Breda Fair, 1880

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Posted By: david reineke (email)
Date: 12/6/2004 at 00:50:04

I translated the following article from Der Carroll Demokrat, a German-language newspaper published in Carroll, Iowa, between about 1874 and 1920. It was originally published on Friday, 1 October 1880. I have not changed the name or place spellings. Any information in brackets or notes at the end is my own explanation. It reads as follows:

The Breda Fair

It was cool, very cool, early Wednesday morning when we boarded the westbound passenger train to go to Breda to take part in the fair that was being held for the benefit of the local church there. We reached Maple River Junction after a short ride. We had to wait a few hours there, but finally the hour of our deliverance arrived, for our patience had been put to a hard test, since we had to stand idle in one place for so long. The train taking us to Breda was finally ready for departure. We made our way to the smoking car, which was quickly filled with traveling salesmen from Chicago. We were quite happy when the locomotive stopped, indicating that we had reached our destination, because never had we had a more blasé group of traveling companions. The warm greeting, which we received all around from our Breda friends, made up for the pain we endured with the “drummers,” and we soon felt quite at home in their company. It was still very early when we arrived, and the country people had not yet appeared at the fair. At about ten o’clock, however, they began to stream into the little town, which was now taking on the appearance of a church festival back in the old fatherland, and if it had not been for the absence of the waffle stands and the puppet theater with “Marizebill” and “Hannes,” we would have thought that we were in Germany. The noon meal was ready, and we made our way to the place where the tables were set for all the hungry people, and since we were in that category, we found ourselves among those who were eating heartily at the excellently prepared meal, which took on additional seasoning through the friendly and attentive service of the waiting-ladies. We naturally paid all honor to the cooking talents of the women until we left the table satisfied, rubbing our stomachs with satisfaction, and with the total certainty that we had received full value for the quarter we paid out. The Mt. Carmel music band played its very beautiful tunes during the entire day, which contributed greatly to the enjoyment. All of those present endeavored to make the festival a success, at which they truly appeared to succeed. Unfortunately, we had to leave the hospitable place when the locomotive and its long line of cars departed, and soon we were underway to where we arrived the next morning. Next week we will publish the report of the proceeds.