World's Fairs

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World's Fairs

World's fairs are modern events of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Whereas medieval fairs were concerned with the selling of goods, modern world's fairs were involved in the selling of industrial technology and industrial society; they fostered the idea that industrial development was to be equated with social progress. World's fairs not only furnished a place where the latest technological achievements could be presented to an international public, but they provided an orientation to people confronting the vast and rapid changes of industrialism. They offered a photograph of the present, a story of past progress, and a vision of the future. But by the middle of the twentieth century, world's fairs had lost much of their importance and charm.

The first world's fair was held in London in 1851. Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria and president of the Royal Society of the Arts, wanted to go beyond the national industrial exhibitions that France had made famous and Britain was ready to duplicate. After much discussion, a building of glass and iron/wood beams was constructed in Hyde Park. The Crystal Palace held all of the exhibits. Since it was built with prefabricated interchangeable parts, the building was constructed and taken down quickly, with little damage to the Park. In fact, the building was actually constructed over 10 large elm trees. During the 141 days it was open, over six million attended. The Crystal Palace Exhibition's success inspired other nations to hold international exhibitions.

World's fairs are remembered by the products they introduced to the public. Americans did very well at the Crystal Palace Exhibition. Cyrus McCormick's reaper, Samuel Morse's telegraph, and Charles Goodyear's vulcanized rubber products were well received. Colt revolvers and Robbins-Lawrence rifles made with interchangeable parts were recognized as having revolutionized the making of fire-arms. Elisa Otis demonstrated his safety elevator at the New York World's Fair in 1853. At the Philadelphia Exposition of 1876, Alexander Graham Bell introduced the telephone, and Thomas Edison gave his first public demonstration of the phonograph in Paris in 1889. Sound-synchronized movies, x-rays, and wireless telegraphy marked the 1900 Paris fair. The St. Louis World's Fair of 1904 introduced the safety razor, the ice cream cone, iced tea, and rayon. President Franklin Roosevelt's televised opening of the 1939 New York World's Fair began regular television broadcasting in the United States. IBM's (International Business Machine) computer demonstrations educated visitors to the New York World's Fair of 1964-1965.

More important than the inventions were the industrial systems that the fairs exhibited to the public. The Philadelphia Exposition of 1876 celebrated the age of steam. In Machinery Hall, the giant Corliss steam engine, 40-feet high and 2,520 horsepowers strong, powered all the machinery in the hall. There were also steam fire engines, steam locomotives, and steam pumps. By 1893, the Chicago World's Fair was celebrating the age of electricity. At night, the fair was lighted by thousands of incandescent light bulbs. In the Electrical building were Edison and Westinghouse dynamos and electric motors that powered other machines. Transportation, however, was the theme in St. Louis in 1904. Trains, streetcars, and over 160 motorcars were displayed. A major feature of the fair was the dirigible contest, where a large cash prize awaited anyone who could pilot his airship over a prescribed route.

While world's fairs were held to celebrate historic milestones, contemporary concerns were often in the minds of fair planners. The 1876 Philadelphia Exposition recognized the centennial of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The fair was also viewed as a means to remind Americans of their common ideals, and thus heal the wounds of the Civil War. Paris' 1889 World's Fair celebrated the centennial of the French Revolution. Chicago's Exposition of 1893 recognized the 400th year anniversary of Columbus' discovery; and the St. Louis World's Fair of 1904 commemorated the centennial of the Louisiana Purchase. Both fairs were also seen as demonstrating the importance of the midwest to the nation. The centennial of the founding of the city of Chicago was the reason given for holding a world's fair in 1933. New York's World's Fair in 1939 celebrated the 150th year anniversary of George Washington's inauguration. The "Building the World of Tomorrow" theme had the high purpose of showing how a well planned democratic society would survive the world's turmoil. The outbreak of World War II in September resulted in the new theme of "Peace and Freedom" for the 1940 opening.

The outside world had a way of impinging upon world's fairs. At the New York World's Fair of 1853, Susan B. Anthony led a demonstration for women's rights. For the Philadelphia Exposition in 1876, a women's building housed a display of inventions by women, and photographs showing women working in a variety of occupations. Of particular note was Emma Allison, who operated a steam engine that ran five looms and a printing press. When a man asked her if the work was too demanding for someone of her sex, she replied "It's easier than teaching, and the pay is better." At the Chicago World's Fair of 1893, the women's building displayed a great collection of works by women. These included a library of 5,000 books, paintings, and sculptures, and mechanical devices invented by women. A careful selection of statistics from around the world showed the extent to which women were a part of the world economy. Susan B. Anthony believed the women's building did more to raise the consciousness of women than all the demonstrations of the nineteenth century.

