ILLINOIS STATE FAIR SEPT. 17 TO 25.
29 ¼ x 20 inches, Color printed. Mounted on heavy paper; some closed edge splits, wear in upper right portion, overall very good to excellent. Rare. An appropriately elaborate and well-designed and executed broadside poster for what was at the time one of the great agricultural and industrial state fairs. The September 11, 1915 issue of The Prairie Farmer contained an article by the secretary of the Board that stated: “It, today, occupies a leading position as the greatest and most complete agricultural and industrial fair of the world” and served the people of Illinois “as one of the most far-reaching educational agencies in all that pertains to advanced agriculture…Within the last 15 years additional educational value has been given the Illinois State Fair by the State Board of Agriculture through the establishment on the grounds, in the beautiful Woman’s building, of a Domestic Science School, to which young ladies from each county in the state may come and where they are taught for two weeks the latest improved methods in sanitary housekeeping and the preparation of foods.” The scale and quality of the fair is revealed in the image at top that depicts several fine structures, beautiful grounds, and two oval racing tracks. Below is a photographic image of the handsome "Woman's Building." The fair boasts having the "World's Greatest Auto Racers" as well a "$10,000 Spectacular Fireworks Display Known As The "War of Nations" Playing 260 People." The poster vibrantly conveys the highly significant role of the state fair in life in the Midwest as well as the substantial investment put into them. Davison, B.M. “History of the Illinois State Fair — 1853 to 1915.” Prairie Farmer. 11 September 1915. Online at Illinois Digital Newspaper Collections: https://idnc.library.illinois.edu/cgi-bin/illinois?a=d&d=PFR19150911.2.5 (15 April 2019).
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