SmartBanking Blog

15 Things You Might Not Know about Circleville’s Pumpkin Show

For over a hundred years, the Circleville Pumpkin Show has brought so much joy to our community and attendees from around the world, and we wanted to know a little more about it. Our research turned up some interesting facts. Think you know everything there is to know about Pumpkin Show? Test your knowledge below!

1. The Pumpkin Show has only been cancelled twice in its 100+ year history: once during WWI, and again in 2020 because of COVID-19. It was reduced in size in 1943 and 1944 because of WWII. Therefore, though the show was started in 1903, the 100^th Pumpkin Show was celebrated in 2005.
2. The acts and attractions of The Pumpkin Show have changed radically over the years. Early Pumpkin Shows had high wire acts and flagpole sitters—even dance acts.
3. Lucile Heiss was the first Miss Pumpkin Show in 1933! After that, the Miss Pumpkin Show competition expanded with the Little Miss Pumpkin Show competition.
4. Ted Lewis made an appearance at Pumpkin Show for almost 50 years. He used to ride on a float and yell “Is everybody happy?” while waving his iconic top hat.
5. In the early days of the Show, fifty-pound pumpkins were considered impressive. Now, it is not unusual to see several pumpkins well over a thousand pounds.
6. The first Pumpkin Show ride was installed in 1905 and was a merry-go-round. Post WWII, the Show started adding more attractions for more of a carnival atmosphere.
7. With over 300,000 visitors, The Pumpkin Show is the sixth largest festival in the United States!
8. Over 100,000 pumpkin doughnuts are sold over the course of 4 days (though you can get Lindsay’s pumpkin doughnuts year-round).
9. In honor of the Pumpkin Show, Lindsay’s Bakery makes the largest pumpkin pie in the world.  But don’t count on getting a piece, the 400 lb. pie is fed to hogs at the end of the Show.
10. The Pumpkin Show record for giant pumpkin is held by Dr. Liggett. In 2014, his pumpkin topped 1,963 lbs.!
11. The largest pumpkin festival in the world is the Ludwigsburg Pumpkin Festival in Germany. Their festival runs for five months and showcases over 450,000 pumpkins.
12. There are world famous pumpkin festivals in Australia, New Zealand, England, and all over the United States.
13. Mayor George P. Haswell is the father of The Pumpkin Show, and the current mayor of Circleville has since served as the director of The Pumpkin Show in his honor.
14. The Pickaway County Agricultural Society organized the event until the county fair was established. It was then taken over by a dedicated group of individuals, Pumpkin Show, Inc.
15. The Pumpkin Show has been featured by The New York Times and National Geographic in past years.

https://travel.ludwigsburg.de/start/events+_+festivals/ludwigsburg+pumpkin+festival.html

https://www.pumpkinshow.com/pdf/factsheet.pdf

https://www.pumpkinshow.com/history/

Pickaway County, Ohio: History & Families, 1810-2005 by Pickaway County Historical and Genealogical Society (Ohio)