How much do you know about the Minnesota State Fair?
Outside the Minnesota State Fair Grandstand in 1963.
H. M. Schawang Photo Company, courtesy MNHS
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The Minnesota State Fair began 165 years ago. There’s been a lot of interesting history at the fair during that time, so we wanted to learn a little more with the Minnesota Historical Society.
They have a booth on the fair and host a daily quiz, “History on a Schtick.”
MPR News host Cathy Wurzer spoke with Jacob Rorem, Program Associate at the Minnesota Historical Society.
Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.
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Audio transcript
CATHY WURZER: Well, the state fair began 165 years ago. And there's been a lot of interesting history at the fair during that time, of course. So we wanted to learn a little more with the Minnesota Historical Society. They have a booth at the fair. They host a daily quiz called History-on-a-Schtick. How cute is that?
And we may-- we may test my knowledge. We'll see about this. We want to see, by the way, how you are here, at the fair, in terms of your knowledge of Minnesota history. So Jacob Rorem is with us. Hi, Jacob. How are you?
JACOB ROREM: Doing well.
CATHY WURZER: Good. Jacob is a program associate at the Minnesota Historical Society. Thanks for coming down and talking to us here at the state fair.
So the fair-- we might as well just dive right into the history here. Has the fairgrounds always been here in Falcon Heights?
JACOB ROREM: No, it hasn't. This has been the permanent fairgrounds since 1885. But the fair, before that, kind of bounced around. The first one was in Minneapolis, also hosted in St. Paul, Owatonna, Winona, Red Wing, Rochester, and then they got tired of that, I guess.
CATHY WURZER: OK.
[LAUGHTER]
I'm wondering, here, in terms of how you got yourself involved in the Minnesota Historical Society.
JACOB ROREM: Sure. I love history. I was doing some work, academic work, and realized I wanted to go a different direction, do some more public engagement. So I got an awesome opportunity to do that. And I get to partner with the Minnesota State Fair Foundation on a couple of great programs we have here, like History-on-a-Schtick and the State Fair History Walking Tour.
CATHY WURZER: OK. I think I'm ready. I feel prepared that I could maybe take some questions on. Do you think I can do this? I hope I can. All right.
JACOB ROREM: You have an audience to help you, too.
CATHY WURZER: Oh, excellent. That's even better. OK, we'll give it a shot.
JACOB ROREM: So here's one. So we're going to do some anniversaries. 110 years ago, a carousel debuted at the fairgrounds. It's where the visitor plaza is now. I mean, that's where it used to be. But 35 years ago was its last year at the fair. It actually moved.
Now, you probably know this carousel. It's down in Como Park, just down the road. But in between the fairgrounds and Como Park, it had another home. Do you know where that was?
CATHY WURZER: Town Square.
JACOB ROREM: Town Square Center, that's exactly right.
CATHY WURZER: And why do I know this? The former producer of Almanac on Twin Cities Public Television offered me the job as the co-host of Almanac on that carousel.
JACOB ROREM: On the carousel.
CATHY WURZER: I know. Right. Exactly. So that's why one of my favorite places is the Cafesjian's Carousel at Como Park. And every year on my birthday, I go to ride it.
JACOB ROREM: That's terrific.
CATHY WURZER: There you go. So Cafesjian's Carousel.
JACOB ROREM: You knew that one.
CATHY WURZER: I did know that one.
JACOB ROREM: No problem.
CATHY WURZER: So you want another one? Go ahead. Take another one.
JACOB ROREM: So we're across from the dairy building.
CATHY WURZER: Yes.
JACOB ROREM: And so 70 years ago was the first year Princess Kay of the Milky Way was crowned.
CATHY WURZER: OK.
JACOB ROREM: This is a tough one. I'm going to go a little reverse. Does anyone know who that was? Any really big state trivia buffs?
CATHY WURZER: Wow, that's a tough one.
[HUMMING "JEOPARDY" THEME]
JACOB ROREM: I don't think so.
CATHY WURZER: No, that's a hard one.
JACOB ROREM: So that was Eleanor Maley Thatcher.
CATHY WURZER: Eleanor.
JACOB ROREM: But I'll give a little easier one. Do you know which building, the following year, was the first butter head? Does anyone know where the first butter sculpture of the princesses debuted? It wasn't that building.
CATHY WURZER: It wasn't that building? Oh.
