Ever wonder why the mall is called the “Danbury Fair Mall”? Not from the fair we used to go to in the parking lot - it was the original fair, a fair much grander and more well-known than some games and rides. There’s a reason it was called The Great Danbury State Fair! It was right down the road - surely students enjoyed the festivities? YES!
205 years ago, the Fairfield Agricultural Society began holding gatherings in Elmwood Park, Danbury, creating an event for farmers to discuss their work and produce. This event happened every few years or so, but that changed when Rundle and White, prominent hat manufacturers, helped form the Danbury Farmers and Manufacturers Society. In 1869, they decided to borrow a tent from the Barnum & Bailey Circus and put on a fair on a property known as the Danbury Pleasure Park. The fair opened that October with a record-setting 900 attraction entries. It was a hit! For the rest of the late 1800s, the fair thrived with exhibits like 12 types of pears, home-brewed wines, hats, boots, saddles, carriages, wagons, churns, and stoves. By 1895, more than 1,000 people were employed by the fair. Word began to spread, and huge audiences flocked to the fair every year. In 1901, at least 157 train coaches full of attendees arrived just to visit the festival, becoming the largest agricultural fair in New England!
Wooster was founded in 1926, and many of those first few students attended the fair. As is recorded in The Wooster General Collection of 1927-
1933, in October of 1926, the boys had a holiday specifically to attend the Danbury Fair! The boys would have seen acrobats, horse and car races, and tons of rides and games. This visit became a yearly tradition, and as I began to dig through some old scrapbooks, I found some photographs I believe are of the Danbury Fair! I’m not sure what years they’re from, so if anyone has some insight, it would be much appreciated! Other students in the area also loved the fair.
Notably, on October 4, 1946, 1,500 Danbury High School students staged a strike against the Danbury Board of Education after they refused to give them their annual day off to visit the fair. Long story short, schools closed, and more than 2,000 students received free admission! Want the long story? I found this information here.
To try to understand a Wooster student’s experience at the fair, I reached out to my trusty Alumni source: Mr. Jay Young ‘64! He told me that he still has fond memories of the Danbury Fair, “but only as a youngster.” During his time as a student, Wooster never let the kids off campus, so there weren’t any organized trips to the fair.
“It was a great event, and my parents took us every year in October,” he explained. “For ten days or so, it had everything from rides to farm animals on display. [There was a] great merry-go-round that was recreated in the current mall. I’ll never forget how big the pigs were. Cotton candy, of course.”
He described the daily parade led by John Leahy, who was a “key sponsor” of the event and a major Danbury fuel supplier. “The road in front of the fair had huge 10’ or so characters, toy soldiers, and the like that commanded the roadway all year long.” While I couldn’t find any pictures of these soldiers, I did find this great video of The Great Danbury Fair from 1962! You can watch it here!
“In short, it was great fun. Later, stock cars came, and the speedway was very popular. But as I recall, Wooster students did not get to enjoy. Boo…” Boo indeed! I hope some of the students of Mr. Young’s day found a way to enjoy the festivities, but of course, I would never encourage rule-breaking!
Writing and researching this article has made me fairsick, and I hope that one day The Danbury Fair will return to those hallowed parking lots…I’m waiting!
