Fair trades holy history

For me it's the horses. My MSO (most significant other) loves all critters, but gets a special gleam in his eye and exclaims, "BU-NNNEEEE!" when we reach the rabbit building. Like most teenagers mine prefers to toss her cookies on the rides, but we all regroup like anxious toddlers at the end of the day to gorge ourselves on elephant ears and ice cream.

The fair: What's not to love? Tomorrow's opening of the North Idaho Fair and Rodeo marks 89 years of fairs in Kootenai County. The exact origins of fairs are uncertain. Time Magazine (with a nice photo essay at Time.com) reports state and county fairs in the U.S. began in Syracuse, N.Y. in 1841. The International Association of Fairs and Expositions research describes the first in 1811 (basically a livestock show) in Pittsfield, Mass. Either way, American fairs first centered around animal husbandry, expanding the agriculture, competition and prizes, and social aspects over time.

In Canada the first recorded was in Windsor, Nova Scotia in 1765, also with an agricultural focus. Moving backward, according to the National Fairground Archives fairs in the United Kingdom were organized in medieval times to trade and barter surplus materials (and laborers in "mop fairs"). These multi-day "trading fairs" became a source of cultural mixing and excuse for social festivities. Medieval Europe was hardly the origin of fair tradition; fairs are mentioned in the Old Testament's Book of Ezekiel. Centuries before the Biblical reference was the Latin word "feria," or holy day. In ancient Rome, Athens, Ninevah, and Mecca on these special days normal labor was suspended and people gathered to worship at large temples. At the same time traders operated in nearby fields, with statues of the gods there to protect them. Over time some of these evolved into early Christian feast days and these early fairs (possibly the origin of church bazaars) became a source of church revenue.

Returning to New England and the IAFE, farmer Elkanah Watson was the guy who organized an agricultural society which led to that 1811 livestock show and earned him the title, "father of U.S. agricultural fairs." The best oxen, cows, swine, and sheep earned their owners $70. North American fairs now exceed 3,200 annually and grand champion prizes can reach tens of thousands of dollars. The North Idaho Fair and Rodeo (rodeos have their own rich history) awards prizes for such a wide variety of arts and crafts, animals, crops, and more that a body can get dizzy. I have one more suggestion for fair manager extraordinaire, Chris Holloway: butter sculptures. They're catching on; the first was a cow in Iowa. Now Ohio and Minnesota have added competitions. The Time.com photo essay features a buttery, life-sized John Wayne.

"I'm the stuff men are made of." - Marion Morrison, a.k.a. John Wayne. The fair runs Wednesday, Aug. 24 through Sunday, Aug. 28. See ya there, Pilgrim.

Sholeh Patrick is a columnist for the Hagadone News Network. Email [email protected]