Since the early 1920s, this time of year has brought the Cleveland County Fair to town. Many things have changed over the years and many things have remained the same.
Dad reminded me that in the late 30's most people in Lattimore had never traveled outside of the county much. Very few people had been to the beach or for sure New York City or even Charlotte. And most people were connected in some way to cotton farming. The schools were oriented around children and families picking cotton by hand. So back then everyone was eager to pick and gin a bale of cotton and get a few silver coins to take to the fair. It was unusual to have even one dollar to spend at the fair, but as Dad says, you have to get into perspective what a huge spectacle it was with the shows, and lights, and food smells that were different from anything anyone had ever seen. Lattimore folks were used to chicken and ham and the fair offered the first New York and New Jersey taste of sausages, peppers and onions cooking in what Daddy called some kind of hash.
There were a lot of free acts in the grandstand that Dr. Dorton, a local animal doc who developed and promoted the fair, brought to town. Everybody was amazed by the Flying Wallendas trapeze and highwire act. Even the New York City Rockettes did their high kicks in the grand stand. Dad noted that in the 30s before World War II, "People had never been to Par-ee and we saw sights we'd never seen or even heard tale of before."
There were shows that happened a little later on at night too. "The Hoochie Coochie Shows". Dancing girls that were "scantily clad by the standards of the day" who would dance on a little stage in front of a tent. A barker's voice would blare over loud speakers and his language was "a little risque for those days". Music that you never heard in church, played while the barker with a microphone would encourage people to come into the tent and watch the dancers perform. The performance and the costumes were something that you could see any night on TV today but not in Cleveland County in the 1930s. Some people in the county began to get a little upset and of course the news media of the day wanted to talk about the controversy.
One day someone caught up with Dr. Dorton to complain about the Hoochie Coochie shows. The complainer described in detail how the shows were just a bad thing for people to see at the fair. What with all the racy language, the baudy music, the scanty clothes and those pretty girls that wiggled their hips.
Dr. Dorton reminded him that there is a lot to see at the fair. He described how each community worked long hours to create a fair booth in the Exhibit Hall with a theme to remind people of the good qualities of life - Honesty, Integrity, Education, Service, etc. And that these booths were interesting and excellent to see. And that many people from all over the county brought farm produce, jams, jellies, pies and more to the fair for all to see. And that cows, mules, pigs, chickens and all kinds of farm animals were brought to the fair for people to see.
Dad remembers hearing that Dr. Dorton said, "When I go to the fair, I see the exhibit halls, the Lucky Teeter Car show, the beautiful horses in the barns. I guess you just see what you want to see."
Carol, Mary and I went to the fair yesterday and we saw what we wanted to see. It was a blast. There are still booths in the exhibit hall, plenty of farm animals, even some exotic animals. There are still dizzing smells of peppers and sausages and of course the go-to food, Vinegar Fries. I do miss Mama Crowder's ham biscuits at Wilson's. (see September 27, 2010 post)
There are plenty of free acts that were really fun and interesting. The darling Hansen Family with the Mom, Dad and 3 cute little girls performing on roller skates, on a trapeze, a trampoline and even juggling fire. We talked with them after the show and realized how different their life is but how much fun they have performing together as a family.
There are members of the Cleveland County BeeKeepers who are passionate about explaining the interesting life of bees and the production of local honey.
There is art - Chainsaw Art. And there is history. A local blacksmith set up a display of an 1800s Chuck Wagon to show how people back in covered wagon days cooked as they drove through the wilderness looking for a new place to settle. He has a forge set up and sells tools that you can use today to cook over a campfire. It was interesting to watch his demonstration and to talk about the Chuck Wagon cooks in the 1800s. It seems the cook was a very busy person who worked all day preparing meals and then was the last to go to bed at night. Some things never change.
We all thought it was interesting that since the cook was up late into the night, the last duty was to position the wagon hitch toward the North Star so that in the morning the wagon driver would have a compass for the next day's trip.
Food, cooking, history, families that work together, families that play together. You really can see what you want to see at the Cleveland County Fair.
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