JACOB ROREM: Yeah. There was a former dairy building.
CATHY WURZER: I have no idea.
JACOB ROREM: It's, today, known as another place, where you might find other sculptures.
CATHY WURZER: Oh, the art building?
JACOB ROREM: The Fine Arts Center.
CATHY WURZER: Oh, OK. I didn't know that.
JACOB ROREM: Yes.
CATHY WURZER: You're very good, Jacob. OK. So I'm going to toss this one to the audience because, well-- no, maybe can we get the-- I do not drink beer. We have a beer question.
JACOB ROREM: Well, let's see if the audience knows this one.
CATHY WURZER: The audience will know this one. OK. Go ahead.
JACOB ROREM: So 11 years ago, the first State Fair specialty beer, which are all the rage now. There's, I think, 63 new beverages at the fair this year. 11 years ago was the first State Fair special beer that debuted at Ball Park Cafe. And it was in honor of a classic fair food. Does anyone know what that beer was? It's still sold today.
CATHY WURZER: Jacob Aloi, way in the back, there's a woman waving wildly at you, with a green shirt. Yes, go.
JACOB ALOI: Let's hope we can make it out here. Well, first off, what's your name?
JEANNE: I'm Jeanne.
JACOB ALOI: And where are you from?
JEANNE: I'm from Inver Grove Heights, but I'm actually from Illinois. And I think it's Mini Donut Beer.
JACOB ROREM: It was the Mini Donut Beer, yes.
JACOB ALOI: Congratulations!
JACOB ROREM: That was done by Lift Bridge Brewing. It's still available.
CATHY WURZER: Nicely done. Nicely done. OK, a little Minnesota history? State history?
JACOB ROREM: Sure. Yeah, we'll do some state history. We're going to do some things that are part of our 175th anniversary statewide scavenger hunt. It's called the History Hunt.
CATHY WURZER: Oh, cool.
JACOB ROREM: It's available through the end of September. Check it out. But these are some of the stops on that History Hunt.
CATHY WURZER: Nice. Is this, by the way, multiple guess?
JACOB ROREM: We'll do multiple choice. Maybe some people don't need it. I don't know.
CATHY WURZER: I don't know. OK.
JACOB ROREM: So in 1958, Mayor Morry Taylor dubbed this town "Hockeytown USA" because five players and a coach were on the national team. Since then, totally, eight Olympians, five hockey Hall-of-Famers, 10 Pro players, and a Stanley Cup champion have all hailed from this town.
Is it-- oh, we got someone who already thinks they know.
CATHY WURZER: Ooh.
JACOB ROREM: Let's see.
CATHY WURZER: Are you sure you want to go for this one? I'm with you. If you want to go, we'll go together. Because I think I know what you're going for.
JACOB ALOI: Well, first off, what's your name and where are you from?
JANE TOWNSEND: Jane Townsend from Edina. I live in St. Louis Park now.
JACOB ALOI: And what do you think the answer is?
JANE TOWNSEND: Ely, Minnesota.
JACOB ROREM: It is not Ely. Close.
CATHY WURZER: But it starts-- well, I can't say anything. Go ahead.
JACOB ROREM: Oh, we got someone else who has a guess.
JACOB ALOI: Ooh, OK.
CATHY WURZER: It is multiple choice, though. So you can be-- we can help you, you know.
JACOB ALOI: Well, what's your name and where are you from?
BRUCE ELDEVIK: Bruce Eldevik I'm from right here in St. Paul.
JACOB ALOI: Great. Do you have a guess? Let's hear it.
BRUCE ELDEVIK: Eveleth, Minnesota.
JACOB ROREM: It's close. Not--
CATHY WURZER: Oh, really? I thought for sure it was Eveleth.
JACOB ALOI: Well, maybe we should take a shot with--
JACOB ROREM: So we got Eveleth as an option, Warroad, Edina, or Roseau.
CATHY WURZER: Ooh. Ooh.
JACOB ALOI: What do folks in the audience think?
CATHY WURZER: So it's not Eveleth. I would have gone with Eveleth, for sure, you guys.
JACOB ROREM: Nope.
CATHY WURZER: Could I just say? Could I just guess?
JACOB ROREM: Yeah.
CATHY WURZER: If it's "Hockeytown USA," it's Warroad.
JACOB ROREM: Warroad is correct, yes.
CATHY WURZER: All right. There we go.
