Director Henry King and crew were invited to the 1932 State Fair and Exposition in Des Moines, Iowa to film background material, including the racing scenes and midway. After the fair, they purchased three hogs, including the grand champion, Dike of Rosedale, who was cast as Blue Boy.
" State Fair " was the sixth most popular movie at the U.S. box office for 1933.
Cinematographers Joseph A. Valentine and Edwin Hammeras shot the location footage in Des Moines, IA.
When Fox released the 1962 remake of State Fair, the studio ceased further distribution of the earlier versions so as not to compete with the remake's box office take. The 1933 film disappeared entirely for decades, not to be seen again until the 1990s. The 1945 version turned up on television with a new title, It Happened One Summer, again to minimize confusion, as the 1962 version was also leased to local television stations.
From the publication "Who's Who in Nebraska, 1940" - Purebred Hampshire hogs of the herd of farmer and stockman Ed S. Rennick (Edward Samuel Rennick) attracted nationwide attention in 1932 when "Blue Boy," winning the Midwest championship, was sold to 20th Century Fox Studios for the 1933 motion picture "State Fair." "Blue Boy" starred with Will Rogers, who later presented him to the California Polytechnical School (Cal Poly). In 1938 and again in 1939, Gilbert Bolz, a Stanton County 4-H member, won the grand championship at the Nebraska State Fair with his calves.