At the Philadelphia Exposition of 1876, vendors and amusements were located outside the fairgrounds. The 1893 Chicago planners recognized that a profit could be realized by bringing the amusements and vendors into the fair itself. One of the most popular of the Midway exhibits was the "streets of Cairo" featuring the belly dancer "Little Egypt." She also appeared at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair, but was outdrawn by "Jim Key," the talking horse. The 1933 Chicago World's Fair had Midget Town and the fan dancer, Sally Rand. The New York World's Fair of 1939 featured the synchronized swimming of "Aqua girls" in Billy Rose's Aquacade. The world's fairs would be remembered for their outstanding amusements. The Eiffel Tower was a huge success at the 1889 Paris fair. For a generation that had not yet flown in an airplane, seeing the world from 985 feet was unlike anything they had ever experienced. The 1893 Chicago fair offered Charles Ferris' great wheel: 40 cars, each carrying 36 passengers, rode to a height of 270 feet. Forty years later, Chicago offered a 200-foot high Sky Ride across the second longest suspension span in the United States. The parachute jump at the 1939 New York World's Fair attracted thrill seekers and onlookers.

Since world's fairs were international events, international organizations held their meetings at the fairs. At the 1900 Paris World's Fair, 127 international organizations met. Paris in 1900 and St. Louis in 1904 hosted the second and third Olympic games. Featured at the fairs were villages of natives from around the world. Dressed in their native costumes, these villages were publicized as serving an educational function. The subtle message, however, was an ethnocentric view that celebrated Western progress by comparing Western achievements at the fair with the backwardness of these native cultures. Following the Olympics, the St. Louis fair held three days of "Anthropology games." Native peoples at the fair were enticed to demonstrate their skills. Sioux Indians participated in archery contests, African natives threw javelins, and seven-foot Patagonians tried the shot put. Their inability to match Western records not only confirmed the value of training, but again suggested the superiority of Western civilization.

Those who went to the fairs had their faith in Western industrial progress confirmed. At the height of the Depression, Chicago's 1933 Century of Progress assured visitors that science guaranteed a better future. The science building had a giant statue gently guiding a trembling man and woman into the future. The official guidebook to the fair stated, "Science Finds, Industry Applies, Man Conforms." By 1939, Fascism and Nazism were on the move in Europe. Visitors to the New York fair were given a powerful message of hope. The symbols of the fair, the Trylon and Perisphere, suggested that soaring human aspirations could be realized on this earth. Inside the sphere was a giant model city known as Democracity. This utopian city had Centerton as its business and cultural center, Millvilles of light industry, and Pleasantvilles, which were exclusively residential. Democracity, with its defined zones and rational streets, carried the message that well-planned livable cities were possible through democratic forms of government. Futurama, the General Motors exhibit, the most popular at the fair, presented a vision of America united by a 14 lane national highway in which radio-controlled autos moved at 100 miles per hour. With its green suburbs, industrial parks, productive farms, and high rise urban centers, this vision of America in 1960 offered an inspirational alternative to the chaos that the world was experiencing.

World's fairs have lost their importance because technical fairs and television are a more effective means of presenting new technological developments to specialists and to the general public. Television can bring foreign cultures to our homes, and air travel can bring us to foreign cultures. Today, international organizations are connected with permanent agencies of the United Nations. Theme Parks such as Disney World and Epcot Center provide the amusements and thrills that were once found at world's fairs. Finally, the expense of holding a world's fair required corporate sponsorship. The resulting commercialization of the 1964-1965 New York World's Fair suggested that fairs were now oriented toward selling products. The fair's ferris wheel, for example, was a giant tire with the name of the tire company in huge letters on the sides of the tires. Our view of technology has also changed. We no longer accept the idea that because we can do something technologically, we ought to do it, and that we will do it. General Motors' 1964-1965 exhibit demonstrated how humans could explore and colonize the oceans, the deserts, and the polar ice caps. Few were inspired by this vision.

—Thomas W. Judd