[APPLAUSE]
So there you go. Nice little bit of history there. Give us another one here. We have some time.
JACOB ROREM: Here we got another one here. This is, this town is home to the only Frank Lloyd Wright-designed gas station in the country, opened in 1958 by the Lindholm Oil Company. We got a lot of people who want to guess this one.
JACOB ALOI: A lot of people shot their hands up. I'm going to go over here. What's your name? Where are you from?
JULIA PHILLIPS: I'm Julia Phillips. I'm from Blaine.
JACOB ALOI: And what do you think the answer is?
JULIA PHILLIPS: Cloquet.
JACOB ROREM: Cloquet is correct.
CATHY WURZER: Nicely done.
JACOB ALOI: Congrats.
CATHY WURZER: Nicely done.
[APPLAUSE]
We're doing so well.
JACOB ROREM: It's still a gas station today.
CATHY WURZER: And it's the coolest gas station ever. Let's do another one. Can we do another one?
JACOB ROREM: OK. We got one more.
CATHY WURZER: Go ahead.
JACOB ROREM: So the 1908 National Farmers' Bank in this town was once called "one of the great buildings of the world" by architect César Pelli and was chosen in 1981 as 1 of only 16 buildings in the country to be featured in a stamp series on American architecture.
JACOB ALOI: We have somebody in the audience who really wants to answer this one. What's your name? Where are you from?
MIKE SCHOLTZ: I'm Mike Scholtz. I'm from Wrenshall. I actually wanted to answer the Frank Lloyd Wright, but--
[LAUGHTER]
JACOB ALOI: But you do know?
MIKE SCHOLTZ: I do know this. It's in Owatonna.
JACOB ROREM: It's in Owatonna, yes.
CATHY WURZER: Very good.
JACOB ROREM: It's the beautiful jewel-box architecture.
CATHY WURZER: It is beautiful.
JACOB ROREM: It's now a Wells Fargo, but you can still go visit.
CATHY WURZER: I know. You can. So you do this every day at the fair?
JACOB ROREM: We're doing all sorts of stuff at the fair. We've got lots of trivia at our booth. We've got History-on-a-Schtick. We've got the State Fair History Walking Tour. Come and see us.
CATHY WURZER: Jacob, it was fun having you here on the stage of the state fair with us.
JACOB ROREM: Wonderful to be here.
CATHY WURZER: Thank you, Jacob. Jacob Rorem, Program Associate at Minnesota Historical Society.
[APPLAUSE]
History-on-a-Schtick every day at the Schell Stage at the Schilling Amphitheater, 10 o'clock and then 11 o'clock in the morning.
And we may-- we may test my knowledge. We'll see about this. We want to see, by the way, how you are here, at the fair, in terms of your knowledge of Minnesota history. So Jacob Rorem is with us. Hi, Jacob. How are you?
JACOB ROREM: Doing well.
CATHY WURZER: Good. Jacob is a program associate at the Minnesota Historical Society. Thanks for coming down and talking to us here at the state fair.
So the fair-- we might as well just dive right into the history here. Has the fairgrounds always been here in Falcon Heights?
JACOB ROREM: No, it hasn't. This has been the permanent fairgrounds since 1885. But the fair, before that, kind of bounced around. The first one was in Minneapolis, also hosted in St. Paul, Owatonna, Winona, Red Wing, Rochester, and then they got tired of that, I guess.
CATHY WURZER: OK.
[LAUGHTER]
I'm wondering, here, in terms of how you got yourself involved in the Minnesota Historical Society.
JACOB ROREM: Sure. I love history. I was doing some work, academic work, and realized I wanted to go a different direction, do some more public engagement. So I got an awesome opportunity to do that. And I get to partner with the Minnesota State Fair Foundation on a couple of great programs we have here, like History-on-a-Schtick and the State Fair History Walking Tour.
CATHY WURZER: OK. I think I'm ready. I feel prepared that I could maybe take some questions on. Do you think I can do this? I hope I can. All right.
JACOB ROREM: You have an audience to help you, too.
CATHY WURZER: Oh, excellent. That's even better. OK, we'll give it a shot.
JACOB ROREM: So here's one. So we're going to do some anniversaries. 110 years ago, a carousel debuted at the fairgrounds. It's where the visitor plaza is now. I mean, that's where it used to be. But 35 years ago was its last year at the fair. It actually moved.
