25 Ozark County Possums

Saint Louis World's Fair
In 1910, Saint Louis, Missouri, hosted the National Land and Industrial Immigration Exposition. It was an extravagant affair for the nation and the state. Highlighting this occasion, the exposition accepted a large showing of unique Ozark displays.  There is one thing that caught my attention from this area, it was an exhibit from Ozark County.  Please read on and discover the Ozark surprise.

County exhibits will feature the big Land Exposition to be held in St. Louis December 15 to 21st.  Moberly and Randolph county, in all probability, will have an exhibit at the exposition and soon the Commercial Club will probably arrange the end. The right kind of an exhibit would be a fine advertise merit for us.

Among the exhibits already arranged are the following:

Various Missouri State Departments are preparing their exhibits, each one to be something out of the common.

County exhibits will follow the general scheme of having novelties, which will emphasize their various successes. Greene county will show a miniature state capitol made out of Green county stone. They will also have prize winning corn, the giant from "Jennie," captured in the Sac river, frozen in a lump of ice, besides other novel features.

Audrain county will show a corn palace.

Ozark county, besides showing the largest pumpkin ever grown, will, show a twenty-five foot persimmon tree, in which will be 25 live possums.

Wright county will prepare a grotto and cave made entirely of big red apples and other products.

Douglass county will show a growing cotton field and a miniature dairy farm.

Texas county will have a fine cut timber exhibit and a corn tower.

Jasper county, besides showing its champion small fruit exhibit, will show a cross section of a zinc mine in operation.

Adair county will have a beautiful grain and grass exhibit.  A model school house will also be shown.

Barry county expects to snow an old castle built entirely of vegetables and fruit.

Taney county will show farm products and a hunting camp in miniature, with a scene laid in a forest on the bank of an Ozark stream.

McDonald county will show a miniature strawberry harvest scene, showing the picking and marketing the strawberries.

Newton county writes that they expect to have the finest apple and corn display ever made in the
United States.

It is expected that Macon county will show a miniature coal mine operator by an electric motor.

Should Randolph county make fine exhibit it is said that it will take the form of a blue grass stock farm in miniature, with red barn, stock animals and blue grass pastures complete.

Iron county is preparing a colored copy, in miniatue, of the Arcadia Valley, created by Rev. Fuller Swift, together with a Woman's Missouri Development Association. This is expected to be the center of a great deal of attraction.

Works Cited:

"Will Arrange to Show." Moberly Weekly Monitor  41.45 (15  Nov. 1910) 4.  Access Newspaper Archive. Baxter County Library, Mountain Home, AR. 1 Dec. 2009 www.access.newspaperarchive.com.