Question: When did Hog Days begin exactly?
Answer: So what do you mean by EXACTLY?
Most things in life don't enter the scene fully-formed. There's an evolution over time. And that's the case with Hog Days. We didn't wake up one morning back in 1954 and decide "hey, let's do a four day party over Labor Day weekend and invite 50 thousand of our closest friends!" Rather, the original "seed" that became Hog Days actually goes back to a time when hog farming seemed the way to make a tolerable living around these parts. After years of sustained growth in that area, the U.S. Department of Agriculture noticed one day that Henry County in Illinois was leading the entire nation in hog production. So on Saturday, September 20, 1947, after the USDA had declared officially that Henry County was the "top hog" so to speak in America when it came to pork production, Kewanee, being the largest community in the County, took upon itself to mark the occasion by holding the very first ever "Hog Day." The special day included a barrow show...a public showing of the best hogs in this area. Pens were set up in the 200 block of North Tremont Street in the heart of Kewanee's business district with over 150 swine shown by area farmers. Temporary street signs were installed renaming the downtown streets "Duroc" "Hampshire" and "Yorkshire" among others. A carnival was brought in and set up as well. Prize drawings were held throughout the day by local merchants. There was even a hog calling contest to mark the occasion!
Apparently folks had a good time because this one day event was repeated in 1948 and 1949. Newspaper accounts from that time mention not only a barrow show but a dance as well where the exhibitor of the grand champion barrow was crowned "King Hog." It was also in 1949, March 23rd to be exact, that the Illinois House of Representatives unanimously passed House Resolution 40 declaring Henry County and Kewanee the Hog Capital Of The World, a resolution introduced by Frank P. Johnson R-Kewanee. (Please click here for the story on what happened that day in Springfield! Please click here to read House Resolution 40.)
We had a Hog Day in 1950 that was similar to the one day events in 1947, 1948 and 1949. No records have been found of Hog Day being observed in 1951 or 1952. However, in 1952, the Kewanee High School Future Farmers of America Chapter and its advisor, Jim Golby, revived the barrow show event setting up pens on the track at the KHS stadium.
A similar barrow show was held in 1954, again coordinated by Golby and the FFA, not long after Kewanee completed celebrating its Centennial. The centennial, held in July of that year, featured a huge parade and, get ready for this, the world's largest outdoor FREE barbecue, designed to feed over 50 thousand people. (Please click here for more on the one and only free barbecue ever held!) Pits were actually dug into a city parking lot at Chestnut and First Streets, filled with hickory wood and lit! Eudell Watts and Joe Rule were in charge of the
This will be our first year attending this festival, which we've heard is the cat's pajamas! It starts this Friday and goes until late Monday night. We've heard everything from "lock your doors!" to "put your dancin' shoes on"! We'll let you know which route we take!!
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