“Moons and Junes and Ferris Wheels…” (words by Joni Mitchell)
Every self-respecting fair features a Ferris wheel
Young or old – everyone loves a fair. Thinking of a fair brings to mind the crowds, the laughter, the noises, the smells of cooking sausages, turkey drumsticks, roasting pigs and chickens, battered anything, popcorn, candy apples, corn dogs … which are your favorites? Powdered sugar waffles are tops on my list. It seems that none of us living today know a time when we didn’t go to fairs. Have they really been around forever?
Well, students of history or the arts can relate tales or artistic works going back to the eastern Mediterranean before the birth of Christ, with Old and New Testament references, i.e., Ezekiel: 500 BC scripture referring to Tyre as an important market and fair center promoting the marketplace, commerce, festivals, and holy days. During the early Christian era, the church took an active part in sponsoring fairs on feast days, and as a result, fairs came to be a source of revenue for the church. The evolution which blended religion and commerce continued over time and moved into western Europe. Periodic gatherings brought together the producers of all types of commodities for the purpose of barter, exchange and sale. To this marketplace were added entertainment and other forms of activity, thus these primitive markets took on the aspect of fairs as we know them today.
My very own first exposures to “fairs” were our local church “picnic” or “bazaar” where bingo, raffle tickets and beer/food sales contributed to the profits. Of course, there was the Erie County Fair that all Buffalo residents attended beginning in 1820 at what is currently the site of Canalside 1. It moved around Erie County in its first 48 years, even landing in Springville in 1866-67 until it finally took permanent roots in 1868 in Hamburg. The Cattaraugus County Fair began in 1842 and is still sponsored by the Cattaraugus County Agricultural Society. While back in 1821, the Chautauqua County Agricultural Society was first organized in Mayville, NY, with their first fair held that year.
Going back in history, in 1765, the first North American fair was presented in Windsor, Nova Scotia. In upper Canada, as Ontario was known in early Confederation, a fair was held in 1792, sponsored by the Niagara Agricultural Society. As with Windsor, the Niagara Fair remains in operation today.
The county fair, as we now know it, was introduced by a retired businessman/banker turned sheep farmer named Elkanah Watson who wanted to promote better agricultural practices. It was held in Pittsfield, Massachusetts in about 1810 as a sheep shearing demonstration and contest with the goal of stimulating competition and use of best practices of the time. Watson is also known for being the one to first propose the Erie Canal across NYS (it became a reality in 1918 to the tune of $96.7million) and formed a company to build locks and canals. By 1819 most counties in New England had organized their own fairs and by the close of the nineteenth century, almost every state and province had one.
Many fairs have properties and their own buildings which house their events. Some of the World’s Fairs have buildings and monuments still standing from the 1800’s. When the developers were working on plans for The World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, they were faced with a charge to create such a legacy … “something novel, original, daring and unique.” This Chicago “fair” was to showcase a universe dazzling centerpiece surpassing the Eiffel Tower, which had been erected one year earlier for the Paris World’s Fair. And they accomplished the task with the world’s first Ferris wheel. It is because of this Chicago fair that every fair across the country features a wheel.
True, Eiffel’s immortal iconic tower is indisputably one of a kind – ever. But imagine this: Even if you are 90 or 9, close your eyes for a minute and, in your mind, join the millions of wheel riders around the globe – marvel as the colored lights brighten the summer sky, feel the tummy flips and relive “the dizzy, dancing way you feel.” Ahh, the joys of summertime.
“The sun is a-rising To welcome the day. Heigh-ho! Come to the fair!” https://youtu.be/o1jDOttUe2k