World's Fair Chicago 1893 (Bailee Barrilleaux)

A poster advertising the World's Fair

          Since 1492, when Columbus sailed the ocean blue, and the New World was first discovered, the human race has evolved into a creative and complex species. There is no longer a reliance on hunting and gathering. Modern medicine is advancing every day, and, fortunately, there is the luxury of indoor plumbing. Humanity has never been shy to boast about accomplishments such as these, and the World’s Fair in 1893 was planned entirely to showcase the advancements of the modern world.





The tickets given to visitors who visited the fair

A celebration of the 400th anniversary of Columbus’ arrival, the 1893 World’s Fair, located in Chicago, Illinois, was a necessary social and cultural event in Chicago and America’s history. Every aspect of Chicago was updated and positively affected, from architecture to sanitation, by the extravagance of the event. The fair proved to the world that Chicago had been able to make a full recovery from the Great Chicago Fire in 1871 and the city became a symbol of the rising belief in American Exceptionalism. The World’s Fair, coined the  World’s Columbian Exposition, was carefully planned by a plethora of popular commercial leaders and project managers. Construction on the site began in 1891 and over 40,000 workers were employed during the building of the fair. Daniel Burnham and Frederick Law Olmsted were the primary designers of the building plan for the event and headed the Court of Honor, which oversaw the construction of every building and attraction. The two men decided to use the French architecture technique, “Beaux Arts”, which applied symmetry and balance to the layout of the buildings in order to showcase their splendor. One of the greatest aspects of the entire fair was the enormous reflecting pool that was in the center of Jackson Park. The massive size of the pool was a symbol of the long journey that Columbus made to the New World and the great strides that humanity have made since then. The World’s Fair was split up into two main attractions; the White City and Midway. The White City was boulevard upon boulevard of old world inspired, white stucco buildings and exhibits on all areas of human invention, including agriculture, transportations, science, engineering, and art. The Midway was a crowded mix of belly dancers, exotic animals, “freakshow” entertainers, and the world’s first ever Ferris Wheel.

 



An article written about the uses of electricity at the World's Fair

Chicago was chosen to host the fair in 1893 after many local business tycoons raised a few extra million dollars to produce a slightly higher bid than New York City. The competitive spirit of the selection process only brought more interest to the fair. Ultimately, the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago surpassed all previous attempts in grandness and perfectly showcased the greatest inventions of the time along with boosting American optimism. The main goal of the event was to celebrate the achievements of man and all achievements were showcased in multiple different ways. The advancing techniques in architecture were seen throughout the 200 buildings built for the fair, 5 of which still stand today, and the building of the Home Insurance Building, which was the first skyscraper in the world with a completely steel framework. Of all the great advancements showcased at the World’s Columbian Exposition, electricity was the unsurpassed star. Electricity was a recently invented phenomenon that spark the interest of people across America and the World. The first official test of the light bulb was only a few years before, performed by Thomas Jefferson in 1879. This revolutionary idea could be seen throughout the fair, whether it was the sidewalks of the White City accented by an abundance of electric street lamps, or the first Ferris wheel built by George Ferris that stood at 264 feet high and could hold 2,160 people at once. The press ate up every part of the World’s Fair and the amazing human technologies that it celebrated. Papers across Chicago, America, and the World published tons of articles on every aspect of the event and attracted more than 27 million visitors to the windy city from May 1^st, 1893 to October 1893.

While there have been many elaborate World’s Fairs since 1893, and the upcoming fair, nicknamed “EXPO 2015”, in Milan is supposed draw in 29 million people to its sites in Rho and Pero, the World’s Columbian Exposition will always be a memorable international exhibition. The fair took place at just the right time, when Chicago had finally recovered from the Great Fire, a sense of curiosity was spreading across the country, and one of the world’s greatest technologies, electricity, was affecting every aspect of human existence. The 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago will always be one of the greatest testaments to the accomplishments of man and the basic human persistence to always understand and create a better world.

Works Cited

 

Adams, Judith A. "The promotion of new technology through fun and spectacle: Electricity at the World's Columbian Exposition." Journal of American Culture 18.2 (Summer 1995): History Study Center. Web. 17 Dec. 2014.

Appelbaum, Stanley. The Chicago World's Fair of 1893: A Photographic Record, Photos from the Collections of the Avery Library of Columbia University and the Chicago Historical Society. New York: Dover Publications, 1980. Print.

Nalty, Sean. "Building a Century of Progress: The Architecture of the 1933-1934 Chicago World's Fair." The Virginia Quarterly Review 84.1 (Winter 2008): 266-267. History Study Center. Web. 9 Dec. 2014.

 

"The Chicago World's Fair of 1893." Inside American History. Abingdon/Cambridge: Helicon, 2007. History Study Center. Web. 9 Dec. 2014.

 

"WORLD'S FAIRS." The Reader's Companion to American History. 1991. History Study Center. Web. 9 Dec. 2014.