The Columbian Exposition

May 1 – October 30, 1893

A World’s Fair was expensive!

• Fairs were held in world-class cities• The host city needed to construct a

collection of buildings to house the exposition exhibits

• A fair tried to showcase the city hosting it as well as all the world’s advances in technology, the arts, and other cool things

• Before 1893, fairs were held in such places as…..

New York, 1853

London, 1862

Philadelphia, 1876

Paris,1889, where the Eiffel Tower was unveiled to the world

After the US Centennial in 1876….

• Americans began brainstorming an exposition to commemorate the

400th anniversary of Columbus’s discovery of this continent

• Columbus arrived in 1492, so the fair was planned for 1892

• BUT WHICH CITY WOULD HOST IT?

The extremely cultured New York City seemed to be the logical choice

But CHICAGO had other ideas. OUR city wanted to host the fair.

New York City people laughed and said, “Don’t pay any attention to the nonsensical claims of that Windy City.”

And THAT is how we got our famous nickname.

SO HOW DID CHICAGO GET TO HOST THE FAIR?

$$$$The city raised $10 million to

finance the fair, and in 1890,

Congress granted Chicago the

right to host the World’s Fair

Daniel H. Burnham Frederick Law Olmstead

Jackson Park

Burnham and

Olmstead Transformed a Lake Shore

Swamp…

….into a World Class Fair

…into a

World Class Fair

Early Constructionin Jackson Park

One of the construction workers was Walt Disney’s father

Manufactures Building Construction

When it was completed, the Manufactures Building covered 44 acres and could hold

150,000 visitors

The invention of spray paint helped make all the plaster buildings white

The main part of the fair was even called the White City

There was a festive atmosphere in the streets of Chicago on the day the

fair opened: May 1, 1893

The Opening Ceremony took place in the Manufactures Building

People could get to the fair by train

And when they arrived, they were amazed by the

wonders of the

WHITE CITY

Interesting Statistics

• The fair covered over 600 acres• Cost: $27,245,566 (over $534 million in today’s

money)• Admission: 50 cents for adults, 25 cents for

children• Electric Lighting: over 138,000 lights• Bathrooms: 3000 (1500 of which charged a

nickel)• Two water plants, pumping out 64,000,000

gallons of water a day

Electricity Building

Electricity on display

More Interesting Statistics

• Total attendance: 27,529,400

• Best day: 716,881 people (Chicago Day)

• Clean up crew: 60 teams of 30 men

Crowd on Chicago Day, October 9, 1893

Want to know even more about the fair?

• There were moveable sidewalks and a small train that also moved people around the fair (similar to the monorail at Disneyland)

• There were full-size reproductions of the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria as well as a Viking ship

• You could take gondola rides on the lagoons• The Columbian Fountain cost $100 an hour to

operate

Train at the Fair

Transportation Building

The interior of a Pullman Palace Railroad Car

Most states had their own buildings. For example….

• Illinois Building• Michigan Building• New York Building

So did many countries, such as Great Britain, Brazil, France, and Germany

World’s Fair Food Firsts……mmm, yummy!

• Aunt Jemima syrup• Cracker Jacks• Cream of Wheat &

Shredded Wheat• Diet Carbonated

Soda• Juicy Fruit gum• Hamburger

And there was plenty of weird stuff, too!

• A 1500 pound Venus de Milo statue made out of…..chocolate!

• An eleven ton hunk

of cheese• Butter sculptures• A map of the US

made out

of pickles

YOU COULD SEE A LOT OF COOL THINGS

AT THE WHITE CITY!

AND if you wanted even MORE

excitement….

YOU COULD VISIT THE MIDWAY!

The Midway stretched west from the White City

On the Midway, you could ride the world’s first Ferris Wheel

The Ferris Wheel had 36 wooden cars that each held 60 people.

There were cultures represented from all over the

world…but they were arranged according to their level of

“civilization,” which was often RACIST.

The world was there, but stereotypes were often reinforced

Egyptian dancers on the Midway

Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show

“Civilization” on the Midway was shown to progress to the ultimate utopia: the modern WHITE CITY

The perfect world, or utopia, was to be found for the first time in a CITY, and not in the countryside

But the fair could not last forever. It ended on

October 30, 1893.

Only one building from the actual fair grounds remains today…can you guess

what it is from this picture?

The other building still standing that was constructed to hold administrative offices for the fair is located

downtown, and it is…

SO WHAT HAPPENED TO THE REST OF THE

BUILDINGS?

• The plaster buildings were never meant to be permanent.

• Then, a depression broke out in 1893, followed by the Pullman Strike of 1894.

• Railroad workers clashed with police on the former fairgrounds.

Eventually, all that was left of the fair was burnt wreckage

Here are Jackson Park and the Midway Plaisance today

HOMEWORKHOMEWORK

1) Pretend you are visiting the World’s 1) Pretend you are visiting the World’s Fair in 1893. What did you see and do Fair in 1893. What did you see and do there? What did you eat? Describe there? What did you eat? Describe your experiences in a 2-page letter or your experiences in a 2-page letter or journal.journal.

EXTRA CREDIT—illustrate your letter or EXTRA CREDIT—illustrate your letter or journal, and/or draw the cartoon which journal, and/or draw the cartoon which made fun of Chicago that is described made fun of Chicago that is described in your textbook on p. 114.in your textbook on p. 114.