The 42nd annual Dainty Contest blocked the streets of Germantown last night. On the corner of Goss and Hoertz, the crowd gathered around the arena to watch the dainty sail down the street—or not.
For those of you scratching your heads, the Dainty contest is an old German pasttime in which you try to smack a dainty, a small carved piece of wood, up off of the ground with a stick and then sail it as far as you can. You must be 45 to participate in the Louisville festivities, and you get three tries. So all you youngsters have years to practice and perfect the art, which is not as easy as it may seem—many participants were not able to hit the dainty during their three attempts. The record was beaten this year, the number to beat now 149 feet, so good luck to you.
The event was held outside of Hauck’s, one of the last existing corner stores, which celebrated its 100 year anniversary. In addition to the sailing spectacle of the dainty, the street fest included old fashioned bologna sandwiches, cotton candy, chips, and pickles. And beer. Lots of beer.
The dainty contest has passed for this year, but if you’d like to stop by Hauck’s to congratulate their 100 years of business, have a beer, or check out their old-fashioned candy selection, you can visit them at 1000 Goss Avenue.
Photo credit: Martha Kiefer
