What was an Exposition ?

In the late 1800's, expositions were a combination of inventors' showcase, international summit meeting, promotional extravaganza, and entertainment. The city that hosted the expositions would construct impressive and extremely expensive collection of buildings to house the exposition.Because expositions were such a great expense, world expositions were only at the largest cities. Places from all over the world sent displays designed to impress visitors. Intellectuals from around the world came to the exposition to capture what humans were capable of accomplishing during this time.However, the common people simply came to admire the amazing sights.

The Fair's Location

The World's Columbian Exposition was also known as the Chicago World's Fair. The fair was held in Chicago in 1893. Chicago won the Fair's location to New York City, Washington, D.C., St. Louis, and Missouri. However, New York City was the logical choice and at the beginning of the Fair's planning many laughed when Chicago requested that it host the exposition.However,the city of Chicago had a lot of nerve.Chicago raised more than ten million dollars to finance the fair, which impressed the U.S Congress.The Congress granted the fair to the city of Chicago.Chicago wasted no time in making the fair so impressive that it even impressed the harshest critics. Daniel Burnham and Frederick Olmstead were hired to design the fair. They chose Jackson Park for the fair's location. Jackson Park was located on Lake Michigan about seven miles south of city hall. Before the fair,Jackson Park was an undeveloped area surrounded with bushes and sand dunes.

The Fair

The Chicago World's Fair covered 600 acres that featured approximately 200 buildings. These were new buildings of classical architecture made especially for the fair. The fairgrounds did not open until May 1, 1893, but ceremonies were held since October 21, 1892. The Fair also proved to the world that Chicago had been rebuilt since the Great Chicago Fire in 1871, just a few years back.
The Fair was simply unbelievable.Moveable sidewalks transported visitors over the half-mile pier that reached into Lake Michigan. For visitors who were only familiar with kerosene lamps and candles, the Fair's lights seemed a miracle. The Electricity Building glowed at night with about 130,000 electric lightbulbs.

A video of what the Fair and its buildings looked like.

The Ferris Wheel

In 1889 Paris hosted the World Exposition and they unveiled the Eiffel Tower to the world. Chicago wanted to top the Eiffel Tower, so when they hosted the World Exposition they unveiled the world's first Ferris wheel. The Ferris wheel was invented by George W. Ferris.It cost $400,000 to construct. It had 36 cars and each car could hold 60 passengers.Each car had a dining table, passengers were able to bring food on the Ferris wheel and eat while they enjoyed their ride. To get on the Ferris wheel it cost 50 cents the same price to get in the fair.When the fair was over the Ferris wheel was moved to Chicago's North Side, but then it appeared again at the St. Louis Exposition.

The White City

Exhibits at the Fair

There were many awe-inspiring exhibits one could visit at the Fair. Exhibits included a reproduction of Columbus's Santa Maria, located in the South Pond whre it was anchored. There were also exhibits such as a demonstration of gold mining in South Africa, electric calculating machines, and Thomas Edison's kinetoscope, a forerunner of the movie projector. Another interesting exhibit was the Midway Plaisance that offered visitors a glimpse of life and culture around the world. Richard Harding Davis, an American Journalist, called the Fair "the greatest event in the history of the country since the Civil War." Considering the Civil War was such a huge event, this was saying a great deal about the Columbian Exposition.