THe Father Of Fairs

 Fun Fact #555

The Father of Fairs

When it comes to The New World, the first Fairs were started by the French with the first presented in 1765 at Windsor, Nova Scotia. This proved to be largely successful and even sparked the Niagara Agricultural Society to start their own fairs which have survived even the transition of French Canada to British Canada and are still held today. 

However it took the mind of Elkanah Watson to revolutionize fairs. His plan was simple, starting from a Pittsfield Massachusetts field in 1811, his fairs allowed people to exhibit their animals in competitions. This has also allowed people to learn and develop their farming practices to produce larger crops, breed more resilient animals, share ideas, and all while seeing more of what the world has to offer than they may have ever seen otherwise. 

Watson’s goal was that each county in Massachusetts would hold a fair to improve the lives of the people he knew. Turns out he would be a little more successful than he planned as by 1900 almost every county of the 45 States would hold multiple fairs or exhibitions a year quickly becoming a beloved part of American life.