Now, you probably know this carousel. It's down in Como Park, just down the road. But in between the fairgrounds and Como Park, it had another home. Do you know where that was?
CATHY WURZER: Town Square.
JACOB ROREM: Town Square Center, that's exactly right.
CATHY WURZER: And why do I know this? The former producer of Almanac on Twin Cities Public Television offered me the job as the co-host of Almanac on that carousel.
JACOB ROREM: On the carousel.
CATHY WURZER: I know. Right. Exactly. So that's why one of my favorite places is the Cafesjian's Carousel at Como Park. And every year on my birthday, I go to ride it.
JACOB ROREM: That's terrific.
CATHY WURZER: There you go. So Cafesjian's Carousel.
JACOB ROREM: You knew that one.
CATHY WURZER: I did know that one.
JACOB ROREM: No problem.
CATHY WURZER: So you want another one? Go ahead. Take another one.
JACOB ROREM: So we're across from the dairy building.
CATHY WURZER: Yes.
JACOB ROREM: And so 70 years ago was the first year Princess Kay of the Milky Way was crowned.
CATHY WURZER: OK.
JACOB ROREM: This is a tough one. I'm going to go a little reverse. Does anyone know who that was? Any really big state trivia buffs?
CATHY WURZER: Wow, that's a tough one.
[HUMMING "JEOPARDY" THEME]
JACOB ROREM: I don't think so.
CATHY WURZER: No, that's a hard one.
JACOB ROREM: So that was Eleanor Maley Thatcher.
CATHY WURZER: Eleanor.
JACOB ROREM: But I'll give a little easier one. Do you know which building, the following year, was the first butter head? Does anyone know where the first butter sculpture of the princesses debuted? It wasn't that building.
CATHY WURZER: It wasn't that building? Oh.
JACOB ROREM: Yeah. There was a former dairy building.
CATHY WURZER: I have no idea.
JACOB ROREM: It's, today, known as another place, where you might find other sculptures.
CATHY WURZER: Oh, the art building?
JACOB ROREM: The Fine Arts Center.
CATHY WURZER: Oh, OK. I didn't know that.
JACOB ROREM: Yes.
CATHY WURZER: You're very good, Jacob. OK. So I'm going to toss this one to the audience because, well-- no, maybe can we get the-- I do not drink beer. We have a beer question.
JACOB ROREM: Well, let's see if the audience knows this one.
CATHY WURZER: The audience will know this one. OK. Go ahead.
JACOB ROREM: So 11 years ago, the first State Fair specialty beer, which are all the rage now. There's, I think, 63 new beverages at the fair this year. 11 years ago was the first State Fair special beer that debuted at Ball Park Cafe. And it was in honor of a classic fair food. Does anyone know what that beer was? It's still sold today.
CATHY WURZER: Jacob Aloi, way in the back, there's a woman waving wildly at you, with a green shirt. Yes, go.
JACOB ALOI: Let's hope we can make it out here. Well, first off, what's your name?
JEANNE: I'm Jeanne.
JACOB ALOI: And where are you from?
JEANNE: I'm from Inver Grove Heights, but I'm actually from Illinois. And I think it's Mini Donut Beer.
JACOB ROREM: It was the Mini Donut Beer, yes.
JACOB ALOI: Congratulations!
JACOB ROREM: That was done by Lift Bridge Brewing. It's still available.
CATHY WURZER: Nicely done. Nicely done. OK, a little Minnesota history? State history?
JACOB ROREM: Sure. Yeah, we'll do some state history. We're going to do some things that are part of our 175th anniversary statewide scavenger hunt. It's called the History Hunt.
CATHY WURZER: Oh, cool.
JACOB ROREM: It's available through the end of September. Check it out. But these are some of the stops on that History Hunt.
CATHY WURZER: Nice. Is this, by the way, multiple guess?
JACOB ROREM: We'll do multiple choice. Maybe some people don't need it. I don't know.
CATHY WURZER: I don't know. OK.
JACOB ROREM: So in 1958, Mayor Morry Taylor dubbed this town "Hockeytown USA" because five players and a coach were on the national team. Since then, totally, eight Olympians, five hockey Hall-of-Famers, 10 Pro players, and a Stanley Cup champion have all hailed from this town.
Is it-- oh, we got someone who already thinks they know.
CATHY WURZER: Ooh.
JACOB ROREM: Let's see.
