Meet me on the midway : a history of Wisconsin fairs /
Jerry Apps.
- Madison, WI : Wisconsin Historical Society Press, (c)2022.
- 1 online resource (xi, 264 pages) : illustrations (chiefly color)
Includes bibliographies and index.
The first fairs -- Fair management -- Exhibits and clubs -- Judges and judging -- Favorite fair food -- The carnival and the midway -- Southern Wisconsin fairs -- Southeastern Wisconsin fairs -- Southwestern Wisconsin fairs -- Central Wisconsin fairs -- Northeastern Wisconsin fairs -- Northern Wisconsin fairs -- Northwestern Wisconsin fairs -- Wisconsin State Fair -- Stories from the fair -- The value and legacy of fairs.
"Jerry Apps explores the history of county and state fairs in Wisconsin, from their earliest incarnations as livestock exhibitions to their later multitudes of exhibits and demonstrations, grandstand entertainment, games and rides, and competitions of all sorts. Drawing on his extensive research, interviews, and personal experience as a 4-H leader, county extension agent, county fair judge, and lifelong fairgoer, Apps takes readers back through 178 years of Wisconsin fair history, covering everything from horse-pulling and calf-showing contests to flower arrangement judging to the roar of gasoline engines powering the midway rides. He evokes the sights and sounds of fairs through the ages while digging in to the political and social forces that shaped the fair into an icon of our rural heritage"--