“The history of the Great Danbury State Fair is so long and takes so many unexpected turns that writing about it was like tracking a lightning bug at dusk,” writes Newtown author Andrea Zimmermann in the introduction to her recently published book, The Great Danbury State Fair.

Ms Zimmermann will present a talk and book signing at C.H. Booth Library on Sunday, November 22, at 2 pm, discussing her nearly year-long odyssey to capture within 156 pages the excitement and history of an era when ten days each autumn ruled the area.

The book, published by The History Press out of Charleston, S.C., is Ms Zimmermann’s third book. She is the author of Eleanor Mayer’s History of Cherry Grove Farm and The Case Files of Detective Laszlo Briscoe: True Crime in Newtown, 1889-1933, as well as a contributor to numerous other publications. She established and was director of the Newtown Historical Images Archive, documenting life in Newtown between 1880 and 1950, and has taught courses on English and publicity. She is a former features writer for The Newtown Bee.

Originally approached to write a book on another subject, Ms Zimmermann instead proposed a book on the Danbury Fair, despite having attended the fair only once in her life, before it came to an end in 1981.

A Happy And Fun Subject

The Danbury Fair was first held in 1869, a weekend event, under a borrowed tent. Gaining in popularity, by the time it closed, it had became a ten-day extravaganza, and one that was anticipated all year, by many.

From Freak Shows and Girlie Shows, to livestock competitions, pie contests,  horse races and car race car  — and the occasional odd ostrich race — the Danbury Fair had something for everyone.

The idea of writing about the Danbury Fair “just popped into my head,” Ms Zimmermann admitted. “I wanted to do something happy and fun. I wanted to pick a topic where there might be enough people alive, people who would remember an event, and share their stories,” she  said. She also wanted a subject that would draw readers.

“When you think of something fun and happy, a fair comes into your head,” she said.

She was amazed to find that no other book on the Danbury Fair existed, and that History Press had never published a book about fairs before, and was pleased when the publisher approved her project.

It was slow getting started, Ms Zimmermann said, as she was immersed in writing a mystery at the time. It was hard to set that book aside, but with a contract in hand, she found it necessary to put her focus on the fair.

“I don’t think I realized the topic would be so complex,” she said. Despite its name “The Great Danbury State Fair,” one of her first discoveries was that the fair had always been a private enterprise, and never a “state” fair at all.

Like all authors, deciding where to begin was a challenge, particularly when writing about an event that sprawled across time and personalities. Her experience in library work, an internship at the Connecticut State Library, and working with Connecticut Photographics in Danbury, as well as her many friends and colleagues, said Ms Zimmermann, allowed her to begin the work of eking out the history and life of the fair.

“One person led to another. I just asked everyone I thought could help me [for information and contacts],” she said. “When I was writing about a certain topic, say The Big Top, I asked people if they knew anyone who had exhibited agriculture displays there; someone who had won a blue ribbon for jams or pies; someone who had marched in the student protest [when schools tried to do away with the day off from school to attend the fair]. Often, I was after a specific type of source to interview,” she said.

It soon became apparent to her that there still existed avid fans of the fair.

“I came to realize I was writing it for the fair goers and that changed the focus of the book; it was not a documentary. It became important to me to come up with a really good book for them,” said Ms Zimmermann. “People loved  talking about [the fair], remembering it, and they all have memorabilia. It’s like they are holding on to a little part of the fair,” she said.

With a desire to inject fun and interest into the vast history she was uncovering, Ms Zimmermann decided to begin her writing, “In the middle. There are chapters that are self-standing: the Freak and Girlie Shows; the Big Top; and Special Days. That made the writing more manageable. Then I wrote the beginning and the end.”

Passion Builds A Fair

Rather than spending a great deal of time on the historical facts of the Danbury Fair, Ms Zimmermann opted to quickly get to the story of the Leahy family, who along with Charles Irving Jarvis, Sr, catapulted the fair into the modern age, serving as the fair’s general manager from 1946 until his death in 1975.

Mr Jarvis, whose family operated  Lake Kenosia Amusement Park in Danbury, joined Danbury Fair in 1922, an association that lasted until his death in 1969.

Known as Mr Leahy’s right hand man, Mr Jarvis was responsible for much of the concessions and entertainment at the fair, and along with Mr Leahy, created the three theme parks that drew crowds year after year.

“John Leahy was an oil tycoon, and people called the fair his hobby,” Ms Zimmermann said, but he was a man passionate about the Danbury Fair.

Fans of the fair were equally passionate, if not more, she discovered as she interviewed people who had attended the fair, those involved in the work at the fair, and those who were familiar with some of the long gone personalities of the Danbury Fair.

Along with Jarvis and Leahy, Ms Zimmermann was also engaged by story of the late artist Peter Reilly, who was responsible for the thousands of small and gigantic sculptures that graced the fairgrounds.

“I never got a chance to meet him, but I tracked down the owner of The Magic Forest, a children’s park in Lake George, N.Y. He had purchased about 600 of the sculptures at the auction [when the fair was dissolved]. He had Peter Reilly repair and set up the sculptures in The Magic Forest,” many of which are still there, said Ms Zimmermann, including the 36-foot tall Uncle Sam that had once towered over the fairgrounds.

Selecting photographs for the book was actually as challenging as the writing, Ms Zimmermann said. She is grateful to the many archives, The Newtown Bee, The News-Times, and the individuals who provided her with the 90 photos that help tell the story of The Great Danbury State Fair.

“I’m very pleased with how it turned out, and the History Press layout,” she said.

“There was so much passion involved in this fair. It really was a community unto itself. Passion: that’s what made the Danbury Fair successful,” Ms Zimmermann. It is also passion, she believes, that led to the demise of the fair.

John Leahy’s death led to a complicated scenario of developers, politicians, the bank, and Leahy’s estate, causing the fair to falter.

“With the death of John Leahy, as I say in the introduction, 'There was no one left who had the power, the money and the passion to tell them all, ‘Go to hell!’” said Ms Zimmermann.

People she interviewed still felt so strongly about the fair, she said, that many never have set foot in the mall now sited on the old fairgrounds in Danbury.

“People lament that their children never had a chance to go to the fair.”

Going to the Great Danbury State Fair is not an option for anyone today. But reading The Great Danbury State Fair, Ms Zimmermann hopes, will be the antidote for those who remember the thrill of fair days and those who wish they could.

“It was great fun for me to interview people and hear these stories, and great to be interviewing, researching, and writing a very different kind of writing for me,” she said.

Ms Zimmermann’s book talk and signing will take place in the meeting room of C.H. Booth Library, 25 Main Street. No registration is required. Refreshments will be served, including pound cake made from a recipe found in the 1888 Danbury Fair Cook Book.

The Great Danbury State Fair is available at apzimmermann.com (signed); Byrd’s Books, 126 Greenwood Avenue in Bethel; Danbury Museum and Historical Society, 43 Main Street; and www.Amazon.com, for $21.99. Copies will also be available for purchase and signing at the book sale.