Exhibitors and participants in the fairs donated many of
these records to the Winter Fair Board. Professional photographers, hired by the Board, generated others. As well, Brandon Sun photographers took a large number of photos throughout the twentieth century. In the 1980s, the Board reprinted them and then added the reproductions to their own photograph collection. Publishing houses generated some photographs, probably as services to participants and organizers of the fairs. Finally, the Canadian government created a few of the photos.
Custodial History
Exhibitors and participants in activities at the winter fair donated many of these records to the Winter Fair Board. The Manitoba Provincial Archives housed other records and later transferred them to the McKee Archives. Most of the records were stored in the offices of the Provincial Exhibition Association of Manitoba until they were brought to the McKee Archives ca. 1986.
Scope and Content
Series consists primarily of black and white photographs either taken at the Winter Fair or owned by the Winter Fair Board. Subjects included are buildings and grounds, horses, livestock, poultry and eggs, exhibits, youth activities, entertainment, and dignitaries. Almost all of the materials have been excellently preserved.
BUILDINGS AND GROUNDS
Several of the pictures of the buildings and grounds are aerial photos; these date from 1949 through the 1980s. Photos taken between 1908 and 1952 depict the winter fair building, the livestock arena, the Wheat City Arena, the horse barns, and the swine barn. Photos taken from the 1960s to the early 1980s show horse barns, the Keystone Centre, and quonsets.
HORSES
Photos of horses and horse events comprise the largest number of the graphics of RG2SF2. Unlike other winter fair pictures, types of horse photos do not change throughout the twentieth century. There are many pictures of heavy horses, including Clydesdales, Belgians, and Percherons. They are usually in harness and in teams of two, four, six, and eight. They pull wagons, landaus, and carts. Heavy horses appear in photos of shows, sales, parades, ceremonies, and draft horse competitions.
Light horse photos are also numerous. There are many photos of owners and drivers with award-winning horses. Depictions of races form a prominent part of the light horse pictures; these include portrayals of chuck wagon, chariot, bike, and barrel races. Also featured are competitions like cutting, jumping, pole bending, western riding, musical chairs, hackney, costume, unicorn, and fault and out. Finally, there are many photos of ponies, including hackney, harness, and pleasure ponies.
LIVESTOCK
There are three types of livestock shown in the photos of RG2SF2: cattle, swine, and sheep. Depicted are both sales and shows of these animals. As well, there are pictures of these animals’ carcasses.
In the first forty years of the fair, people took few pictures of cattle, but after World War II, pictures of cattle became a prominent part of the Winter Fair Board’s graphic records. Featured are purebred cattle such as Angus, Hereford, Shorthorn, and Simmental. Dairy cows like Jersey and Holstein-Friesian are also notable. Some pictures depict people grooming their cattle.
Photos of swine date from 1927 through the 1980s, and include Yorkshire sows and boars, as well as market hogs. Sheep are depicted throughout the twentieth century. While most sheep photos are of shows and sales, there are some photos of sheep-shearing contests taken in the 1950s.
POULTRY AND EGGS
Poultry photos date between the 1950s and the 1970s. Featured are both chickens and game birds. Pictures of egg shows and competitions date from 1966 through the 1980s.
EXHIBITS
There are four types of exhibit photos: commercial, award, seed, and Baby Fair. Commercial exhibits date from the 1940s through the 1980s. They feature agricultural implements made by Ford, John Deere, Massey Ferguson, and Case. Photos dating from the 1970s depict commercial booths owned by such companies as Badger and Sprayer Monitor.
Award exhibits date throughout the twentieth century, and feature ribbons, plaques, and trophies. Placed on tables, these awards are mostly for winners in horse and livestock competitions.
Seed exhibits date from the 1950s through the 1970s. Included in the seed exhibit pictures are prize-winning wheat, potato, and canola seed pictures.
Baby Fair, or petting zoo, photos comprise a large portion of the graphic records of MG 2. Dating primarily from the 1970s, Baby Fair pictures depict chicks, pups, lambs, piglets, and other baby animals.
YOUTH ACTIVITIES
Most of the youth activities’ photos are of calf and pig scrambles, and date from the 1950s through the 1980s. 4-H Club activities are prominent, and include pictures of boys and male teens learning how to show and judge livestock and seed. Depicted also are fashion shows put on by female 4-H members. Finally, pictures of a hula-hoop competition dating from the 1950s are notable.
