the.com/county fair
Capitalism's county fair pitches rides, fried butter, and a pig named Senator against your self-control.
means A local seasonal gathering of agricultural competitions, carnival rides, livestock shows, and fried food, usually put on once a year by a town or county.
from English 'county' goes back through Old French 'conté' to Latin 'comitatus' (a territory under a count), while 'fair' traces to Latin 'feria,' meaning holy day or festival — the day work stopped and markets opened. County fairs themselves grew out of old agricultural and market fairs, where farmers gathered to trade livestock, show off crops, and settle into one big, loud exception to ordinary life.
- origin
- evolved from medieval agricultural trade fairs
- judging logic
- biggest pumpkin wins, not tastiest
- economics
- funnel cake markup rivals airport bottled water
- livestock stakes
- kids raise animals, then auction them off crying