Portland Street Fair & Carnival 1900 Princess store ~ Oregon Pre-Rose Festival ~ Finley Family ~ Craig Family of Monmouth ~ Ina Craig Finley

store Item: [two photographs] Portland Street Fair and Carnival Princess portraits [Sep 1900, Oregon]

Description: Two mounted vintage studio portraits of one of princesses of Portland's grand Street Fair and Carnival, held during the first week of September 1900. One portrait is full-body and one is head-and-shoulders, each taken from a slightly different perspective.

[I] 8 x 5.5'' mounted on a 12 x 9.75 board. Full body portrait of the princess in crown and regal dress. Inscribed on photograph ''Ina Finley - Rose Festival Parade''. Produced by the photographic studio of Elbridge W. Moore, located in the Dekum Building at 3rd & Washington between 1897-1903. Top corner of mounting board is lightly chipped.
[II] 7.8 x 5.5'' mounted on a 9 x 7'' board. Head-and-should of the princess in fancy crown, necklace and flared dress collarBottom-left corner of photo is damaged. The name ''Craig'' is inscribed in pencil on the reverse side.

Miss Ina Lucile Craig (1882-1980) married Arthur L. Finley in 1907, the notable Portland mortician and brother of the wildlife photographer William L. Finley. She was a descendant of the pioneer Craig family of Monmouth, Oregon. Her obituary mentions that she had been a 1900 Rose Festival princess, despite the fact that the official Rose Festival did not begin until 1908. The significance of the Portland Street Fair and Carnival in 1900 would have been the social and cultural equivalent of the Rose Festival, as Mrs. Finley appears to imply with her technically incorrect inscription.

Very likely the biggest event in Portland in 1900, the Portland Street Fair and Carnival (essentially, the predecessor to the Rose Festival) was a week-long event held in downtown and which saw more than 20,000 people in attendance just on its opening day. It included a Queen and her court and a floral parade. The Morning Oregonian of 4 September 1900 mentions that the Queen had selected her maids-of-honor, including ''Mis Inez [sic] Craig" and that ''their costumes will be rich beyond expectation.'' The royal court was received by Portland Mayor H. S. Rowe upon their entrance.
Condition: Very Good

Place: Portland, Oregon
Year: 1900

Keywords: Rose Festival princess,