13 Fair Play 1879

In Canada, in 1879, when you were a farmer and you grew a big pumpkin, a really big pumpkin, maybe the biggest pumpkin ever, where did you take it? To the Toronto Industrial Exhibition to win the largest pumpkin prize. The largest pumpkin ever shown at this fair weighed 1,241.6 lbs.

The Toronto Industrial Exhibition was started to show everyone agriculture and technology in Canada. Farmers and scientists came to one place to show visitors their discoveries and inventions.People like Alexander Graham Bell(see 1875)showed his telephone there.Henry Woodward(see 1874)showed his electric light bulb there.In 1882, the Toronto Industrial Exhibition was the first to be lit by electricity at night.

By 1912, people were coming from all over Canada to exhibit and see the best of what Canadians had made. That year the name was changed to the Canadian National Exhibition(CNE)because it was no longer just for the people of Toronto,Ontario.It was national. It was for all the people in Canada. The fair covered almost 350 acres and had one of the best fun parks in the world.

The CNE thought of new ways to bring more visitors to the fair. They added entertainment. Not only music, but daredevil acts. One of the more dangerous ones was the high diver. Divers would climb up a very tall ladder and jump head first into a pool of water below. Some of them even set themselves on fire first!

There was fun for all the family. There were car races, dog races, bathtub races, and even a five hundred pound elephant named Queenie. Queenie was taught to water ski. She would stand on wood skis and get pulled along in the water.

The CNE became the world's largest annual fair in 1920. There was a food building the size of a football field. There were lots of farm animals and even a zoo where children could touch and feed them. Cars had become popular so one of the biggest buildings had nothing but cars, cars, and more cars.

In 1937, the CNE added a midway. This was a place with games, gambling, rides, food, shopping, and side shows. People would play games to try to win prizes. Large toy animals were popular and people won them by shooting very well, by breaking balloons, or by knocking over milk bottles with a baseball. Some people liked to gamble. They would put their money on a picture, spin a wheel, and hope the pointer stopped on their picture. If the wheel pointer stopped on their picture, they got more money. If it did not, they lost their money.

The Ferris wheel was one ride that everyone seemed to like. From the top of the moving wheel, people could see all of the things happening at the exhibition. Boys who loved girls could get a kiss at the top where no one could see. In 1953, the Mighty Flyer roller coaster was built from wood and became even more popular than the Ferris wheel. People would sit in the seats as it travelled around a track like a train. It slowly climbed up a very high track then raced down and around corners very fast. People loved to be frightened riding the Flyer. All day long people in the midway could hear the screams coming from the Flyer.

When the midway first began in 1934, some people liked to go to the freak shows. These had strange people inside a room. There was the tallest man and the shortest married couple. There was a woman with a beard. She was said to be the only woman in the world with hair all over her face. There was a boy who looked like a frog and the fattest woman in the world. There were twin boys who were joined together. Canadian people do not think it is okay to stare at people who are different and so these shows quickly became unpopular.

THE CANADIAN NATIONAL EXHIBITION IS CANADA'S LARGEST FAIR

The CNE added something new each year to bring people back for more. In 1954, they offered$10,000 to a girl called Florence(see 1954)to swim across Lake Ontario. In 2008, they showed the “Quilt of Belonging”. This was a very large blanket sewn together with 263 squares. One for each of the 71 First Nations' groups living in Canada and one for each of the 192 other nationalities who had immigrated to Canada.

Some events have been at the CNE from the start and are still popular today. The CNE has always had the largest flower and vegetable growing competition in Canada. It has an art exhibition. There is a long list of sports that are played there. A huge seated area called the Grand Stand showed big historical plays in the late 1800s and now has famous singers and musicians. Being able to do things that are fun for all family members is what is most important to CNE visitors.

During the last few days of the fair, it is traditional for the best Canadian pilots to put on an air show. They fly dangerously close to each other in their airplanes and amaze the people watching with their skill.The Royal Canadian Mounted Police(see 1873) ride their horses in a special way while music plays. There is also a rodeo with cowboys (see 1886)bull riding and cow catching.

The CNE was created so people could see the newest and best of what is Canadian all in one place. Now, because of TV and the internet, people do not need to travel all the way to Toronto to learn about these things. However, that has not stopped the CNE from being the most popular fair in Canada.

Today at the CNE, visitors can walk, ride, shop, eat, play and listen 'til they have no more energy. Oh, but every night as the CNE closes, just when everyone thinks they cannot take any more excitement, the fireworks start.