‘99 Fair Poster Borrows Scene From Yesteryear

Instead of creating a new image for the 1999 Ventura County Fair poster, organizers borrowed a scene from before World War I.

The poster presented Tuesday night at the fair’s Annual Awards Dinner features a blowup of a sepia-toned photograph from the county’s 1912 fair above this year’s theme, “Reflections of Yesterday.”

The photo, from historical archives, shows mule teams pulling wagons of people through Ventura Trotting Park, which stood near what is now the Grandstand Arena at Seaside Park.

“It’s 1999. We’re here looking at our fair’s history and traditions. We thought it was natural to work with the Ventura County Museum of History and Art to find the perfect historical photograph,” fair publicist Devlin Raley, who designed the poster, said before the ceremony.

The Awards Dinner was held to honor individuals who contributed to the success of the 1998 fair, the fairgrounds and Derby Club.

Raley cited the two mule-led wagons in the foreground and rows of parked cars--still relatively new inventions in 1912--in the background to explain why he chose the photo. “I like the juxtaposition,” said Raley, who has coordinated design of the fair posters for 18 years.

He broke tradition by unveiling the poster five months earlier than usual. Raley said before the dinner that the presentation would be a surprise to everyone except the fair’s general manager and directors.

He added that the early unveiling not only allowed for the poster to debut at the Awards Dinner--the only time the whole “fair family” comes together, he said--but should create an early buzz about the 12-day summer event.

“It never hurts to get started a little early, to get people more involved with the fair at an earlier date,” Raley said.

People still won’t see copies of the posters around the county until midyear. Fair officials will give promotional copies to businesses to place in their storefronts and will begin selling commemorative editions to the public in late June or early July. Sweatshirts, T-shirts and other items emblazoned with the mule team image will be sold during the fair, to be held Aug. 4-15.