This painting depicts a scene full of ordinary middle class families enjoying the attractions, and with no suggestion of any impending moral downfall, despite the bad press the fair received.

From what we know of the artist and her work we can surmise that this is a reasonably accurate picture of the fair and the kind of people who attended.

It is interesting to compare this image to the one by Samuel Coleman, which is clearly composed as an argument against the fair.

Private collection (photograph)