The Canadian National Exhibition is an annual fair held at the end of August in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was established in 1879 as a modest agricultural and industrial exhibition and has expanded to an annual fair that attracts over one and a half million persons during its two-and-a-half week run.
The fair has been held annually from 1879 on the same Exhibition Place site on Lake Ontario, except during World War II, when the fairgrounds were given up to the Canadian military, and a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The fair provides entertainment, a midway, shopping, two parades, an air show, agricultural displays and numerous food vendors for visitors.
Beginnings
In September 1846, the Provincial Agricultural Fair of Canada West, sponsored by the Provincial Agricultural Association and the Board of Agriculture for Canada West, was held in Toronto in the area near present-day King and Simcoe Streets. While primarily an agricultural event, it also displayed manufactured goods and decorative arts and crafts. The fair was a success, and it was proposed that future fairs be held in different locations each year. In 1847, the fair was held in Hamilton and thereafter travelled to such cities as Cobourg, Kingston, Niagara, and Brockville.CNE Archives. 2013.
In 1852, the fair returned to the west side of University Avenue in the Grange Park area, stretching from a bit north of Dundas Street to a bit south of College Street. It lasted four days. The Horse Park, on the west side of the grounds, was loaned to the fair by Mrs. Boulton, who lived in the Grange, and it was bounded on the north by the Caer Howell Pleasure Grounds (in a way a forerunner of the midway). The fair was a success, attracting more than visitors. After the 1852 fair, the Board of the Association passed the resolution to the Government to support municipalities who would construct permanent structures for the fair. The City of Toronto received of Military Reserve lands south of the Lunatic Asylum, west of the city, on King Street West and constructed the 'Palace of Industry', nicknamed the 'Crystal Palace', its walls were cast iron and glass (this being prior to electric lighting), in time for the next time the event was held in Toronto, in 1858.
After the 1877 fair held in London, Ontario, the City of Toronto won the right to hold the fair in 1878. The current site on King Street was considered unsuitable and City Council promised new facilities. The City arranged for a lease with the Government of Canada of of the Military Reserve west of Old Fort York, at the foot of Dufferin Street for per year. To build the facilities, the City estimated the cost at , which was put to a vote of Toronto taxpayers in May 1878. The vote failed, and plans were made to finance the new site through a bond offering. This failed also, but the City went ahead and added the amount to its budget anyway. Beginning in July, with only three months to complete the site, preparations began on the site. The 1878 fair was held on the new site at the foot of Dufferin Street. The City moved the Crystal Palace from its site on King Street to a place on the grounds to serve as the main exhibition space. A second floor and cupola was added to the building when it was reconstructed.
After the 1878 fair, Toronto City Council and the local Exhibition Committee approached the Provincial Agriculture Association with a proposition: that the fair remain permanently in Toronto. The Association thanked City Council and the Exhibition Committee for their work in delivering a successful fair in 1878 but informed them that a decision had already been made to move the fair to another city in 1879. Council, along with local businessmen, moved ahead with plans to establish a permanent fair in Toronto. The Agricultural Association refused again to hold the fair in Toronto, and instead a new permanent fair was created, the Toronto Industrial Exhibition (TIE), an incorporated entity.
The new fair opened to the public on Tuesday, September 2, 1879, and lasted for three weeks (Sundays excepted). The exhibition hosted an attendance of an estimated paid admissions. It was officially opened by Governor General John Campbell, Marquess of Lorne and Princess Louise the following Friday, September 5, the Marquess declaring "I have much pleasure in declaring the Toronto Industrial Exhibition formally open to the public." The day was capped by a grand ball held off-site at the Pavilion at Allan Gardens. The first fair had exhibits and of buildings. The fair was staggered, showing animals in the second and third weeks only.
For that first fair, the York Pioneers Historical Society, on its own, relocated the 1794 Scadding Cabin settler's log cabin to the site. The Grandstand show was a display of prize animals. The track of the Military Reserve and its Grandstand was used for equestrian displays and several wooden structures were built for other exhibits and live stock. Attendees arrived by carriage by Dufferin Street, by boat at two wharves, by the Great Western Railway line and the street railway, which was extended to Strachan Avenue. A row of pens along the waterfront held the live stock. Sporting events included a half-mile foot race for a purse of and a sculling race won by Jacob Gaudaur for a prize of .
As the fair grew, it exhibited the latest technological advances. Exhibition patrons were introduced to electric railway transportation in 1884, to "Edison's Perfected Phonograph" in 1888, to "wireless telegraphy" at the 1899 fair,. By 1883, the CNE was lit at night by an electric lighting tower just east of the Crystal Palace.
