This newspaper picture probably appeared in the Oskaloosa Daily Herald. The copy under the picture said it was taken in 1917 at the Southern Iowa Fair at fair time. Harness racing was a big part of the fair in the early to middle part of the 1900s. You can see the sulky and their drivers egging on their prize horses to be first across the finish line 50 yards away. Notice the judges and timers are in the wooden, shaded, raised structure in the upper left of the photo. Thousands attended these races and the infield of the track is lined 15 deep as far as the eye can see. On the near side of the track, a real spectacle can be seen. Men are all dressed up in their spiffy, tailored suits and their snap brim felt hats with an occasional derby. Note that the men tend to bunch up at the finish line. It’s hard to imagine people dressing in their finery to go to the fair. It certainly is not that way today. It looks more like a men’s style show than a horse race. Could be that it was as much social as it was a sporting event. The first Iowa State Fair was held in Fairfield in 1854, and later in the 1860s, it was held in Oskaloosa at our fairgrounds. Auto races are now the rage and fair officials brag that the Southern Iowa Fair track is one of the fastest dirt tracks in Iowa. There were many other attractions at the fair. The carnival had rides and shows, pennies pitched to a slippery dish, rings thrown over little moving ducks, all with just so-so prizes. Then, all the keen vegetables, pies, art work, sewing handiwork and quilts were in a big building. Under the grandstand there were all sorts of neat products and jars of beans where you could guess the correct number for a prize. But, best of all, was a little boy and now an older man who tells the story that when he was 12 a man went up in a hot air balloon. A fire was built near a big canvas bag and it swelled with hot air and smoke through a trench and then took off, barely missing a building. The boy followed the balloon on his bicycle to Penn College, where a parachute released and dropped the man into a cow pasture near the present Oskaloosa High School. The daredevil was breathless and excited, but was a big hero. My, what excitement enters the mind of a lad at that tender age. That’s life.

— Chuck Russell