Chalfant: Despite the Depression, the fair went on in 1933

The Great Depression began with the stock market crash in October 1929, but Missouri’s economy had been in trouble for several years before the Depression began.

Farm prices, which had gone up dramatically during World War I, declined in the decade after the war. Land prices also dropped. Banks throughout the state closed during the 1920s, including the Farmers and Mechanics Bank of Sedalia, the American Exchange Bank in Sedalia, and the Bank of Hughesville.

As the Depression worsened, Missouri State Fair Secretary W.D. Smith became concerned that farmers would not be able to exhibit their products at the fair and that Missourians would not be able to come to Sedalia to visit the fair. On May 8, 1933, he wrote to Gov. Guy Park, suggesting that the fair be canceled.

Park did not agree, and replaced Smith with a new fair secretary, Charles W. Green.

On July 13, the Sedalia Democrat reported that 20 men were working to repair fairgrounds buildings. They replaced 137 broken windows and installed screens in the windows of the Home Economics Building. The racetrack had been reconditioned.

With just a month until the fair opened, the crew still had to reroof the grandstand, make “necessary repairs” to the Coliseum, the Women’s Building and the Education Building, and fix the water system.

In addition, the five residences on the fairgrounds were being repaired.

Another crew of six men was constructing a new fish and game exhibit.

The work was completed and the Missouri State Fair opened Aug. 12. The Democrat praised the “very attractive displays” that made the fair the “show-place of the state.” The usual horse races, livestock exhibits and machinery exhibits, noted the Democrat, made Missouri proud.

Morgan County’s exhibit of farm produce won first place in the County Agricultural competition. Its exhibit was lauded for its “arrangement, quality and attractiveness.”

Franklin County, Andrews County, Randolph County and Macon County placed second, third, fourth, and fifth, respectively.

The Democrat noted, in a diplomatic comment praising local efforts, that “Lafayette, Pettis, Monroe, and Moniteau were in the money.”
 
Later the Democrat acknowledged that only nine counties had entered exhibits in the competition.

The honey exhibit in 1933 was particularly attractive. Carl Neff, of Boonville, won 12 ribbons, and Allie Kerby, of Sedalia, won nine. Mrs. S.E. Schilk, of Marshall, won three blue ribbons for the honey she displayed, and Mrs. Elsie De Vasher, of Kansas City, won the honey cookery contest.

Vocational agriculture exhibits were larger in 1933 than in previous years. Agriculture students exhibited 250 hogs, 55 calves and 65 sheep. Sweet Springs High School had the largest exhibit, with 70 hogs, 20 sheep, six beef calves and three dairy calves.

Local 4-H members performed well, with several young women winning awards for food preparation. Margaret Ferguson, of Dresden, won two first-place ribbons, a second-place ribbon and a third-place ribbon for canned vegetables and fruit.

Vonda Miller, of Sedalia, won one first-place ribbon. Ruth Rose, Clarice Heintz and Helen Hine, of La Monte, also won ribbons for their canned goods.

On Aug. 14, Children’s Day, the Sedalia Chamber of Commerce sponsored a Children’s Pet Parade in front of the grandstand.

The Chamber of Commerce also sponsored a Red Head Parade on Aug. 16. Red-headed folks with tresses ranging from carrot red to strawberry blond to deepest auburn marched along the racetrack displaying their lovely hair. Ten prizes were awarded.

A band from the State Industrial Home in Tipton performed several concerts on Aug. 16, as did Bartlett’s Juvenile Band, the Jackson County Band and the Trenton Public School Band.

The Democrat proclaimed the 1933 Missouri State Fair “one of the greatest in recent years.” Despite lower attendance than in other years, those who did attend “enjoyed the fair,” commenting on the fine horses, the “particularly clean and snappy” vaudeville shows and the grandstand displays.