The Fair Mascot History
Do you know the evolution of the Fair mascot and names? The first mascot, the Cheery Farmer, was the inspiration of Al Buhot, Publicity Committee Chair of the 1941 Fair. Mr. Buhot was a founding member of the Fair Association and stayed committed until his death in 1968. Also in 1941, the slogan “Hi Neighbor – Come to the Fair” was coined by Mrs. Lawrence Perry who won $25 in a slogan contest.
Since the inception of the Fair, character cutouts have been used for fair publicity. The largest know cutout was 14’ tall Cheery Farmer, hoisted to the 3rd floor ledge of the downtown San Jose Bank of America building at 1st and Santa Clara Street!
The most notable accessories were a corn cob pipe, yellow duster, and a carpet bag. It was an honor to become the character of the Cheery Farmer, and the follow are some of the most notable. In the 1955 Annual program, several were called out.
Rube Eagan, comically was noted standing at 5’ 7” was the first to portray the Cheery Farmer. Second was Amos Orten also at 5’ 7” and Walter Grau standing at 5’ 10”! T.M. “Ebb” Bohn portrayed the Cheery Farmer from 1951 to 1971. He was a well-known amateur host on KEEN radio in the 1940s. It was Ebb’s pipe and yellow raincoat that made him shine while he greeted millions of fairgoers. The spirit of the Cheery Farmer lives on as he was portrayed by local artist and Fair enthusiast Glen Micheletti at last year’s 2024 Fair celebrating the 85th Fair anniversary.
In the 1980s the Cheery Farmer was updated to the Happy Farmer with a floppy hat and a rake. Gone is the pipe, yellow duster and carpet bag. Cut outs were also made of the Happy Farmer and used for publicity.
Do you know anyone else who might have portrayed these amazing Fair characters? We are always looking for stories and history. These Fair characters have been used on many promotional items such as posters, lapel pins and other publicity art for the Fair. Please let us know if you have items or a cutout as we are always looking to enhance our collection. We are also in need of an artist to help restore and recreate cutouts for our displays and archives.
Please contact us at [email protected] or learn more about us at https://fairgroundsfoundationscc.org
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