The State Fair – A Texas Tradition

Statement

The State Fair - A Texas Tradition

In late October, organizers closed another highly successful State Fair of Texas in East Dallas. Between three and four million visitors spent time at the 2007 version, making it again the largest state fair in the United States.

Some fairgoers came to see the Texas Longhorn football team take on the Oklahoma Sooners, a rivalry at the Texas Fair since 1929. Others came to sample fried food, see the auto show, ride North America's largest Ferris wheel, or watch entertainers such as the Jonas Brothers or Billy Ray Cyrus. The Texas Fair has something for everyone.

County fairs and rodeos, usually in the winter or spring, are a staple of Texas life. The state fair over three autumn weeks has many similar ingredients, including youth livestock raising competitions. But everything is bigger.

Fairgoers are greeted by Big Tex, a 52-foot inflatable figure that started life as a Santa promoting Christmas shopping in Kerens, Texas. He was redressed in country gear for the 1952 fair, and he began talking a year later. Big Tex was refurbished in 1999 and given his AARP card when he turned 50 three years later.

A group of Dallas civic leaders came up with the idea for a state fair in 1886. After an argument led to two competing fairs, they soon combined operations at what is now Fair Park in East Dallas.

From the start, horse races, farm machinery displays, concerts and other attractions made the fair a success. Among early visitors and performers were Carrie Nation, William Jennings Bryan, John Philip Sousa and Booker T. Washington.

But various calamities, including fires and accidents, bedeviled the show. In 1903, the Texas Legislature banned gambling on horse races, the fair's chief source of income. So officials sold their property to Dallas as the city's second public park.

Over the years, the state fair has seen its share of spectacles. In 1900 and 1902, Buffalo Bill and Annie Oakley put on a Wild West show with a buffalo herd and 600 horses. Elvis Presley performed in the Cotton Bowl during the 1956 fair.

In 1936, the Texas Centennial celebration was staged on the fairgrounds, attracting President Roosevelt and 6.3 million other visitors. A large number of "temporary" structures were put up in contemporary style to house exhibits. Many remain standing today, the largest collection of Art Deco buildings in the world.

In 1930, just after the first Texas-OU football game, the city built Fair Park stadium. With 46,200 seats, it was the largest venue then in the southern United States. It was renamed in 1936 and Texas Christian edged Marquette in the first Cotton Bowl classic.

(One of the most memorable moments in sports history occurred in the 1954 Cotton Bowl. Rice's great back, Dick Maegle, was running free along the sidelines when an Alabama reserve, Tommy Lewis, jumped off the bench and tackled him.)

Every year, fair organizers do a great job of combining tradition with new attractions. The Texas Star, the 212-foot Ferris wheel, was introduced in 1985. Good humor is a constant. Pig races were re-introduced in 2005, and draw standing room-only crowds. A new $5 million aerial ride, the Texas SkyWay, opened this year and drew nearly 250,000 riders.

But food—not necessarily healthy food—remains a centerpiece. It all started in 1942 when corny dogs were invented and introduced at the fair by Neil and Carl Fletcher. In 1964, Belgian waffles made their debut.

By this year, inventive fried foods had the spotlight. Two products—Fried Latte and Texas Fried Cookie Dough—won top honors in a big contest held on Labor Day.

We know that everything is bigger and better in Texas. The Texas State Fair is no exception.

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