Richmond’s Fall Festivals occurred in 1908, 1909, 1910 and 1913. Shown below is the poster for the 1910 event, which also celebrated Wayne County’s centennial.
The festival organizers, the Young Men’s Business Club, chose this design by Charles Clawson because it touched on so many of the festival themes.
In the foreground seated on a white horse is Ceres, the goddess of agriculture, holding a horn of plenty spilling coins and paper money. Leading the horse are a farmer and a factory worker, representing the county’s agricultural and industrial might.
Because it is commemorating the creation of Wayne County in 1810, a Father Time-sort of figure appears on the right hand side holding a banner that says 1810, and with a prairie schooner in the upper corner. On the left side is a child looking into a bright future and holding a corresponding 1910 banner, with an automobile in the upper corner. (The extra elderly man with a sickle is not mentioned in the coverage, and his presence is unclear.)
Richmond used the slogan “Panic Proof” for several years beginning in 1909 when the Young Men’s Business Club sponsored a contest run by the Richmond Palladium to choose the next city slogan. The Palladium of July 25, 1909 explains why this was the favorite of the many submitted entries:
