Strip teases, ostriches & jumping the grandstand: 8 moments in Kentucky State Fair history

The Kentucky State Fair is almost synonymous with corndogs, carnivals, and cattle shows. But did you know over the years it's been the backdrop to professional football, strip teases, and a harrowing fire?

Memories are made every year at the Kentucky State Fair, but some of them stick out way more than others. So with a little help from The Courier Journal archives, we took a look through the past and unearthed some cherished, tough, and even cringeworthy moments at the Kentucky State Fair.

Here are eight pieces of Kentucky State Fair history to nosh on, as you're waiting in line for your favorite fair food this year.

The first Kentucky State Fair wasn't at the fairgrounds

The first Kentucky State Fair in 1902 was actually held at the home of the Kentucky Derby. When Louisville won the bid to host the inaugural fair, Churchill Downs was the place large enough in town to handle the sizable crowd, many exhibits and performances. The racetrack welcomed 75,000 fairgoers during the six-day event. One of the major highlights of the event, according to the Courier Journal's archives, was a planned, head-on collision of two freight trains traveling at 40 mph.

Horseracing? Bad. Ostrich racing? ...Good?

The Kentucky State Fair's iconic ostrich races date all the way back to the second year of the event. In 1903, the fair moved to Owensboro, and protesters rallied that March opposing horse racing with wagering at the fair. Instead, the fair board opted for "novelty races" on the fairgrounds track, including ostrich races, automobile races and mule races, according to the March 12, 1903, edition of The Courier Journal.

'Grotesque burlesque comedians' at the Kentucky State Fair

In the first half of the 20th century, the Kentucky State Fair was dubbed "a miniature world’s fair," and it aimed to showcase the gamut of industrial innovation, agriculture prowess and entertainment. Not all of that entertainment, though, was as family-friendly as it is today. Sure, you could see a daredevil hanging from his toes in an airplane and a man who wrestled with himself, but there were also strip teases from dancers and “world’s greatest grotesque burlesque comedians."

A World War II venereal disease hospital?

The Kentucky State Fairgrounds looked extremely different during World War II. The State Fair was canceled in 1942 and 1943, and officials held several meetings to discuss possible uses for the space.  One possibility floated in 1943 even involved transforming the 4-H Club Building on the property into a wartime venereal disease hospital with a 400-bed capacity. Fair officials were worried about such dramatic changes to the property delaying the return of the fair after the war ― and they weren’t wrong. In 1944 and 1945, the fairgrounds operated as a defense site during the war, and the State Fair moved to the infield at Churchill Downs for both of those years.

Crowds jump grandstand railing during a harrowing fire

Over the years, the Kentucky State Fair has welcomed an abundance of acrobats and daredevil performances, but in 1952, those stunts unwittingly spread to the audience, too. A fire started in the fair’s grandstand during a free water show, and the staircase to safety was blocked in the chaos. Several audience members braved the 10-foot drop over the grandstand rail to the ground. One man even threw a chair, presumably to clear a path through to the railing.

“Methods of descent gave little consideration to dignity,” according to the Sept. 12, 1952 edition of The Courier Journal.

Louisville's 'worst' traffic jam ever

The Kentucky Fair and Exposition Center that we know today opened in 1956, and as part of the event, Louisville hosted its first professional football game in 20 years. When the Baltimore Colts took on the Philadelphia Eagles, the fair drew 96,000 people, which marked the largest single-day crowd the fair had ever seen up until that point. It caused the “city’s worst” traffic jam to date with 25,000 cars clogging the streets to get to the event, according to the Sept. 10. 1956, edition of The Courier Journal.

Freddy Farm Bureau, an 18-foot-tall mechanical dummy

Freddy Farm Bureau first came to the Kentucky State Fair in 1958. Originally Freddy was an 18-foot-tall mechanical dummy, whose voice projected from a microphone inside Freedom Hall. He's had several makeovers in his 60+ years at the fair, and he's become the traditional meeting spot at the fairgrounds for many longtime attendants.

A very young Michael Jackson goes to the Kentucky State Fair

The Jackson Five opened the Kentucky State Fair in 1972. This was right after the Jackson Five became six, when the youngest boy in the family, Randy, 9, joined his brothers in the signing group. The boys were hoping to visit their older sister, Maureen Jackson, who lived in Murray, Kentucky, at the time, but a Courier Journal interview with the brothers said they didn’t even have time to go shopping while they were in town. Their Louisville experience was limited to the Holiday Inn Midtown where they stayed at the Kentucky State Fairgrounds. A few weeks after the Jackson Five played in Kentucky, they traveled to Europe to perform for Queen Elizabeth.

Features columnist Maggie Menderski writes about what makes Louisville, Southern Indiana and Kentucky unique, wonderful, and occasionally, a little weird. Sometimes she writes about bourbon, too. Reach Maggie at mmenderski@courier-journal.com or 502-582-4053. Follow along on Instagram and Twitter @MaggieMenderski.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: The Kentucky State Fair has a 120 year history. Not all of it is good