Highlights Archives
Circus World on the Road at the State Fair
For the first time in more than four decades, Circus World in Baraboo has taken its show on the road to the Wisconsin State Fair. Circus Celebration will entertain fairgoers with six rollicking Big Top shows featuring an international cast of clowns, aerialists and exotic animals each day through August 13 and five shows on the fair's final day Sunday, August 14. Ten of the circus museum's magnificent and one-of-a-kind circus wagons are on exhibit too, offering an up-close look at historic wagons ranging from the Ringling Bros. Bell Wagon to the Barnum & Bailey Cinderella Pony Float. A special KidsWorld Circus offers a special treat featuring impromptu circus performances by kids selected from the audience. Circus World and the Wisconsin State Fair teamed up on the Circus Celebration event, presented by Toyota and Jewel-Osco, to honor the longstanding tradition of the circus in Wisconsin and at Wisconsin State Fair Park.
As the state's steward of historical records, the Wisconsin Historical Society's collections document much of the State Fair's recent history as a tool for promoting Wisconsin agriculture and as an entertainment venue. Only recently, however, have Society archivists completed organizing and processing a collection of records dating from 1938 through 1969 that fully document the development of the modern Wisconsin State Fair. The existence of earlier records is unknown, although the period from 1852, when the first Wisconsin State Fair was held in Janesville, through 1892, when the state took over State Fair management, is documented in printed reports available in the Historical Society Library.
The newly processed collection documents the promotion of Wisconsin agriculture through horticultural and animal competitions, awards of special premiums by animal breed associations, selection of judges, and dealings with the state Department of Agriculture. Of special note is the promotion of the dairy industry through the development of the Alice in Dairyland program beginning in 1948.
See pictures of Alice through the years.
:: Posted August 8, 2005
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