There are many gaps and inconsistencies in the documentation provided by Series 2049. For example, while there is little early textual material, the correspondence and administrative records for 1955 and 1960 are relatively complete. The incomplete coverage is probably attributable to the poor physical condition in which the publicity records were originally received at the Historical Society. For example, several volumes of newspaper clippings from the 1930s are known to have been destroyed at that time because of water damage, and some correspondence files from the period 1949-1953 were discarded as well.
The State Fair publicity records are arranged into three categories: CORRESPONDENCE, ADMINISTRATIVE RECORDS, and PUBLICITY PRODUCTS.
The CORRESPONDENCE (1940-1963) is arranged by year and then subdivided alphabetically by subject. It includes letters received and sent by fair officials, agreements and contracts with outside vendors, and correspondence regarding radio and television air-time and print advertising in popular and agricultural newspapers. Well represented are William M. Masterson, manager of the State Fair, whose letters span the period 1946 to 1959, and publicity directors Carroll Benson and Robert D. Shanahan, whose letters span the periods 1954-1959 and 1960-1964, respectively. Records for the 1948 Centennial Exposition and the years 1955-1959 are most complete here, but also useful are files on media consultant Klau-Van Pietersom-Dunlop Associates and Olsen Publishing Company. There are also interesting files for attractions such as Roy Rogers, Pat Boone, and the West-O-Rama rodeo and for the Alice in Dairyland activities, all of which suggest the way in which fair officials attempted to broaden the appeal of the state fair. Biographical sheets completed by amateur and professional race car drivers in 1955 provide interesting insights into participation in this sport.
The ADMINISTRATIVE RECORDS, mainly 1955 and 1959-1961, include attendance reports, publicity logs and schedules, minutes and related notes from publicity staff meetings, memos, weekly progress reports, and biennial and annual financial reports. Though these records seem clearly to be those of the publicity office, there is some unexplained overlap between this series and the content of the general administrative records in Series 757. The section is divided chronologically by year or time period and then arranged alphabetically by subject.
PUBLICITY PRODUCTS are arranged by genre as brochures, photographs, scrapbooks, and press releases. This section is particularly useful, as it contains information about the nature and content of fair advertising for a period otherwise undocumented in the records. Of particular interest are the clippings, releases, and photographs over a period of several years of Alice in Dairyland, a young woman selected each year since 1948 to promote and market the state's dairy and agricultural products, as well as some clippings about the Dairy Queen contests which predated the Alice program. Also relevant to a study of state fair advertising are supplementary printed materials held by the SHSW Library including official programs, livestock catalogues, premium books, award lists, and short histories.
The press releases here include draft and final copies of public service announcements; news releases; and related notes and correspondence, 1943-1963, with releases pertaining to the 1948 centennial being particularly extensive. Additional press releases (1964-1974, 1978) received as a result of the state documents depository program are available in the SHSW Library.
Photographs, which are stored as three photo lots, cover the period 1921-1964. They represent work produced by the publicity office itself or its agents for documentation, advertising, and promotional purposes; photographs submitted by the agents for entertainment and feature events who hoped to contract with the State Fair have been separated and transferred either to the Circus World Museum or to the relevant classified files in the Visual and Sound Archives. The remaining photographs are grouped into two lots which document fairs from the 1940s through the early 1960s. PH 4072 contains photographs of special events including an appearance of Elsie the Cow (1951); activities honoring Wisconsin governors Heil, Rennebohm, and Kohler; stock car racing and daredevil thrill shows; and views of agricultural and commercial exhibits and judging. PH 3975 documents Alice in Dairyland, 1948-1957. These photographs include portraits and candid photographs of various Alices presenting awards and posing with fair-goers (including Luci Baines Johnson), livestock, and dairy products.
Plans depict mural design and exhibit areas at the Junior Fair Building, 1946, and at the Youth Exposition, 1944. The Youth Exhibition plans were designed by William J. Koch; the Junior Fair drawings, some hand-colored, are signed by Jorns.
Posters, 1941-1947, depict announcements for and schedules of Wisconsin State Fair events.
The newspaper clippings are microfilmed scrapbooks compiled by the publicity office for the years 1930, 1932, 1937, 1939, 1943, and 1944. The clippings were removed from the scrapbooks so that they could be filmed at which time duplicate copies of news stories were removed. After microfilming the originals were destroyed.