ENTERTAINMENT
Entertainment graphics date from the 1950s through the 1980s, and include ceremonies, rodeos, parades, and contests. Pictures of ceremonies depict the opening and closing ceremonies of the Winter Fair. Featured in these photos are winners of horse events, pipe and drum bands, and dignitaries giving speeches.
Rodeo pictures date only from the 1970s. Featured are men riding bucking broncos and cattle round-ups.
Parade photos, which date throughout the twentieth century, depict floats, six-horse teams pulling wagons, people riding horses, club entries—such as the Lions’ Club and the Neat and Nifty Sewing Club, and marching bands.
Contest pictures include fiddling competitions and dog shows. The Winter Fair Board sponsored fiddling contests sporadically, and photos of such contests date from the 1950s through the 1970s. Dog show pictures also appear intermittently in the records, such as the Mutt Show photos of the 1950s.
DIGNITARIES
Photos of dignitaries, which date throughout the twentieth century, are mostly of men. Depicted both individually and severally are members of Winter Fair Boards, municipal and provincial politicians, and local professional and business representatives. In these pictures they are usually giving speeches, signing documents, and holding meetings. Notable are the pictures of members of associations that held meetings at the winter fairs, including the Cattle Breeders Association (1960s).
The graphic materials of RG2SF2 are useful for many purposes. For one, they offer a rich visual history of the Winter Fair. From these pictures, one can ascertain the ways in which the fair has changed and expanded throughout the twentieth century. By viewing the photos of newly built buildings, for instance, one can determine that the fair expanded in size over the years.
Also valuable is the history of western Canadian agriculture that is contained in these pictures. Over the years, the types of exhibits changed at the winter fair, thus indicating the changing nature of farming. Photos of cattle, for example, reflect the changes in types of breeds raised in the west. Exotics like Simmental only appear after the late 1960s, thus indicating that this breed began to flourish in western Canada only in the second half of the twentieth century.
The number of people contained in these pictures is formidable, and the pictures of people are valuable in many ways. By studying the pictures of dignitaries associated with the fair, one can determine who the leading agricultural personalities were over the twentieth century in Brandon. As well, the photos of exhibitors offer a wide cross section of the rural residents of southwestern Manitoba and southeastern Saskatchewan. From the pictures of exhibitors, one can establish who were the farmers and ranchers of this region, where they lived, and in what field they specialized.
The photographs of the Winter Fair, then, are valuable for many researchers. Not only do they offer a rich history of the fair, but they also offer a vivid history of the people and agriculture of southeastern Saskatchewan and southwestern Manitoba.
Notes
Item-level descriptions of the graphics of RG2SF1 through RG2SF4 are located on a searchable database. This database is entitled “Brandon Photographs” and can be read using Microsoft Access. “Brandon Photographs” is located on a 3½ floppy disk entitled “Provincial Exhibition Association of Manitoba fonds Series 9” included in this finding aid. The description of each photograph on this database includes the following information: accession number, title, date, place, physical description, scope and content, notes, creator, and copyright. By searching the database, individual photographs can be located easily. Detailed instructions on how to use the database are located in the printed finding aid.
Storage Location
RG 2 Provincial Exhibition of Manitoba Association fonds
RG2SF2 Manitoba Winter Fair
Related Material
Pictures of the Winter Fair may also be found on the National Archives of Canada website. The Western Canadian Pictorial Index in Winnipeg, Manitoba, houses additional graphic records of the Winter Fair.
Arrangement
Graphics for RG2SF1 through RG2SF4 are located in boxes. Graphics larger than 24 x 35 cm are located in the image mapcase, which is located in the reading room. The graphics are filed chronologically by accession number. The arrangement is as follows:
Provincial Exhibition of Manitoba Association fonds; RG2SF1-RG2SF4; Series 9
Boxes 1 through 15, as follows:
Box 1 EX0001 to EX0125
Box 2 EX0157 to EX0263
Box 3 EX0265 to EX0399
Box 4 EX0400 to EX0499
Box 5 EX0500 to EX0599
Box 6 EX0600 to EX0699
Box 7 EX0700 to EX0799
Box 8 EX0800 to EX0899
Box 9 EX0900 to EX0921
Box 10 EX1000 to EX1099
Box 11 EX1100 to EX1199
Box 12 EX1200 to EX1299
Box 13 EX1300 to EX1399
Box 14 EX1400 to EX1499
Box 15 EX1549 to EX1859
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