LET’S GO TO THE FAIR
Fall is Fair Time throughout the nation.
Fairs are not so numerous as they seem to have been not too long ago. The ones remaining are largely in rural areas or in large cities which are dependent on agricultural income from around the area. The first fair I
ever remember attending was in Norfolk,Virginia, a coastal city, far removed from what we thought of as farm land. I remember seeing chickens, ducks, cattle, hogs and other farm animals, but the main events at the Fair for me,
and I suppose the adults who took me, was racing. In all it’s forms - racing was the main attraction.
I liked horse races but the seemed to be over far too soon. The excitement was so short-lived it was all over before I could identify with a favored horse and rider. I still feel that way. Too fast.
My favorite was harness racing...the sulkies!
A driver was seated on a narrow, rather precarious shelf, perched there on between spinning wheels and immediately behind the rear of the horse. He encouraged his horse to drag the cart around the track with
seeming abandon. The driver seemed ever intent on trying to take advantage of any flaw he could detect in other driver’s movements. Very often the horses seemed to anticipate what they were expected to do. More skill seemed
to be required in harness racing, and not all of it was predictable, either.
There was noise associated with the racing,too. There was the soft whirring of the wire wheels, the sound of hooves beating rapidly the dirt track. Bursts of cheers and jeers from the crowd watching, fears expressed
that a cart would topple were real from time-to-time and with good reason. The light carts would leave the track surface for a second and the driver would lean into the inner rail until he looked like a racing schooner man at sea
leaning far out over the water. The carts weighted well over one hundred and fifty pounds when harness racing came in around 18l0 ors, replacing the popular wagons used up to that time. Over the years to weight has come down
until today, itg is about forty pounds. I have often thought that, if the seat were a solid strip of metal, instead of weight-saving strips, the contraption might become airborne with the seat acting as a wing. Around 1872 a
bow-shaped axle was invented and form it todays bike-cart design came toe to be the prevailing cart type. The design enabled the horse to run even more furiously since they lost their natural fear of clipping their heels on an axle
when they really felt like turning loose.
Sometimes a cloud of dust trailed along after each passing group but most tracks had a sprinkler wagon to wet the place down a bit before the actual running.
My first and only early experience with automobile racing ended in as a tragedy. To this day I have mixed feeling concerning car racing any kind, and I keep living that initial experience. The car was a boxy-looking
“Maxwell” probably a 1921 or 1922 model cut-down and souped-up as a racer. It was painted a violent, fire-engine red color and it came roaring past us in the grandstand. It was leading the pack by several lengths and then, when
it started into the curve it suddenly swerved, did a tumble, end over end, jumped the barrier of hay bales which had been set up between the track and the concessions area of the fair. It landed on a “kewpie” doll concession tent
and burst into flames. The driver was killed and two people it the tent died later as a result of their injuries. I can still see the black smoke rising from the tented area.
To this day I find it all coming back as I try to watch stock car racing or other vehicular competitions on TV.
Another case of . . . too much . . . too soon, I suppose. Kids are not grown-ups. We need to remind ourselves of that from time-to-time.
A.L.M. August 16, 2002 [c
