During the Great Depression in 1932, a book titled State Fair, by journalist and native Iowan Phil Stong, was published. It was the same year that Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly a plane across the Atlantic, the Lindbergh baby was kidnapped, and Buck Rogers of the 25th Century debuted on the radio.
The fictional story follows the Frake family as they prepare to travel from their farm to Des Moines, Iowa, to attend the Iowa State Fair. The father, Abel, hopes to win the grand prize for his Hampshire boar Blue Boy; the mother, Melissa,mincemeat; and the young adult children, Wayne and Margy, both feeling dissatisfied with their current sweethearts and life in general hope to raise a ruckus, which foreshadows later events in the book that explains the reason Stong's book was banned in his hometown for 25 years following its publication.
