Men standing with horses and foals at an agricultural show held at Port Wakefield, South Australia

The Port Wakefield Agricultural and Horticultural Society was founded in 1879. W Fowler was the first President. Generally held in October each year the show was cancelled in 1913 due to the severe drought, and was not resumed in the following years due to the outbreak of World War I.

Agricultural shows were important social events where farmers and their wives had the opportunity to discuss with their fellows crops, farm animals, new machinery and methods and the weather in all its worrying diversity. Women could show off their prowess in baking and preserving and compare notes with women they had little other opportunity to meet with.

In the early years of the 20th century horses were still crucial in rural Australia as this photograph indicates: at the show the farmers had the chance to compare their stock and ensure that the quality of working and breeding stock was maintained. The first motor vehicle did not arrive in Port Wakefield until 1907; motorization of the farming industry was still years in the future.

Donovan, P. F. Port Wakefield and district, a history: commemorating a century of local government [Port Wakefield, S. Aust.]: Port Wakefield District Council, 1978

Woodfull, H. T. C. Agricultural shows [London; Melbourne]: Oxford University Press, [1965]

Frivolous gaiety or mental sweat by Ian Warden in The National Library Magazine vol. 1 no. 2 June 2009 pp. 24-27