The Du Quoin State Fair at 100 - The 1920s In the beginning, there was William R. Hayes

Editor's note: Fred Huff Sr. has lived in Du Quoin since he was 2. In 1972 he became the state fair's general manager, which included lining up the big talent for the Grandstand shows, and has been a publicist for the Fair as well. He is a walking compendium of State Fair knowledge, which he has expressed in several books, and this year wanted to write a series for the Du Quoin Call on the fair's history to mark its 100th anniversary year. Here is part one.

By Fred Huff Sr.

Special to the Du Quoin Call

The Du Quoin State Fair, a southern Illinois landmark and this community's finest asset, is nearing a monumental event in its history. With the first fair being held in 1923, the 2022 fair will in fact be the 100th edition ... or technically would have been, if COVID-19 hadn't cheated us out of the fair in 2020. But in any case, it's fair to say it has been 100 years since the fair began.

That's just one reason for my desire, for one last time (I'm 93), to remind old folks like me - as well as "newcomers" - how Du Quoin's finest gem got its start and for many years could proudly claim to be "Home of the Hambletonian."

But first we need to take time for a history lesson ... partially because I stumbled upon two documents with information that was absolutely new to me and interesting because it deals with our main man, William Richard Hayes, better known simply as "W.R.," and his family.

For a long time, Du Quoin State Fair historians have believed that following the death of William R. Hayes's father, his mother concocted some sort of "colored water" and that W.R. sold it out of a push wagon on the streets of Du Quoin, to keep food on the family table. Not totally true. Let's start from the very beginning. Here's the way it was as told in a report we just uncovered. For the sake of space, we will mention only the most pertinent parts.

In 1865, W.R.'s father, Tom, and his father's brother, Ted, left England for Pennsylvania. They brought with them a knowledge of the bottling of carbonated beverages. A few years later they moved to Illinois, settled in Du Quoin and started a soda water business. Their first plant was on South Hickory Street. Ted left Du Quoin a short time later and Tom took complete control of the business.

In 1873 Tom married and he and his wife, Mary Hincke, had three children live to adulthood, Kate, William Richard and Laura. Tom moved his business to a house on the corner of Reed and Chestnut, converting half of the stable in back of the house into a bottling plant.

The small demand for soda water prompted Tom to take a job working in a small mine in Du Bois. But in 1883 he was killed there in a mining accident, forcing Mary to take over the bottling business and to raise the children single-handedly.

She pushed on in the business by doing most of the work herself as W.R. was too young to be of much help. But when he was 11 he decided he could deliver the soda water after school and on Saturdays. They had a two-wheeled cart which had a capacity of five cases. For the next four years W.R. pushed his cart up and down Main and Division streets in Du Quoin.

When Will was 15, he and his mother had saved enough money to buy a four-wheeled wagon. This made business expansion possible and soon they were selling soda water in DeSoto, Elkville, Tamaroa, Du Bois, Christopher and Pinckneyville.

Will graduated from high school in 1895 and turned all his attention to helping his mother. In 1904 the Hayes family took a vacation from the business to visit the St. Louis World's Fair, where W.R. was clearly impressed by the operation.

When the rest of his family moved to California, Will stayed in Du Quoin, taking over the business and moving into the St. Nicholas Hotel. Along with the soda water, he started making ice cream in a building which had been constructed primarily as an ice plant in 1906.

In 1907, Will married. He and his wife, Ethel, had two sons, Eugene Jeffers and Donald Maxwell.

It was approximately the same time that W.R. got into the Coca-Cola business and that's a story of its own. Big. Big. Big. And, we will not attempt to detail any of that phase of his life or business.

It is pertinent to tell that W.R. had entered still another business. Show business. He acquired opera houses and theaters throughout the area and that undoubtedly did lead to his first thoughts of creating a fair for Du Quoin.

First Du Quoin fair attracts governor

With financial assistance from at least 13 other Du Quoin business leaders, the fair was formed and named the "Du Quoin State Fair." It was held on 30 acres of property one mile south of downtown.

As general manager, Hayes bought out the other investors after just two, perhaps three years, and the fun began. The first fair in 1923 was termed "successful" but it was nothing more than expected. Horse and car races were well received and near capacity crowds of 3,000 attended, as much out of curiosity as interest.

No night shows were reported and whether there were electric lights in the grandstand is debatable. We are inclined to believe that the only lighting on the grounds was provided by the carnival generators, which were parallel to what is now Route 51, at the time nothing more than a dirt road. Reports vary. Nevertheless, officials called it a winner and even Illinois Gov. Len Small attended.

The next year, 1924, a stage show was the main attraction. A Wild West show, acrobats, comedians, and almost every form of entertainment one can imagine was part of the two-hour show. It was well received.

In the late 1920s nightly stage shows began - the date is sometimes conflicting - and continued to be the feature of the fairs, although racing, both horse and motorized, started to slowly rise in popularity and challenge for top billing.

The various acts booked for the fairs in the 1920s included a hunting dog show, Chief Silver Tongue, the smallest horses in the world, acrobats, comedians, jugglers. You name it, the fair had them.

As usual, rain played a key role, particularly in 1925 and '26. The uncovered stage was located across the track from the 3,000-seat grandstand which also made bad-weather shows a problem. Inclement weather played a major part of the fair in the second half of the twenties. If not the heat, it was the rain.

In August 1927, despite an ongoing UMW bituminous coal strike affecting jobs and supplies in southern Illinois and throughout the Midwest, the Belleville News Democrat was enthusiastic about the approaching fair:

"Judging from the wonderful interest shown it would appear the whole south end of the state were anxiously awaiting the opening of the Du Quoin State Fair ... no effort, time or money has been spared in making this the banner one. Five thousand dollars in purses will be offered in the speed ring and the number of entries already received insures a high-class field of the fastest horses. ... The night show promises to far surpass anything that has ever been staged in this part of the state ... $6,000 is being offered in the Show Horse classes ... gigantic display of fireworks will be by far the most elaborate and beautiful yet attempted."

In addition to the grandstand entertainment, the fair offered the typical livestock show as well as a society horse show. Both were mainstays of the early fairs and, of course, livestock shows have continued down through the years.

The Rice Brothers Carnival also provided onstage entertainment, including The Dixie High Steppers, human wonders, freaks and wrestlers taking on all comers. Also of interest is that the 1927 fair opened on Labor Day rather than the present closing. Bands and "scores of floats" were reported in the downtown Du Quoin parade which the Evening Call described as "a monstrous labor demonstration."

And as you might have guessed, a few Hayes-owned horses made it to the track and won, not necessarily running outstanding times, but things have changed in the past 100 years.

And, if you're wondering about admission prices, it cost 50 cents for a carload of fans to enter the grounds while grandstand admission was 25 and 50 cents. It was a great start despite the fact rain continued to be almost an annual problem.

• Next: The 1930s arrive, and despite the Depression the Du Quoin State Fair sees record crowds.