The fair grew to add attractions other than agricultural and industrial ones. In 1884, the fair added the "Little World" exhibit of miniature landscapes with about 100 figures doing "all the operations required in the carrying on of the leading industries of the day." It was extremely popular with half-hour waits in line and returned in the following two fairs. In 1885, the fair included three 'Grand Balloon Excursions' by the 'Lady Aeronaut' Carlotta. The electric railway was operated again. An 'International Fireworks Competition' was held, along with "Mr. Hirschfelder's Great Museum" of curiosities, "Professor Morley's Beautiful Fata Morgana" and the animal exhibits of Piper's Toronto Zoo. That year saw the construction of two permanent rides: a 'racing' roller coaster, and a 'Switchback' there and back coaster like the Switchback Railway at Coney Island.
The addition of entertainments led to criticism that the fair was not paying enough attention to its agricultural and industrial roots. In 1881, the editor of the Reformer that the "addition of so many features of such a novel and promiscuous character that the merely agricultural and industrial is apt to be lost sight of." According to the Labour Advocate what was an instructive show was turning into "a mere gallery of mountebanks and hawkers." And the Telegram urged that the "circus business" be done-away with. As the entertainments showed they had drawing power, the newspapers became more supportive. The Globe pointed out that the entertainment's revenue also produced better displays in other departments.
After several years with only a simple cairn to mark the spot, the 1887 fair saw the dedication of an obelisk on the site of old French fort Fort Rouillé at the foot of Dufferin Street. The Exhibition Association, the city, the province and the York Pioneers all contributed to its funding.
Exhibitors did realize the value of entertainment in their exhibits. The 1887 'Moxie Nerve Food' exhibit was a pyramid of bottles, 12 bottles high. The use of miniatures was common. The 1887 Polson Iron Works had a model of a Canadian Pacific steamship under construction and two years later the Canadian Pacific exhibit itself had a model of the Empress of India. The 1893 Massey farm equipments company display included a long electric model of the train they used to ship to market and was hosted by an Egyption dragoman in exotic Eastern clothing. The 1893 exhibit of the agricultural association of the North-West Territories (then including the Prairies) presented a miniature farm model with miniature humans, machinery and animals.
Retailers displayed at the Ex in the Crystal Palace from the start, although their displays were small. By 1887, the Main Building was completely full of retailers and resembled a "vast store". By the 1890s, the large department stores Eaton's and Simpson's took up large exhibit space, and Eaton's itself took over the Main Building completely in 1899.
The 1897 fair celebrated the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria, taking on the name of "Victorian Era Exposition and Industrial Fair." It was opened by Lieutenant-Governor George Kirkpatrick and Lady Kirkpatrick. A highlight of the year's fair was a special exhibit of gold and silver ores from British Columbia and Lake of the Woods in the CPR Building.
The 1901 fair added the animals of Toronto's two zoos: elk from High Park, and moose, doe and fawn from the Riverdale Zoo. They were displayed in an open-air pen north of the Railways Building. The fair's opening day recorded its best attendance to date. The grandstand show had a naval and military spectacle "Bombardment of the Taku Forts" and "Destruction of the Chinese fleet" in the recent Chinese war, followed by fireworks.
In 1902, the "Midway of Marvels" was introduced. Acts and attractions included "Frank Bostock's Animal Arena" of trained wild animals, Williams and Warren's "Fairyland", Heazlits' Children's Theatre, Captain Louis Sorchos "Deep Sea Divers", Cassel's Dog and Pony Show, Stark's Glassworks, and Milton Dowker's display of Alberta cowboy life in the Northwest Territories. Other attractions included Sosman and Landis' 'electrical exhibition' "A Day at The Alps", Cora Beckwirth's Water Carnival, the "Temple of Illusion" and a moving-picture exhibit showing the eruption of Mt. Pelee among other subjects. That same year the Art Gallery building was erected. It displayed water-colour and oil paintings, fine china, and a display of art of the Technical School. The matinee performance was high-diving; the evening spectacle was "The Orient" produced by Bolossy Kiralfy, a new production of his spectacle shown in London, England. Kiralfy would return the next year to produce "A Carnival in Venice" of Italian music to a backdrop of Venice, the songs sung from gondolas and the musicians on an island.
Canadian National Exhibition In 1901, the Exhibition was opened by Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier. In his address at the opening ceremony, Exhibition Association president Dr. Andrew Smith announced the Association's intentions to Laurier: "We aim to make this a Canadian National Exhibition, to secure exhibits from all the Provinces, to assemble in these grounds and buildings specimens of the manifold products and industries of Canada, to contribute to the unity of the Commonwealth, promote commercial, industrial, and agricultural enterprises, and establish in the Canadian people faith and pride in their own resources, opportunities and achievements."