Advertising the Great State Fair
Advertising the Great State Fair:
Hart-Kaiser Posters from War
Years
Author: Jane Doe
Both Posters are credited to “Hart-Kaiser” and
are letterpress-printed on heavy board measuring
19.5” x 14”. Similar in design, half of the poster is text
that names the fair and its dates and an imperative,
“We Must Mobilize for Food Efficiency.” The other half
contains a colorful illustration about an aspect of the
fair. The team of Hart-Kaiser created many such posters
over the years; I chose two from the same year that il-
lustrate different but complimentary aspects of the State
Fair.
Close up image displaying the line work.
The buildup of ink is clearly seen in the
bottom corner where the black overlays the
blue.
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This paper analyzes two posters advertis-
ing the Minnesota State Fair. The posters illustrate
the importance of the Fair as a cultural meeting
point and the embodiment of optimism and patrio-
tism about the new culture of European-Americans
in Minnesota. Agricultural and domestic arts were
the backbone of life for many Minnesotans. While
industries of extraction and manufacturing had made
many new fortunes, to a majority of the population, the
exchange of information and artistry was an important
annual ritual, and the landscape of the fairgrounds was
an important container for that exchange.
Emblem from the team of Hart-Kaiser
stamped on the bottom corner of the poster
designs.
While not specifically dated, an intake date
on a different poster in the collection of the Minnesota
Historical Society places this style between 1910 and
1919. The imperative about food efficiency narrows the
range to the years of rationing during or shortly after
WWI, 1917-1919. The posters were printed with a
furniture letterpress with individual metal type; the im-
pressions of the type are still visible on the board. The
linework is done in chunks, and ink buildup is visible
on the edge of color fields. The illustrations are photo
engraved in what appears to be a five-color process
(Tincher, 2007).
 Advertising the Great State Fair
The complimenteny color scheme (Red, Yellow,
and Blue) contrasted with the deep purple back-
ground pushes the woman to the foreground as
the focal point. Also, the bright white cat draws
the eyes’ attention
The message of this poster is one of prosperity,
comfort and personal industry. The State Fair was the
zenith of display and competition of the domestic arts.
The illustration conveys a standard of living that was not
achievable to the majority of citizens at the time, but
could be obtained by proxy by submitting entries in or
attending the fair. A room of this rich finish, complete
with white cat, speaks to the many families who made
fortunes in the lumber, agricultural, manufacturing and
transportation industries at that time, but would not be
a standard room in an average Minnesotan household.
The fancy, ruffled sleeves with three buttons were not
a style worn by women who were attending to heavy
household chores.
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The first poster’s illustration contains a centered
image of European-American woman in large, arm-
less upholstered chair sewing a quilt in a home set-
ting. Done in a flat, Japanese print perspective style,
a floor lamp and cat are in front of her at the edge of
the viewing plane. The woman and the cat gaze out
towards viewer. To her right stands a pedestal lidded
box, perhaps holding sewing notions. A heavy, velvet-
looking curtain hangs behind, creating a backdrop to
the asymmetrically-balanced composition. To the right
of the curtain hang a wall decoration and two framed
pictures. The one in an oval frame appears to be a
man’s portrait, while the other is a small rectangular im-
age reminiscent of the painting of woman in cap seen
in profile.
The woman’s red hair is curled and put up,
with small pin or bow on the right. She wears a yellow-
ruffled blouse or shirtwaist. The lamp, pedestal box
and wall-hanging are all done in an arts-and-crafts
style with an “oriental” motif. The quilt or spread that
the woman is sewing has alternating blocks of red and
white, possibly a subtle patriotic reminder, and various
colored blocks with a square motif.
Attention is drawn to the woman through the
use of complimentary colors and a triangular composi-
tion. Walls are deep purple with darker purple curtains
and the woman’s clothes predominantly yellow in color.
The quilt forms the base of a triangular composition
with the woman’s head at the apex. A finishing detail,
the white cat in the foreground stands out from the
deeply patterned mid-ground and contrasts with the
dark background.
 Advertising the Great State Fair
The second poster illustrates a man demonstrat-
ing cultivation driving metal-wheeled tractor. A large
thresher or similar machine sits to the left in the imme-
diate background, with a cone-roofed silo sits to the
right and behind. The tractor is surrounded by a dozen There is an interesting, but very subtle contrast
well-dressed people, nine men and three women, all between the detail put into the machines versus
European-American in appearance. All are wearing that in the human faces. More focus on machine is
in line with the idea of “mobilizing for food
hats; the variety of mens’ styles include bowler, cap, effeiciency.”
“mountie,” flat straw, fedora, and short top hat. While
the tractor driver’s sleeves are rolled, his gentlemanly
outfit includes collar and tie.

A small family group with two children are in

the mid-ground, with crowds of people in background,
silhouetted by rooflines with flags snapping in the
breeze. The rooflines indicate specific State Fair build-
ings, including the horticultural building, the livestock
pavilion, the grandstand and others.

Complimentary
colors are also used in this
composition. The green
tractor is backed by the
red threshing machine,
and orange roofs of the
silo and fair buildings pop
against the navy blue sky.
The tractor, thresher and
silo create a triangular
composition that draws
the eye, while leaving
enough weight on the left
for the eye to take in the
background crowd and
buildings.

The rich, turned soil in the foreground and the

smartly-dressed fairgoers communicate prosperity. The
cheerful flags and modern advances displayed at Ma-
chinery Hill speak of an optimism about the new culture
of Minnesota that appears to have continued through-
out the war years. Abundant agricultural opportunity
due to fertile soil and technological farming advances
overshadow the demand to “mobilize for food efficien-
cy.”

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 Advertising the Great State Fair

Perhaps due to the relatively short involvement of the United States in WWI, food shortages from that time
are not as widely known as those experienced in WWII. In researching this period, I found a selection of news
releases by the Madison office of the Wisconsin Division of the United States Food Administration from March
and April, 1918. The main thrust of food rationing was to conserve wheat, sugar and meat. The memo illustrated
is asking people to eat more meat and less bread, as there was an acute shortage of wheat. This would thus free
up more wheat for export to the European allies and troops.

While technological changes were happening rapidly, crop yields still necessitated a large segment of the
European-American immigrant population to be farmers. The fair allowed an annual exchange of information and
demonstration of crop and husbandry achievements and showcased new advances in technology.

In both posters, the colors of the illustration above are generally complimentary to the type below. The eye
is drawn to the bright, yellow field of type balanced by the vividly colored illustration above. The fair was well-
enough known that the minimum amount of information was deemed necessary to get people to the fairgrounds—
just the title of the event, with no times or location information given.

As an institution,
the State Fair was impor-
tant for Minnesota’s new
society. As a landscape,
the Fairgrounds was an
integral part of the yearly
gathering, the “stage”
containing the buildings
and space necessary for
the annual ritual to play
out.
Excerpt from memo relased by the
Madion office of the Wisconsin Divi-
son of the United States Food
Administration

Bibliography

Minnesota Historical Society Domestic Arts Poster, FM6.55D

a1, circa 1918
Machinery Hill Poster, FM6.53 a3, circa 1918
Tod Hart Photograph, N1.1 r50, 1922

Tincher, Michael; graphic arts and printing expert; poster

examination and conversation with the author, April 21, 2007

Wisconsin Historical Society

News release dated March 9, 1918 from Madison, WI office
of the Wisconsin Division of the United States Food Adminis-
tration.
http://content.wisconsinhistory.org/cdm4/document.
php?CISOROOT=/tp&CISOPTR=12266

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