The Rise to Greatness

Excerpts from "Saluting 75 Years of People, Pride, Progress"

With the success of the 1918 fair behind them, the Clay County Fair Association, in November of 1918, wasn't asking if they could offer a fair as good as the year the one just past, but was making plans for a bigger and better county fair.

T. Fred Henry's Band returned for its second year to head the grandstand entertainment which included the Aronty Brothers, daredevils of the high double perch with poles towering 70 feet high.  There was also the Borsini Troupe, five people with comedy rolling globe equilibristics and the Chung Fu Japs, contortionists with acrobatics and balancing.

Secretary M.E. Bacon urged farmers to exhibit more, and they certainly responded as there were 1,200 exhibiting pork producers, 450 more than any other county fair in the state, and the value was estimated at $500,000.  Because of good weather, exhibits and entertainment, the four day attendance for the 1919 fair was estimated at 48,500.

It's doubtful that the founding fathers of the Clay County Fair Association ever dreamed that they were establishing an institution that would involve the efforts, energy and ingenuity of not only Spencer, but the entire county.  Yet in 1920, only the third year of the fair, the press was already calling it "Iowa's Greatest County Fair."  It wasn't until 1923, however, that this claim was officially printed on the premium book, and carried that boast through the 1928 fair.

It was after a "madly enthusiastic crowd" of 110,105 people enjoyed the fair of 1928, that the Clay County Fair became "The World's Greatest County Fair."  All official references since that time have carried the slogan.  Leo Dailey, secretary from 1927 to 1937, stated in 1932 that the slogan was taken when statistics proved the Clay County Fair to be the largest in the United States.  He further added these statistics showed the Clay County Fair was as large or larger than a third of the state fairs in the United States.

Today the Clay County Fair is accepted not only as one of the largest county fairs in America, but has the added honor of being considered as one of the most rural-oriented fairs still in operation.  The enlargement of the Agri-Business/Machinery Display area to thirty acres in the 1970's, made it the second largest such display exhibit of any fair in the United States or Canada, exceeded in size by only the Minnesota State Fair.  Altogether, there are over 2500 fairs operating in the US and Canada and the Clay County Fair is ranked as 81st in attendance (as of 1992).

Next, A New Grandstand

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