THE GOOD OLD DAYS

It all began in 1889, when Orange County was first developed.

Less than a year later the Orange County Community Fair Corporation was created and then, in 1890, the new county did what any new county should: It proudly put on a fair.

That first year, the fair was far less extravagant than today’s medley of games, rides, races, crafts, music and food booths. Held at the Santa Ana racetrack, the 19th century versions of the fair featured only a few exhibits and horse races.

The biggest news at the 1892 fair was that Silkwood, a racehorse, won a $1,500 prize, then a fortune. Opening day of the 1897 fair, which featured a barbecue lunch, was proclaimed Ladies’ Day, and all women were admitted free.

Although these earliest fairs are considered modest, they achieved much the same thing that today’s fair does, said Becky Bailey-Findley, Anaheim resident and Orange County Fair CEO.

“A thread through all of this is that the fair is a community celebration,” she said. “The attractions and exhibits reflect what the community is interested in.”

By the turn of the century the fair had become an annual event, and emphasis was put on the “carnival of products” for sale there.

The 1906 fair was held in celebration of the completion of the Pacific Electric Railway between Santa Ana and Los Angeles. That year, the fair featured more local products than ever before.

Bailey-Findley said that the sale of goods was another way to encourage people to congregate.

“The fair was a place where new products, new processes, new gadgets were introduced. It was where people gathered to see what was happening in the world in terms of commerce and in terms of standards. In those days, that’s how people learned.”

In following years, the fair featured a queen and princesses who rode on a float. It also greatly contributed to the economic development and growth of the area ? an “economic engine”, said Bailey-Findley, that moved from city to city. “The fair moved around an awful lot back then, and wherever it went, that area experienced economic growth,” she added.

In 1916 the Orange County Farm Bureau took control of the fair at its new post-World War I location in Huntington Beach, where it remained until 1921.

During the 1920s the fair acquired its first sponsors and held larger exhibits, such as the 1922 display of the automobile.

The first official Orange County Fair Board was elected in 1925, the same year that the fair moved to Anaheim and featured its first rodeo and carnival.

Since then the fair has consistently grown and modernized, but its foundation has remained the same, said Bailey-Findley.

“I think the fair was about building community, making it so it had a community feel,” she said. “It was a reason for people to celebrate and to gather together. What’s interesting to me is that that facet of the fair continues today.”

The history of the Orange County Fair continues next week with changes that took place before and after World War II, including a permanent home for the fair, the introduction of yearly themes and the addition of music and entertainment.

dpt.12-good-old-days-CPhotoInfo1V1SRAR520060712j29gryncCourtesy of Anaheim Library(LA)The Orange County Fair has attracted summer visitors since 1890. Here, a banner welcomes visitors to the fair in the 1920s.