Annual exhibitions displayed crops and machinery to advertise and promote progress in agriculture, but the midway which toured prairie cities on the exhibition schedule attracted the greatest interest. In this picture taken at the 1910 Edmonton exhibition, one can see the city-owned and operated roller coaster. The Winnipeg Industrial Exhibition was the largest in the region. In 1909, it advertised "Furious Fun Features on Field, Track and Stage," which included: "The Famous Navassar Ladies' Band" featuring "forty fair feminine flautists"; a "Mammoth Electrical Display"; an "Agricultural Motor Competition" with pulling contests for the latest tractors; a "Grand Military Tattoo"; and $40,000 in prize money for winning livestock.
Citizen's Day, a half-day holiday granted by civic officials for the annual exhibition, was welcomed by workers as a mid-week break during the height of the summer. For those who found alcohol more exhilarating than the midway, the Women's Christian Temperance Union's booth was there to remind them that non- alcoholic refreshments were available. Though their unions paid lip service to temperance, working men seldom appeared to be convinced of the virtues of abstaining.
Courtesy: Provincial Archives of Alberta, E. Brown Collection (B 8872)
