Since agricultural shows have been a staple of the South Coast for nearly a century, it is fitting to reflect on the impressions and experiences that have been a pleasure to recall. This tribute goes to the administrators and competitors, many of whom, in their hundreds, have contributed to making these shows the successes they are today. While my focus will be on the Kiama Show in general, the show held in 1924 holds particular significance and special memories that I would like to share.

The success for these enterprises depended mainly on the acumen and voluntary labour of local citizens - a feature of country living and cooperation that astounded our city cousins who marvelled at their unanimity and dedication - who through their generic and family inheritance maintained that which their forefathers had established down through the years. It is this factor which has been the life's blood of the Show Societies up and down the South Coast, aided by generous donations of local citizens and by firms with country affiliations. This in no small measure assisted management and exchequer alike. Some societies maintain a membership of 600 subscribers.

Back in the day when I was first able to form impressions of shows was when cars were only just making their appearance among the local farming fraternity. Mostly they were referred to as tourers, because the hoods were able to be folded back to give an 'open air' journey and lady passengers had to have several hat-pins driven through hair and hat to prevent dislodgement. To be fully dressed it was obligatory for ladies to wear a hat in company and those who allowed their hair to stream may have an unsavoury appellation apply to them. There was not much entertainment in those days, and the show was a gala event for the district. It was a day of great excitement. For the women their second best dress was worn on the first day and their best dress on the second day

There were few sedan cars, as I recall those fortunate to own a sedan were either wealthy or had a mortgage. Both cars had running boards on either side, but the sedan had glazed windows and a luggage-carrier at the rear with a large container for the carriage of items.

1920s cars, while more affordable, still had a long way to go in terms of comfort and technology compared to modern vehicles. They were generally boxy and rugged, designed to handle the rougher roads of the time. Source

Thus it was, the Kiama show at the eastern end of Bong Bong Street that horse conveyances of all types graced the approach to the showground, be they spring carts - which carried a load of produce for exhibition, as well as the owners family - sulkies, phaetons, or the more commodious sociable, and the horses that conveyed them were unbuckled and tied to the street fences. Generally, the cars were admitted and allowed ringside positions facing inwards to the showground ring. How one got to the show was of importance. Many rode ponies when the family conveyance was overloaded, or if the pony was to be entered in a contest, and many walked - but to be there was a 'must'. A gala atmosphere pervaded the show meetings of the day, and the thrill of joining with relations and friends for a picnic far exceeded any disability in transportation.

The luncheon was usually presided over by Mother. Steamed chickens were carved and apportioned on plates of salads. Sandwiches and scones and cakes and fruit salad followed. 

Fathers collected hot water for tea-making from boiling copper attendants near the show gates not far from where the old organ-grinder wound his hurdy-gurdy, with a monkey on a chain who harassed those who came close enough for it to run up their clothing.

Bottles of Locketts stony ginger-beer were uncorked and the liquid streamed into waiting glasses. The men discussed the merits of the animals on show, and the impartiality or otherwise of the judges. For the farmers, although they were not in a position to feel the looseness on an animal's skin, nor view its escutcheon, nor the brand, nor feel the size on its milk vein, were by experience pretty fair judges of a good producer and gave their approval at times with acclamation the decisions of the judge.  

Overall came the ubiquitous monotony of the music of the merry-go-round with the putt-putting of its steam engine, and the bell-ringing of the Monies as they advertised their wares, while from the pagoda in the centre of the ring the announcer trumpeted the events with the aid of a loud-hailer, most likely made by the local tinsmith.

The grand Pavilion which had recently undergone its third location, stood serenely on the southern side of the ground with closed doors awaiting the opening of the show, when it was well patronised by hatted ladies and gentlemen with ladies opening decorative parasols to shade their fair skin from the ravages of the sun. Very few gentlemen were found not wearing a three-piece suit with tie and hat, the latter constantly raised on greeting a lady of their acquaintance. Waistcoats were adorned with gold or silver fob-chains depending on the owner's choice or desire, for it was necessary to withdraw a watch to check the time, for wrist watches were not yet in vogue.

