Du Quoin State Fair at 100 Crowds throng to Du Quoin for first running of Hambletonian

Fifth in a series.

There would be little discussion needed if, for one reason or another, a person tried to determine the most exciting five-year period of time in the Fair's first 40 years. Maybe 50. Maybe 75. Who knows, perhaps ever.

The first two - 1955 and '56 - were both good years and we will go into detail later, but we've got to jump ahead to the biggie ... 1957.

It was the Du Quoin fair's first year of hosting the Hambletonian.

The Fair truly attracted fans from around the world. More than 800 had to be housed in dormitories at SIU as all motels in the area were jammed.

The Illinois Central scheduled special trains from Chicago. The race itself drew more than 25,000 compared to the 16,000 who had seen the previous race in New York.

The overall manner in which the Hayes presented the race resulted in members of the Hambletonian Society board to extend the contract one year - through 1959 - before even leaving town.

As to the race itself, believe me, Bob Hackett, writing for the Horseman and Fair World magazine, caused chills in my spine with his coverage of the race. The race came down to a raceoff between Hickory Smoke and Hoot Song. The "Smoke" won it. The fastest heat had been 2:00.1. Gov. William Stratton was there to present the trophy. We could go on and on. It was a day to remember.

The late 1950s may be remembered for a number of things particularly for the Fair crowds.

It's fact that overflow crowds jammed the grandstands and standing room only areas all three days of the motorized racing schedule in 1950.

And, can you believe that Tony Bettenhausen, one of Du Quoin's all-time favorites and finest drivers, failed to qualify for the Labor Day 100-mile feature?

Frank Mundy, the 1953 AAA champ, won the stock car 100-miler averaging better than 73 mph, while Bob Sweiket won the sprint car feature and was headed for a second title the next day when he crashed on the 99th lap. It was a great weekend for race fans, if not so great for Bob.

And, night show fans were hardly overlooked as the McGuire Sisters entertained throughout the week with George Goebel taking over Labor Day night

Pronto Don had major retirement ceremonies as well after having earned $332,000 during his career.

The following year - 1956 - Pat Boone and Dorothy Collins were the popular night-show headliners while Tennessee Ernie Ford took over on Labor Day night. All were well received and drew appreciative crowds.

Norm Nelson, Dick Klamoth, Marshall Teague and Jimmy Bryan won the always-popular motorized races, all before large crowds.

And, we'll jump to 1958 after already having covered the first year of the Hambletonian.

Bob Hope made a return trip to the Fair and this time did not need an umbrella. As expected, Hope drew a capacity crowd which capped off a good, if not record week of night show audiences.

Motorized races were won by Frank Lorenzen Roger Ward and Johnny Thomson. Thomson edged out Tony Bettenhausen by just four car lengths to win the big car thriller which also included A.J. Foyt.

And, finally for the 1950s, the Hambletonian offered its biggest purse ever - $125,283 - and was won by Diller Hanover in 2;01.1 and 2:01.4. Times were not impressive, but rains the previous night resulted in somewhat of an "off" track.

Rains continued to prevent record crowds but Labor Day night headliner, Rosemary Clooney, matched the year-old night-show mark. Jimmy Durante had been the headliner throughout the week and proved to be one of the most popular ever. He had arrived in southern Illinois several days prior to opening at the Fair where his daily routine included his popular rendition of "Inka, Dinka, Doo" under what he referred to as the "world's largest carport."

Fred Lorenzen, Tony Bettenhausen and Roger Ward were popular winners of the three major car events, all before large Labor Day weekend crowds.

All else was in place, too. Livestock manager Dean Bartle reported a 50% increase in entries, a water ski show performed on the lagoon inside the mile track before a large crowd and the carnival featured a 735-feet long roller coaster ride. And, too, there was even a free seal act on the grounds.

Fair President E.J. Hayes called the overall crowds "sarcastically even" with the all-time nine-day high of the previous years.

Needless to say, it was a good year.