Fairs of the past

With the Nebraska State Fair ending earlier this week and many county fairs only distant memories I thought it would be a great time to view some photos of past fairs.  As I was looking at the  photos of past fairs in Nebraska Memories it’s interesting to see how fairs of the past compare with my current fair memories. One of the items included in Nebraska Memories is a ticket for the fourth annual fair of the Sarpy County Agricultural Society. It was held in Papillion on September 21-24, 1886. As you can see, the ticket is quite fancy with a decorative boarder and a picture of a man and steer printed in red ink. What I find interesting however is the fact that the printed portion of the ticket clearly states it admits the person whose name has been written on the line along with “his wife and children under 18 years of age”. That sure doesn’t look like any fair ticket I’ve ever used. Have you ever had your palm read at a fair? This early 1900’s photo shows Madam Seero Temple of Palmistry tent. There is a woman dressed in a costume standing in the entry of the tent who might be Madam Seero herself. Do you think we will ever see a palm reader’s tent at a fair in  Nebraska? A few things have appeared to stand the test of time. The merry-go-round in this photo from the 1900’s looks a lot like modern-day merry-go-rounds. At a fair this year I saw a number of very nice looking produce exhibits however none of them contained anything as creative as this corn cob log cabin. Take a few minutes and browse the other fair items in Nebraska Memories and think about how fairs of the past compare with your current fair memories. Visit Nebraska Memories to search for or browse through many more historical images digitized from photographs, negatives, postcards, maps, lantern slides, books and other materials. Nebraska Memories is a cooperative project to digitize Nebraska-related historical and cultural heritage materials and make them available to researchers of all ages via the Internet. Nebraska Memories is brought to you by the Nebraska Library Commission. If your institution is interested in participating in Nebraska Memories, see http://nlc.nebraska.gov/nebraskamemories/participation.aspx for more information, or contact Beth Goble, Government Information Services Director, or Devra Dragos, Technology & Access Services Director.