Oxford County Fair

This poster by an unknown artist is an advertisement for the Oxford County Agricultural Fair which was founded in 1842 and took place between the small towns of South Paris and Norway in America. Families would travel for miles and miles by horse and buggy, and later in the 1920’s by automobile to attend the fair. In the beginning the fair was mainly about farming and animals but later on it had all kinds of attractions and events: a Ferris wheel, food and cooking contests, baseball games, brass bands, horse racing, fireworks and vaudeville shows. The Oxford County Fair is still a yearly event and now a trade show that takes place in the same location. The lady in the automobile was obviously on her way to the Oxford County Fair when disaster hit and she flew of the bridge into the water. In an attempt to keep dry she is holding up her dress and awaiting rescue by the policeman and gentleman in the water. The sign on the bridge “Look out for curves” is not only a reference to the road, a sign the lady seems to have missed, but also definitely to “the curves” of the young lady being admired by the gentleman in the water with huge googled eyes. This could also be seen as an invitation to attend the vaudeville shows with dancing girls that were an attraction at the fair.