Charles Kavanaugh has fair memories by the thousands.
It was like a world’s fair among Fairs…a cornucopia of giant Sinclair Oil dinosaurs, streets of foreign lands, livestock shows and other astounding attractions all wrapped grandly in the art deco splendor of buildings like the Texas Hall of State. The Texas Centennial Exposition of 1936 was a $25 million masterpiece of art and imagination that put Dallas on the map. It attracted 6 million visitors who left behind Depression-era frustrations for a few magic hours of Lone Star excitement.
Charles Kavanaugh is an expert on the Texas Centennial Exposition down to the last Heinz pickle pin and Red Goose Shoes coin. He owns perhaps the largest collection of 1936 Texas State Fair memorabilia on the planet. A very congenial man and lifelong resident of the Dallas area, he remembers coming up from rural Hamilton County to the fair with his family. “I was nine years old and we spent two days at the Fair. It was the biggest spectacle I had ever seen. Those Sinclair Oil dinosaurs sure caught my eye. I recall a roller coaster named The Lightning and getting my picture taken with “Mae West”.
“Another highlight was the Ford Automobile Company assembly line exhibit. After visitors walked the length of the assembly line, they were rewarded with a free miniature rubber ’36 Ford car!”
Joint venture becomes Texas-sized nest egg.
Charles’ wife, Betty, who died earlier this year, had also gone to the 1936 State Fair as a young girl. So it was no surprise that they took such an interest in preserving the expo’s legacy, but the idea really took flight when the nation’s bicentennial came along in 1976. Kavanaugh noted that Texas’ Sesquicentennial was coming up in 1986 and it might make a smart investment to buy 1936 Texas Centennial memorabilia. “We could have put money in securities, but we believed this would be just as good.”
That passion for accumulating items from the Texas Centennial Exposition and other Texas state fairs now fills untold boxes in Kavanaugh’s closets. “There must be over 3,500 pieces in my Centennial collection alone,” he figures. “Betty and I combed estate sales, flea markets, you name it. The first piece we obtained was a small charm for a necklace or bracelet. Then we added letter openers, original tickets—including some that were unused, drink stirrers, posters, old photos, guard and police badges, advertising trinkets from places like the Neiman Marcus Men’s Shop, even a miniature whiskey still.”
For roughly 15 years, Charles and Betty had a booth each month at the Women’s Building, where they bought and sold coveted treasures. “People called me the Centennial Man,” Kavanaugh laughs. “Meeting all those wonderful folks was even better than taking medicine. You forgot about anything negative in your life.”
In search of a permanent showcase.
Kavanaugh still buys and sells just about anything State Fair related. In fact, one of his proudest and prized possessions is a tintype of the original 1885 Texas State Fair, showing the grounds being cleared. But he’d really like to see his entire Centennial collection housed and displayed in a place that could be viewed by all residents of Texas, young and old. Kavanaugh is currently hoping for a museum to buy the whole nine yards. So far, a number of entities are interested, so stay tuned. “This is a kind of history that will excite every Texan,” believes Charles Kavanaugh. “And the 1936 Exposition was a crown jewel for Dallas and the entire state. Everyone deserves to see these memories preserved in their full glory.”
