The World's Fair at Saint Louis

THE WORLD'S FAIR AT SAINT LOUIS

The Louisiana Purchase Exposition

Opening on 30 April 1904 with a dedication by President Theodore Roosevelt, the Saint Louis World's Fair lasted for seven months and was then the largest world's fair ever held. There were 187,798 attendees the first day. Officially the fair was named the Louisiana Purchase Exposition to commemorate the one-hundredth anniversary of the Louisiana Purchase from France in 1803. The Olympics were also a part of the fair, and America dominated the medal race. More than twenty million visitors attended throughout the fair's run, and the fair showed a $25 million profit.

Industrial Showcase

World's fairs were the primary venues for exhibiting and introducing new technologies and inventions to the public, celebrating the triumphs of the Industrial Revolution, big business, and a growing economy. The Saint Louis fair stands as a tribute to the Progressive Era and with its elaborate industrial exhibits. Several new products were introduced that remain a part of the American lifestyle. Some of the food debuting included hamburgers by local German immigrants, the ice cream cone by a local pastry maker who made wafer cones when concession stands ran out of dishes, and iced tea when hot fairgoers passed up heated English tea.

Architectural Significance

Costing more than $20 million to erect, the exposition was also noted for its dramatic architectural structures, which housed industrial, agricultural, art, historical, and cultural exhibits as well as buildings from fifty-three states and territories of the United States and fifty-two nations. The layout, with waterways, terraced thoroughfares, and cultivated grounds, was also extraordinary. The central point of the exhibition was Festival Hall, surrounded by the water of the Grand Basin, which had the largest pumping station then ever built, with a capacity of twenty-five million gallons. Yet, the central monument was the commemorative Louisiana Monument with a statue of Peace atop a globe on a tapered obelisk, standing one hundred feet high. Characterized as the "world's university," the focus of the fair was to unite all of the races and nations in one event. In keeping with the tradition of earlier fairs, most of the buildings were razed, with only a few left standing to commemorate the architecture of the period. The only building standing today is the one that houses the Saint Louis Museum of Art.

PEPSI-COLA: WHAT'S IN A NAME?

The Pepsi-Cola Company was founded in 1902, only four years after the elixir's invention in New Bern, North Carolina, by drugstore owner Caleb D. Bradham. The concoction was intentionally created to compete with the many kola nut-derived drinks on the market at the time, especially the Coca-Cola brand. Bradham enjoyed mixing special fountain drinks for his friends at the soda fountain in his drugstore. Originally called "Brad's drink" by Bradham's friends, he renamed it "Pepsi-Cola" for its alleged pharmaceutical qualities. Pepsi derives its name from the ailment it was advertised to relieve: dyspepsia. In modern times, dyspepsia is called indigestion. Early ads for Pepsi-Cola tout this benefit: "Pepsi-Cola: At Soda Fountains. Exhilarating. Invigorating. Aids Digestion."

Sources:

Milward W. Martin , Twelve Full Owncs (New York: Holt, Rinehart 6c Winston, 1962);

Adrian Room, Dictionary of Trade Name Origins (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1982).

Sources:

Mark Bennitt, ed., History of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition (New York: Arno, 1976);

The World's Fair: The Official Photographic Views of the Universal Exposition Held in Saint Louis, 1904 (Saint Louis: Thompson Publishing, 1904).