SCENES FROM THE FAIR: MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2020 OLD-SCHOOL ZOOMING

$25.00

Description

Illustration by Nuri Ducassi, 18×24

This poster, which is part of a 12-poster series, is an homage to “the North Star state’s great display of the products of the earth and air, the outpouring of the horn of plenty into the lap of Minnesota’s loyal people,” as the Minneapolis Tribune wrote in 1896.

The roar of race cars revving used to float through the air at the State Fair, mingling with shrieks from the midway and the babble of the animal barns. The Minnesota State Fair Board sponsored its first auto race in the early 1900s on the dirt oval used for horse racing. In 1915, one of the “novelty races” was a 5-mile women’s contest between “Miss Bunny Thornton of London and Miss Elfrieda Mais, the American speed queen.” On Sept. 2, 2002, with Wisconsin racing legend Dick Trickle starting 21st, Gary St. Amant finally won at the State Fair after “trying so hard to win here for so long,” as he told the Star Tribune’s Michael Rand. Fans had no idea they had just witnessed the end of a State Fair tradition. A grandstand remodeling meant no more racetrack. As we face a summer with no fair, consider a 1921 race report: “If auto racing were the only feature it would be worth a visit. But when vaudeville, music, auto polo, fireworks, horse racing … Daredevil James and scores of other attractions are put on along with it, it is certainly worth the money.”

Each poster is printed on-demand on heavy quality photo paper. Posters will arrive in 10-14 days.