100 years ago in Spokane: The fair looked a lot different in 1922, but some things haven’t really changed in a century

The Spokane Interstate Fair and Livestock Show was about to get underway, and it featured a few events in 1922 that have not survived into 2022.

Take, for instance, the Mule Relays. Or the “Novelty Races.” One of those races was a chariot race.

Among the fair’s biggest attractions were the “Six Days of Old-Fashioned Horse Racing – The Largest Entry of Running Horses in Spokane’s Racing History.”

Then there were the “Thrilling Indian, White Men’s and Women’s Relay Races.”

And spectators could stroll through the Model Boy Scout Camp, inhabited by 400 scouts.

The fair staged a big community dance every evening. For music, there was the Inland Empire Band Championship, featuring five bands totaling 120 pieces.

Many other events remain familiar to fairgoers today, including the livestock and agricultural competitions and exhibits. The midway and carnival rides were a big draw, then as now, although the 1922 midway was perhaps a bit sketchier. A controversy had recently arisen over the fact that some of the midway booths were thinly disguised gambling operations.

Also on this date

(From onthisday.com)

1931: Singer Bing Crosby, of Spokane, makes his solo radio debut.

1987: Donald Trump takes out a full-page New York Times ad lambasting Japan.