Danbury Fair
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The Danbury Fair was a yearly exhibition in Danbury, Connecticut. It was begun in 1821 as an agricultural fair, but did not have a regular schedule until 1869 when hat manufacturers Rundle and White helped form the Danbury Farmers and Manufacturers Society. From then until its closing, the fair was open for one week every October.
The Fair took up 100 acres (0.4 km²) of what Rundle and White had hoped would be a Danbury Pleasure Park. Admission was 25 cents for adults and 15 cents for children. The Fair offered everything from tobacco, pears, and home-brewed wines to hats, boots, saddles, carriages, wagons, churns, and stoves. In 1895, more than 1000 people were employed by the fair.
In 1932, a race track was built on the fairgrounds for the midget car and stock car races that had replaced the earlier harness races.
When the fair's owner Patrick Leahy died in 1974, the organization fell into disarray. The last fair was held in 1981, with an estimated 400,000 attendees. All of the rides, attractions, and holdings were auctioned off. The Danbury Fair Mall was built on the fairgrounds by the Wilmorite Corporation. Photos of the Fair and original signs can be found in the mall's Food Court.