1/39The crowd flinches as this ride zooms past in 1949.
Our beloved Show in photos, from 1921 to 1971
Every year since it began in 1921, the Ekka has grown bigger and better. As the Royal Show became the Brisbane Exhibition, and then just the Ekka, it has cemented a place in our hearts.
2/39A group of boys with their haul in 1956, when showbags were still great value. Picture: Ray Saunders
3/39Kelvin Holn, eight months, of Toowoomba, makes sure this heifer doesn’t touch his milk bottle, in 1964. Picture: Jim Fenwick
4/39A girl enjoying a toffee apple, in 1940.
5/39The best view of the Grand Parade in 1970 was from the chairlift. Picture: Jim Fenwick
6/39Boys line up to get a drink of fresh milk from the Ekka’s cows in 1949.
7/39Check out this pram! A mum and her children arrive at the Show in 1947.
8/39Anyone in there? This boy makes sure Ned is not still alive, in 1949.
9/39Nurses take young patients to the Show, 1950. Note the boy still in his PJs.
10/39Look what I got. 1946, when showbags actually were paper bags, with free things inside.
11/39Children visiting the chicks, 1946
12/39Small One, a month-old Jersey calf, gets a ride Bob Finnis, a groom on R.J. Crawford's Kingaroy stud, 1961. Picture: Ray Saunders
13/39Pack-up time, 1948. The first exhibition on the site of the Brisbane Exhibition Grounds dates to August 1876.
14/39Grand parade in 1937.
15/39Woo hoo!! Mary Ryan of Redcliffe, and Judy Brannellyn, of Clontarf, in 1952. Picture: Dave Schmidt
16/39Dismantling the tents, 1948, after another successful Show.
17/39Leesa Milgate,5, from Chermside, worn out after a big day at the show in 1969. Picture: Len Drummond
18/39Just you try to run away. 1952.
19/39Bernard Vicic, 8, of Gailes, tries the fairy floss in 1968 on his first ever time at the Show. Picture: Keith Morris
20/39Crowds at Side Show Alley in 1978. Picture: Geoff McLachlan
21/39Rob Joyce with his Brahman Bull walking back to the cattle pavilion in 1965. Picture: Ray Saunders
22/39Schoolgirls on the main arena dance around a Maypole, 1937.
23/39In 1937 many people arrived at the Ekka by tram.
24/39Watch your step, ladies. Schoolgirls coming on to the main arena in 1937.
25/39The Daring Dancing Girls callout to the crowds in Side Show Alley in 1948.
26/39Many of the buildings are unchanged, but not the fashions. Dressed up for the Show in 1948.
27/39Plenty of rubbish was left over to clean up in 1948.
28/39The big ferris wheel lit up in 1970. Picture: E.Slade
29/39Exhausted, 1948.
30/39The queue to get on a ride, 1949.
31/39Raymond Spresser, 11, of Rosewood, with Carnation Crystal Glow, a Jersey cow from his father's farm. Picture: Keith Morri
32/39Cattle judging in the centre ring Grand Parade, 1956. Picture: Ray Saunders
33/39Side Show Alley, 1969, packed with visitors. Picture: Keith Morris
34/39The crowd was in a holiday mood in 1969. Picture: Keith Morris
35/39Crowds in 1950.
36/39Grand Parade, 1921. Picture: Andy Burnett, supplied by Bev Doohan of Bridgeman Downs
37/39A sea of humanity, 1950.
38/39My new friend, 1949.
39/39Part of the Fruit and Vegies from the Moreton District display, 1948.