CALL IT THE slicked-down side of the stockyards. For 75 years beginning in 1900, FARMERS from across the country flocked to the ANNUAL STOCK SHOW held in the shadow of the yards. You had to put in hours of shampooing, trimming, even hair-spraying and hoof-painting if you wanted to walk off with a BLUE RIBBON and get a good price at auction. For after all the pampering, most of the animals were sold right off to, well, you know. A happy exception in 1952 was EDDIE, an unusually friendly pig who answered to his name. His buyer donated him to BROOKFIELD ZOO for its new children’s zoo.
– Average weight of a sheep’s fleece: 7.5 POUNDS.
– Number of cattle, pigs, sheep and horses entered in the 1955 show: 11,161.
– Number of steers entered by Father Flanagan’s Boys Town: 4.
– Quickest time logged by 1955 champion shearer Darrell Stoops for fleecing one sheep: 1 MINUTE 48 SECONDS.
Sources: Tribune archives, American Sheep Industry Association. Photo from Tribune archives.
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“All the really good ideas I ever had came to me while I was milking a cow.”
— GRANT WOOD
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nwatkins@tribune.com
