The Busy Women’s Building

The Women’s Building at the State Fair was a busy place all this last week. Besides getting all that canned stuff in place—on 10 tiers—there were 75 cakes. 75 pies. enough bread to start a bakery, and an enormous assortment of cookies, doughnuts, fudge. and candied fruits to be tasted and judged. Three days were passed in looking after the canned stuff, and two more days were spent on the baked entries. All the cakes were cut and tasted except those entered in competition for the prizes tor decorations.

Nobody will know how these taste until the fair is over. There’s one cake of four tiers, with “Minnesota State Fair, 1923,” done in meringue on top. There’s a complicated pastry affair that represents a rose. and a lovely pink heart, with lots of fussy meringue work on top.

-Minneapolis Sunday Tribune
 September 2nd, 1923

The original building on this site, completed in 1904, served as the Manufacturer’s Building. After several years, the name was changed to the Woman’s Building. In 1911, the fine arts annex was built and the Woman’s Building was linked to the Schools Exhibits Building. The  name was changed to the Home Activities Building in 1952. The place was torn down in 1970. A new structure, the aptly named Creative Activities Building, went up up in 1971. The new Cambria Kitchen for cooking demonstrations went in just a couple years ago.