The Kiama Showground Pavilion in the 1880's Source Kiama Library. Learn about the history of the Kiama Show Pavilion here

Watches and sovereign cases and silver wax vesta cases were secreted in the fob pockets of the garment.

Shows of the time were held on Fridays and Saturdays, the former being known as 'cattle' day and the latter more attuned to ring events for horses, with trotting events and high-jumping, together with riding events like tent-pegging, flag-racing and trotting contests. The pavilion was usually opened to the public by midday on the first day of the show when the judging of exhibits was concluded, after the president or an important dignitary there on invitation declared the show 'open'. The pavilion doors would be thrust open, and exhibitors enter to examine the results of their entries, with blue tickets being awarded first prize, red second and white third.

Kiama Show vegetable display in the 1920's Source Kiama Library

If perchance one of the judges had not the foresight to leave before the entry of the public, he may be held accountable for his decision by a disappointed exhibitor who felt his entry should have won a prize, He had to be rescued and quickly ushered into the member's dining-room where ladies and stewards entertained visiting dignitaries and their wives with a right Royal feast on behalf of the President and his Committee.

That the Kiama Show of 1924 should come first to my mind may seem just a coincidence, but in reality, there were three great reasons why a five-year-old should remember. It was the year Dad had bought his first car- and Overland 4- and he used it to take us all to the show, which by itself was an adventure. Our Auntie Olive was included, and Dad folded the hood down to make it a real adventure, and as I was seated on her knee, she nearly lost me over the side of Weir's gully as we rounded one of the bends where some years later Paddy Harding and Bill Bergin took a nose-dive and two panel of three rail fence to the bottom of the gully when on the way to Kiama for a license for Paddy. That time, when a big rock was struck at the bottom, Billy shot clean through the canvas hood of the car!

1920's Overland 4 Source

The second and third reasons were to follow in quick succession. I was a rich man that day, for the pockets of my pants were bulging with copper coins totalling nineteen pence and a half-penny, and later when Dad released me to wander on my own I was told not to go too far away. I found an old waist-coated gentleman in charge of an interesting array of toys who announced 'four shots for sixpence and a prize every time,' repeatedly. He had a numbered dart board with a glass covered box containing small toys and correspondingly numbered, a bucket of Cupie dolls on sticks and some balloons. Observing my interest, he coaxed me closer.

'How much money 'ave you got, son?'

Proudly I presented my fortune, emptying my pockets onto the glass top. He scooped it up quickly. 'Ah', he said, 'that will just buy this,' presenting me with a shining silver whistle.

'Try it,' he encouraged. I did, and it was a beauty! I blew it all the way back to Dad who was waiting for the start of a race; unbeknown to me there was a trot about to begin, and several impatient horses waiting to start, and the judge also had a whistle, and as mine was louder than his, the riders were struggling to hold their mounts each time my whistle was blown. Dad was very annoyed and took it from me and put it in his pocket. I was now a boy who lost his money and his whistle as well! For the rest of the day, I was destitute and wandered among the vendors of ballooned and canary-whistles and celluloid Cupie dolls shaking my head at their entreaties.

All that aside, there were plenty of entertainments in and outside the main ring. As an advertising medium for Ziems & Jones, the car salesmen from whom Dad bought his car, and who had a garage in Terralong Street, Ces Abbot, drove a car similar to ours over a hurdle fully four feet high. The experiment being so successful he did it again. I doubt if Dad would have allowed his car to do such a jump for it had cost him four hundred pounds!

Dad put me on his shoulders and took me into the boxing tent, where the spruikers were advertising with a loud hailer, drum rolls and bell ringing, that patrons should come to: 'see the little darkie fight, see the 'Yankee' sailor fight, and see the wrestle to a finish!' as shouted from the high board outside between much bell-ringing. Men were jostling to enter. Inside the tent it was hot and stuffy, choking with smoke, and the stench of sweating bodies.

The boss was the referee and saw to it that none of the contestants got hurt, and Dad declared it was a put-up affair, saying the only true fight was when two aborigines fought over a girl! 

