Meet Me at the Fair

The Missouri State Museum, inside the Capitol in Jefferson City, currently features an exhibit called "Meet Me at the Fair".  It contains memorabilia from the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis.  On August 7, 1999 I met a living exhibit of the 1904 World's Fair.  His name was Robert L. Hendershott.  He drove his minivan to my office.  He was 101 years old at the time.

In 1904, Robert attended the St. Louis World's Fair a number of times with his father, a trolley car operator.  Though he was only 6 years old at the time, an interest in that Fair was indelibly imprinted on his brain and he became one of the foremost experts on all things surrounding the Fair.  In 1994, at the age of 96, Robert wrote and published a book about the Fair called The 1904 St. Louis World's Fair Mementos and Memorabilia.  When Bob mentioned his book to me in 1999, I told him I would be interested in reading it.  "I've got a copy in my car!" he said, before adding  "Twenty-five dollars."  I made the purchase.  On the inside cover he wrote:

 Best wishes to Doug Reece

 Robert L. Hendershott

 Aug. 7, 1999

101 yrs old

 Author

I still remember bits of my conversation with Bob.  He told me his first wife had passed away when he was around 85.  He subsequently met and proposed to a lady who was 60 years old.  When she hesitated, he said he told her "If you marry me I'll take you on a trip around the world!"  She did, and he did.  Bob also told me he had drank a bottle of Coca-cola every day since 1940.  "People tell me 'Bob, that will kill you'" he said.  "I just answer 'Oh, yeah?  Well, when?'"

If you are interested in living to be 100, Bob had the following suggestions:

1.  Keep busy

2.  Think positive

3.  Have goals, and

4.  Have a hobby

When I met Bob he was in the process of moving to Iowa to be closer to his family and I never saw him again after that.  When I googled Bob's name recently I discovered he had passed away in 2005 at the age of 106.  His obituary said he had passed away peacefully in his sleep. 

I hope he wasn't driving his minivan at the time.