A 1590 painting of a village Fayre by Flemish artist Gillis Mostaert.
Today we spell it: Fair, as in: County Fair. Fayre is the Medieval spelling of the centuries old same event. Fairs have been probably been held since the long ago days of pre-history when humankind first gave up hunting & gathering for agriculture & animal husbandry.
At the end of summer or early fall, when the crops were in and new-born livestock raised, what could be more natural than getting together to show and compare the fruits of your labor with your neighbors. Why not include games, food, and music as part the fun. Maybe bring in some exotic attraction like a fortune teller, magician, or a traveling troupe of acrobats.
Fairs are similar, but never exactly alike. Every Fair reflects its time and place. All are events of the country rather than of the city. Tents, booths, and lanterns aside, they take place outside - under God’s blue sky by day, and His glimmering stars by night.
There is something primordial about this ancient harvest festival that the archaic word Fayre seems to capture best. Fayre implies a glamor that the word Fair isn’t interested in.
Adults don’t think of Fairs as mysterious; kids know magic when they see it.
I certainly did.
My first Fair was outside the little town of Huxley, Iowa.
I was about seven years old, and not much more than three feet high. Everything loomed around me, new sounds, new smells, new everything. It was a combination of scary, exciting, and fun.
I wasn’t sure cotton-candy was actually food. Mom talked me into trying it. I still wasn’t sure. Didn’t care for it. Still don’t. The taffy was good and so was the soggy french-fries drenched in vinegar. Odd, I thought, but tasty. The popcorn, candy apples, and livestock were mostly familiar items. I thought I knew all about farm animals. I was wrong.
The draft horses were bigger than I thought horses could get to be. They were like elephants, not that I’d ever seen an elephant, except in pictures. I also saw some funny goats and chickens that didn’t look at all like the ones I saw on my uncle’s farms. Plus, I saw a bird called a peacock. I remember wondering if it was some special kind of chicken.
There were lots of rides. I only rode on one. It had a bunch of big cups hanging from a wheel Mom and I sat in one of the cups. The wheel swirled around and dipped up and down. It was ok. I didn’t want to do it again.
Dad won a prize by shooting a rifle, or maybe it was by throwing a ball. The prize was an odd looking doll covered with shinny sprinkles. It didn’t seem to me to be much of a prize. We went home right after it started to get dark. My last memory of the day was of the glow of spinning colored lights. I thought it was what fairyland must look like.
My dreams that night were all about the Fair.
The Fairyland of a modern fair at night.
(Photo : Lahu Fatoni - cropped)
Memories of my first Fair mixed with what I’ve since learned about the tradition of Fayre. Some undercurrent of magic connects to all Fairs and Fayres. That’s why they have so often been linked to religious festivals - from well before Roman times to sometimes even today.
It was an old photo, discovered by chance, that started me thinking again about Fayre.
I recognized my Aunt Maudine in the photo, even though she was probably not more than twelve when the photo was taken. I did not recognize the elderly lady beside her. I sent the mysterious photo to Aunt Maudine. Without hesitation, she responded, “ ’tis us at County Fair”. “us” included her Grandma, and my Great Grandma, Nellie Hamilton.
Great Grandma Hamilton died before I was born. The few pictures I have of her were taken from far away. I heard often about what a wonderful lady she was. It was nice to finally see her face clearly.
Now I wanted to know more about this Fair of Maudine’s from long ago.
Goat judging at a typical rural Fair from the middle of the 20th century. (stock photo)
Aunt Maudine could only recall a few details.
The Fair took place sometime in the middle of the 1930’s. She, and Great Grandma were driven to the Fair by her father, and my Grandpa, Joe Shipley. Grandpa Joe was the son-in-law of Nellie & Alfred Hamilton. The car belonged to Great Grandpa Hamilton, but Great Grandpa did not care to drive automobiles. He shifted that sort of business off to his son-in-law.
This news surprised me. Internal combustion engines were rare in North Missouri until the early days of the 1950’s. Maudine remembers some other cars at the Fair, though many folks came by way of horse-drawn wagon.
Another surprise, the photo was taken in a mobile photo booth. I checked with google. The photo booth was invented in 1925. Pretty modern for North Missouri in the 1930’s. Maybe someone brought it up from Kansas City. Equally surprising, Maudine remembers seeing electric lights. There were no electrical lines up at the time. Most of my family in Missouri didn’t get electricity until after 1950. Perhaps a gas-driven generator came with the photo booth.
Aunt Maudine couldn’t recall who else came to the Fair with her, though more of the family surly did. The event, officially, was the Harrison County Fair. Everyone called it the Farmer’s Picnic.
Farmer’s Picnic was more descriptive.
Some people did come from little towns around the area, more were friends and neighbors, farmers all, from ten to twenty miles away. They came with picnic baskets which they augmented with Fair food like Popcorn & taffy.
Along with the novelty of Fair food There were livestock exhibitions, shows, and games. Maudine also remembers a merry-go-round, which she liked, and a Ferris wheel which she didn’t - and who knows what all.
Aunt Maudine said page 183 of the Mt. Moriah book would have a lot more details. The Mt. Moriah book is 446 pages long.
It’s a large book about a small town.
In 1900 Mt. Moriah was home to 412 people, It’s now home to about 84. My second cousin, Mina Powers Hickman has always lived in Mt. Moriah. She still does. Mina suggested compiling the book at a 1988 Town Council meeting. She also contributed a great deal of the writing. Page 183 is her recall of a typical Farmer’s Picnic. I’ve paraphrased some highlights.
The 21st. Farmer’s Picnic, 1941 - The site was Neff Grove, a spot just off a plain dirt country road about 8 miles east of Bethany, and not much more than 10 miles from the Shipley and Hamilton farms. Funding was supplied by selling promotional flyer ads to small business in nearby towns. I imagine expenses were modest. Prize money probably accounted for most of it. Prize money could run from $1- to as high as $10.
Admission was free. So was the shade and ice water. Candy, popcorn, watermelon, and other such items were available at little cost. There wasn’t a lot of cash around. Many folks were content with the picnic baskets they had prepared for the day.
Programs & Contests started at 1:15, including baby shows as well as livestock. There was an entry fee of 10 cents, each, for sheep, mules, hogs, and cattle. I’m not sure about the babies. The evening show featured KMBC radio entertainers such as, the Prairie Sweethearts, Johnnie the Comedian, and many more, including a solo performance by local favorite, Patricia Beels.
The Picnic lasted three days. Some families stayed overnight, camping out by the side of the road. Others went home to catch up on chores left untended by their day at the Fair - a special time set aside to celebrate family, friends, and the bounty of the earth.
It was a celebration largely unchanged for thousands of years.
I imagine more similarities than differences between a medieval Fayre and the Farmer’s Picnic. My first Fair certainly had more electricity and grander rides than the older Fayre, or Farmers Picnic, still, the bones were the same.
Modern Fairs have emphasized commerce over community, and amusement over celebration. Despite that, a simple stone-age farmer - plucked out of time and dropped into a twenty-first century Fair would have no trouble recognizing it as a Harvest Festival - much like the ones he knew from long ago.
Aunt Maudine and Great Grandma’s day at the fair, taken at a mobile photo booth, (Harrison County Fair, circa 1930’s)