CATHY WURZER: Are you sure you want to go for this one? I'm with you. If you want to go, we'll go together. Because I think I know what you're going for.
JACOB ALOI: Well, first off, what's your name and where are you from?
JANE TOWNSEND: Jane Townsend from Edina. I live in St. Louis Park now.
JACOB ALOI: And what do you think the answer is?
JANE TOWNSEND: Ely, Minnesota.
JACOB ROREM: It is not Ely. Close.
CATHY WURZER: But it starts-- well, I can't say anything. Go ahead.
JACOB ROREM: Oh, we got someone else who has a guess.
JACOB ALOI: Ooh, OK.
CATHY WURZER: It is multiple choice, though. So you can be-- we can help you, you know.
JACOB ALOI: Well, what's your name and where are you from?
BRUCE ELDEVIK: Bruce Eldevik I'm from right here in St. Paul.
JACOB ALOI: Great. Do you have a guess? Let's hear it.
BRUCE ELDEVIK: Eveleth, Minnesota.
JACOB ROREM: It's close. Not--
CATHY WURZER: Oh, really? I thought for sure it was Eveleth.
JACOB ALOI: Well, maybe we should take a shot with--
JACOB ROREM: So we got Eveleth as an option, Warroad, Edina, or Roseau.
CATHY WURZER: Ooh. Ooh.
JACOB ALOI: What do folks in the audience think?
CATHY WURZER: So it's not Eveleth. I would have gone with Eveleth, for sure, you guys.
JACOB ROREM: Nope.
CATHY WURZER: Could I just say? Could I just guess?
JACOB ROREM: Yeah.
CATHY WURZER: If it's "Hockeytown USA," it's Warroad.
JACOB ROREM: Warroad is correct, yes.
CATHY WURZER: All right. There we go.
[APPLAUSE]
So there you go. Nice little bit of history there. Give us another one here. We have some time.
JACOB ROREM: Here we got another one here. This is, this town is home to the only Frank Lloyd Wright-designed gas station in the country, opened in 1958 by the Lindholm Oil Company. We got a lot of people who want to guess this one.
JACOB ALOI: A lot of people shot their hands up. I'm going to go over here. What's your name? Where are you from?
JULIA PHILLIPS: I'm Julia Phillips. I'm from Blaine.
JACOB ALOI: And what do you think the answer is?
JULIA PHILLIPS: Cloquet.
JACOB ROREM: Cloquet is correct.
CATHY WURZER: Nicely done.
JACOB ALOI: Congrats.
CATHY WURZER: Nicely done.
[APPLAUSE]
We're doing so well.
JACOB ROREM: It's still a gas station today.
CATHY WURZER: And it's the coolest gas station ever. Let's do another one. Can we do another one?
JACOB ROREM: OK. We got one more.
CATHY WURZER: Go ahead.
JACOB ROREM: So the 1908 National Farmers' Bank in this town was once called "one of the great buildings of the world" by architect César Pelli and was chosen in 1981 as 1 of only 16 buildings in the country to be featured in a stamp series on American architecture.
JACOB ALOI: We have somebody in the audience who really wants to answer this one. What's your name? Where are you from?
MIKE SCHOLTZ: I'm Mike Scholtz. I'm from Wrenshall. I actually wanted to answer the Frank Lloyd Wright, but--
[LAUGHTER]
JACOB ALOI: But you do know?
MIKE SCHOLTZ: I do know this. It's in Owatonna.
JACOB ROREM: It's in Owatonna, yes.
CATHY WURZER: Very good.
JACOB ROREM: It's the beautiful jewel-box architecture.
CATHY WURZER: It is beautiful.
JACOB ROREM: It's now a Wells Fargo, but you can still go visit.
CATHY WURZER: I know. You can. So you do this every day at the fair?
JACOB ROREM: We're doing all sorts of stuff at the fair. We've got lots of trivia at our booth. We've got History-on-a-Schtick. We've got the State Fair History Walking Tour. Come and see us.
CATHY WURZER: Jacob, it was fun having you here on the stage of the state fair with us.
JACOB ROREM: Wonderful to be here.
CATHY WURZER: Thank you, Jacob. Jacob Rorem, Program Associate at Minnesota Historical Society.
[APPLAUSE]
History-on-a-Schtick every day at the Schell Stage at the Schilling Amphitheater, 10 o'clock and then 11 o'clock in the morning.
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