The cattle and horse sections of the day were always well represented in all classes, and winners were applauded.

Kiama Show has always attracted the best examples of all livestock Source Kiama Library

To know the effort that went into the preparation of animals for the show is in retrospect as amazing today as it was then. The pull that the show had on farmers drove them to extremes preparing their exhibits for presentation, when selected animals were pampered for three months prior, receiving the care and attention of a family member. They were fed special ration, bathed daily, rugged and taught to lead, currycombed, horns sand-papered until they shone, tails plaited and combed, special parts of their bodies clipped with heavy hand clippers- especially around the milk vein which must be swollen and tortuous and exposed, and lastly the kloots were dressed until they too, shone like Kauri-gum. There were jobs for all family members, and a lot of it being done with the aid of a hurricane lamp. There were many families exhibiting their chooks and their products to be part of their entries, as well as vegetables and fruit from their garden. 

Special trains were run for the transport of cattle to the show, and each railway station had trucking yards erected on a convenient railway track off the main line, and several cattle trucks were left there overnight to be loaded by the exhibitors the next day. To do this meant the cattle had to be driven along the roads leading to the station and enclosed in the yard and loaded. The trucks then would be collected and taken to the respective show stations, to be unloaded and the cattle driven through the town to the showground and assembled for the last preparation in advance of being paraded before the judges.

After the show the recovery of exhibited animals had to be repeated, and this was when the hurricane lamp was required for many a herd was milked in the dark following a show!

The early breeds of cattle shown were Devon, Shorthorn, Ayrshires, Jersey and Durham, to be followed by Fresian, Illawarra Shorthorn, and Guernsey in latter years. Among the show exhibitors of cattle were names such as: McGill, Grey, Lindsay, McIntosh, Sharpe, Miller, Walker, Chittick, Hindmarsh, Richardson, Dudgeon, Cox, Crawford, O'Keeffe, O'Gorman, Pulsford, this would be extended to over a hundred when the South Coast shows were included. Many of these men showed their cattle at their own respective show, and were successful contributors where prizes were keenly contested. The Sydney Royal Show was a demanding Grand Finale where exhibitors virtually lived with their animals for upwards of nine days to display them in the Grand Parade each day.

As the years progressed, and motor transport replaced the rail truck for the carrying of the cattle to the shows it became a great convenience for the exhibitors. The first stock 'crates' as they were called were framed battens around a table-top lorry, with high wooden tailboards that when lowered served as a loading ramp. Obdurate animals had to be pushed and shoved and tugged to ascend these tailboards, and there were a few exciting moments at times, especially when the 'shover' had a beast take a step back onto his boot (with a foot in it) and despite his cries refuse to lift it! This was of course, before each farmer built a loading race and ramp. Others used a convenient high bank, for the Lorinna to back against.

The horse events provided a prime attraction to the shows as one would expect, and the grace and beauty of the jumpers, hurdlers, trotters and pacers vied for ovation with the more sedate equine contest in the centre of the ring.

Horses attempting the high jump had names like: Echo, Musician, Azara, Euchre, and Mark Radium, were as well known as their riders and owners: McGlinchey, Chitticks, Vances, McGees,, Monteith, Devery, Nelsons, Wheatleys- just to name a few.

At the Kiama show Edgar Vance was there with his horse Yellowweed and dog, Crib. Edgar had a mesmeric influence on animals and the three were great entertainers, and brought tears of laughter to the eyes of their beholders.

As a team they have been recorded elsewhere.

There were those whose indefatigable energy and dedication must be recorded. They were the Presidents, secretaries, the committeemen, the stewards, and most of all the exhibitors, for without them there was no show.

All history-makers in their own way. Names like Beatson, Gillam, East, Somerville, Lamond, Cox, Boxsell, Petrie, Knapp, Mottram (with over seventy entries),Horgan, Benny, McClelland, Goodyer, Good, Binks, Emery, Blow, Grey, Bimden, Cullen, Miller, Higginns, Bowden, all spring to mind. A small part of that great passing parade. 

