The King Has Abdicated

In 1958 my father had a food stand at the fair. It took him about an hour to realize you cannot sell hot dogs in the King's back yard; Yocco, the Hot Dog King. When Yocco's claimed last year they were not at the fair because their canvas ripped, I was skeptical. This year it's official, they have abdicated their spot. Tonight the fair was jammed. In Ag Hall the granges still compete in vegetable canning. A wiseguy still incites you to dunk him. The world's smallest horse hasn't grown. Maybe Yocco's is gone, but the fair is still much more like 1958 than any other aspect of Allentown.

REPRINTED FROM AUG.28, 2007

UPDATE 2016: Yocco's has announced that they have closed their original location in the 600 block of Liberty Street. 

ADDENDUM SEPTEMBER 9, 2025:As I push toward eighty, I often write about things which very few of my readers remember. While we all remember and know the fair, few will remember Louis Kane's restaurant. Mr. Kane mostly operated his traveling restaurant at the fairs in the south. However, being from this area, he would also set up at the Allentown Fair, at least up to the early 1960's.

Kane's restaurant had a glass and stainless steel front, complete with glass doors. Tables were set with table cloths and silverware. Service was by waiters.  He set up across from the side entrance of the Farmers Market, on the west side of the fairgrounds. Although very successful in the south, here in Allentown the locals stayed loyal to their church and civic association tents, which were on the eastern side of the grounds.