Carla A. sent me some pictures of a beautiful quilt that was displayed at this year’s Northwest Missouri State Fair. According to the attached card, this fan block quilt was made by Marial Beeks over 100 years ago and was displayed at the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair where it won the blue ribbon. Marial was the grandmother of Merrill Grant. If you or someone you know lent the quilt to the fair, thank you for sharing such a beautiful artifact! Also, thank you, Carla, for sharing the pictures with me!
There was a lot of excitement around the Fair. The Bethany Republican ran several articles detailing the exhibits and buildings at the Fair and offered a special magazine that kept the history of the event. The C B & Q railroad road offered special rates and a free booklet listing the hotels, restaurants, and things to do at the Fair. For $11.10 ($369.51 in today’s dollars), you could buy a special round trip ticket to take the train to St. Louis to spend 15 days exploring the Fair. Tickets were 50 cents, and you could stay in a hotel for anywhere from $1 to $5 per night. The Ridgeway column in the paper noted several Ridgeway area residents who took the train to enjoy the fair. So far, I haven’t been able to find where Mrs. Beeks got to see her quilt during its time being exhibited.