There were the axemen who flashing blades that thrilled the spectators`- Appo, McCarthy, Blisset, and many others who helped to make the show what it was.

Many more have played a self-sacrificing part in the maintenance of the shows in their respective areas, all too numerous to mention. In all there were the ladies, the wives and sisters and mothers who supported their menfolk in everything they did and were often fore and aft in the management of the good ship!

With the formation of the junior farmers' Clubs state-wide, and to the South Coast came one George Carse in the year of 1932, who worked through the schools to inaugurate an army of youthful volunteers into clubs in which their main interest already rested, with projects covering a wide field of endeavour connected with the men and women on the land.

These youngsters, under George Carse's' successor Arthur Chalmers were to excel beyond measure, and without a doubt he was responsible for the creation of a great band of citizens who would fulfil the obligations to the local societies and ensure the continuity of the work their forebears had begun. With the later formation of the 'Young Farmers'

Movement, the Show Societies became the inheritors of this band of young men and women carefully nurtured into their field of endeavour who readily accepted nomination to committees connected with the Show Societies.

As the years rolled by and electricity came to the aid of farmers and show Presidents alike, the Societies extended the show to include a night show on Saturday and this was hailed with enthusiasm by the show patrons, and those who would not come during daylight hours flocked in their hundreds to enjoy the new innovation. The cool of the night air and the extra attraction, also entertainment now able to be provided, seemed to awaken the monties from their lethargy, and music and shouting and the ringing of bells accelerated as the evening wore on as they called all and sundry to sample their wares.

Sample bags were at first free, for they were in essence an advertising gimmick by the manufacturers, but over time a price was put upon them and their contents reduced. Ice creams were sold for a penny (one cent) of threepence (3 cents) as the case may be, and for Fairy Floss and a virtual armful was sold for threepence!

By 1960 with the night show the ring events increased to include flag-races for the nimble-footed ponies, and water-melon races for the agile bare-back riders who had to gallop fifty yards, dismount, pick up a spherical melon (jam melon), mount and ride to the starting point with the melon under one arm. If the melon was dropped, the procedure was repeated. Excited ponies were more interested in the galloping part, and to pause to collect a dropped melon was fraught with thrills and spills along the way!

The finals of trotting and harness races were held over for the night events, and the pavilion remained open until 9pm.

For the young the merry-go-round and razzle-dazzle spun high and low into the night with queues waiting for rides. Gone now, these simple pieces of entertainment have been replaced by high-tech instruments that whirl at unbelievable speed, and patrons whirled almost to insensibility.

The pavilion exhibits have been retained with few exclusions, and to which have been added exhibitions and competitions of Art of high quality.

The flower section has always been a winner but is now not confined to local gardeners and rivalry now extends to professionals in this section.

The vegetable section has been reduced in quantity and quality; these products can be purchased in local supermarkets quite readily, and so there is no pressure to grow them in home gardens anymore. Perhaps the Junior Farmers movement needs a shot in the arm!

As an exhibitor in the agricultural section at local shows and Sydney Royal, it is noticeable that dozens of the varieties of yesteryear have been replaced by marketable hybrids, flavourless, but toughened to withstand the handling of interstate transport. Good varieties have gone with the 'Beacon Light' stove!

I have been reminded by my sister Olive that it was the SECOND time I had been to the Kiama Show. She said the first time was when Dad hired James Donnelley's coach well in advance to take the family to the show, because of the popularity of the coach and four-in-hand. She remembers the day very well, for the heavens opened and the district was flooded! She said the horses baulked at the flood over the road at 'Bushbank' and James had to do a bit of coaxing to prevent them turning around and upsetting the coach.

She cannot remember what they did as a family at the show, except to crowd under cover from the rain, be it in the protection of the coach or in the pavilion, but everyone was wet through and miserable. All the men wore oilskins and rolled their pants above their shoes, and Dad said it would be the last time he would ever book the coach, or anything in advance, for once you paid your money there was no refund come Hell or High-Water! He said it was as much a gamble as betting on horses!