Coldest Fair day ever? I've no idea, but I'm guessing no; we're known for freak snaps. 2007 started out with temps in the 50s plus rain, for added fun. People's teeth were chattering so much you needed the Jaws of Life to get their mouths open to accept a corn dog.
A reader asked if Fair attendance was adjusted for temps, and in my capacity as a journalist I'm here to say that's a very good question. It probably all evens out; the cold days keep away people, the blast-furnace days keep away people. But in my capacity as an opinion journalist I would also like to make a mealy-mouthed equivocation on that last assertion, and say cold weather is worse for attendance than hot weather. When it's hot you think: shade. Indoor attractions. A snow-cone applied directly to the forehead. When it's cold there's no relief. It's everywhere. Who wants to get wet all day, after all?
Yes, I know, you do. If you're that kind of person. There are hearty fair-goers who cannot be denied, and walk around in giant plastic sacks with freebie bags on their heads, having a grand time, thinking: Should have brought a cat! We could bring it to the Merchandise Mart and swing it around by the tail and not hit anyone! But that would be cruel, and Cat-Swinging Day was discontinued in 1967. In any case, if you're one of those who go to the Fair regardless of the weather, we salute you.
Here's a picture I took the other day: haven't seen these before.
Keep in mind that A) he was pushing an enormous plastic bin of fair garbage, which can get rather aromatic, and B) it was still probably true.
