Vintage postcard of Circleville (Ohio) Pumpkin Show

I'm writing about this postcard before adding a message to the back and mailing it off to my pen pal Marte in the Netherlands. It's a Dexter Press postcard highlighting the Circleville Pumpkin Show in Circleville, Ohio. The caption on the back states "Looking west on Main Street, the giant display of pumpkins attracts thousands of people to the annual October event." 

Some of the signs include "Blood Bank Today," "Frostola" (an ice cream vendor that I can't find much about on the internet) and Gallaher Drugs.

It's labeled as card 69781-B, and, according to this "Dating Dexter Press Postcards" article by Diane Allmen on postcardhistory.net, that means it was published in 1963.

In 1963, the Circleville Pumpkin Show had already been in existence for six decades! This year's event is slated for October 18-21.

According to the show's fact sheet, "The first Pumpkin Show was held in 1903. George Haswell, Mayor of Circleville at that time, decided it would be a great idea to try to get the country folks and the city folks together. So he invited the country folks to bring the best of their produce to town on designated dates and display them on the streets of Circleville so that the city folks would be able to appreciate their efforts."

There is, of course, a contest for the largest pumpkin each year. Last year's winning pumpkin was 1,837½ pounds and was grown by Bob and Jo Liggett. The Liggett pumpkin-raising family has done very well in the competition over the years, and the show record is a 1,964-pound pumpkin grown by Bob Liggett in 2014. That's a lot of pumpkin pie.

The autumn event also features competitions for baked goods, other vegetables and fruits, arts and crafts, and window decorating. There are Miss Pumpkin Show and Little Miss Pumpkin Show competitions.

According to the website's "fun facts," about 23,000 pumpkin pies and 100,000 pumpkin doughnuts are sold during each festival.