Information Sheet

 

 

R         American Legion Fair (Caruthersville, Mo.).

890                  Program booklet, 1951.

                                    One folder.

 

 

 

This is a “Souvenir Program” booklet for the American Legion Fair held at Caruthersville in Pemiscot County, Missouri, on 3-7 October 1951.  Included are a history of the fair, a descrip­tion of acts at the grandstand show, and a schedule of horse races.

 

The American Legion’s Pemiscot County Post No. 88 at Caruthersville, Missouri, assumed management of the former Pemiscot County Fair in 1934.  By 1951 it had grown into a “regional exposition rather than a county event,” with attendance estimated at 50,000 annually.  Harry S. Truman had attended the fair as a U.S. Senator, Vice President of the United States, and President of the United States (1945).  For this event he sent a letter of regret that he could not attend, which was reproduced in the souvenir booklet.

 

Although consisting mostly of advertisements for area businesses, the 84-page booklet also contains schedules of events, including a “Miss 1951 Legion Fair” contest, and an every-name roster of members of Pemiscot County Post No. 88.  Acts at the free grandstand show included “George J. Keller’s Jungle Killers” (a caged animal act), seven-year-old trapeze artist “Little Miss Marsha” (Marsha Cleary), the Belmont Brothers (jugglers), Bill Bentlage (clown), and Dot Dale and her orchestra.  The “Speed Program” of horse racing included five races per day, at lengths from one-half mile to one mile and 70 yards.

 

 

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