Iowa State Fair Honors Abraham Lincoln

(image courtesy Des Moines Register)

The Iowa State Fair is held annually in that state's capital of Des Moines to showcase its industrial and agricultural heritage.  It began in 1854 and is one of the largest annual events in the United States, and has been named as one of the best summer events by such publications as USA Weekend.

One of the highlights of the fair is the "butter cow," a near life-size sculpture of a cow, made from butter.  This is a tradition of the fair, honoring the dairy industry of Iowa.  In addition to the annual butter cow, every year another sculpture made from butter is created to honor something significant to the state or nation.  

This year the fair had a butter sculpture featuring none other than President Abraham Lincoln.  The organizers of the fair decided on Lincoln for a couple of reasons.  This year marks the 100th anniversary of the creation of the Lincoln Highway, the first automobile road to span the entire continental United States.  The Highway crosses Iowa and is the longest continuous such route in that state. Also the sculpture honors Lincoln himself.  This year marks the sesquicentennial of both the Emancipation Proclamation and the Gettysburg Address. The sculpture shows Lincoln standing with his hat on a small table, speech in his hand, as he is addressing the crowd in Gettysburg on November 19, 1863.  The image above courtesy of Des Moines Register, shows the sculpture. 

The Lincoln sculpture and accompanying butter cow are the creations of artist Sarah Pratt of West Des Moines, Iowa, who is the official sculptor of the fair.  Each sculpture is first created out of a combination of wire, steel, and wood, then covered in butter.  She works in 40 degree temperatures inside the cooler.  According to the fair's website, the butter is often recycled into the following year's sculptures.  

The below is a closeup of the Lincoln sculpture.  

The Iowa State Fair began on August 8 in Des Moines and closes on Sunday, August 18.  There's still plenty of time to visit it and see this wonderful sculpture of Lincoln along with all the other great attractions.