Morris County Fair
The Morris County Fair was first held in 1919 at the Whippany River Club polo grounds and sponsored by the Morris County Grange. Planners scheduled the event over the last weeks of September so that local farmers could display their fall harvest and enter livestock into competition for prizes in husbandry. Consumer goods such as appliances, cars and clothing were eventually added to the displays, along with booths from businesses, charitable groups, and government departments. Children and teens frequented the midway where offerings included vaudeville, trapeze acts, big bands carnival games and rides.
The Morris County Fair was one of the biggest events of the year, as evidenced by this front-page headline in the Jerseyman from September 21, 1926. Among the attractions advertised were a horseshow, prizes for cattle competitions, flower and produce exhibitions, vaudeville performances, trapeze acts, a circus with a Wild West show, a big band and even a visit from New Jersey Governor A. Harry Moore. As one reporter wrote, “Nothing has been neglected, and it is believed that the eighth annual fair will be history-making.”
The Morris County Fair often featured acts by trapeze performers such as “The Sensational Valenteens” on the “optical loop-the-loop” in 1926, a performance described by reporters as “the only one of its kind in the world”. A short distance away a second performer, Laddy La Mont performed acrobatics on an unsupported ladder and rolling globe in “an act which has gone big wherever performed.”