All The World’s A Fair

1893 Columbian Exposition

Columbian Exposition of 1893 Birds Eye View

Rydell’s Thesis

Berger and Luckman’s “symbolic universe”World Fairs as symbolic universesOrganized from a particular class perspectivePerformed a hegemonic functionPresented an ideology of “progress”Society became scientificCentral role played by ethnology and

Smithsonian Institute

Symbolic Universe

Structures of legitimation that provide meaning for social experience- Places all collective events in a cohesive

unity that includes past, present and future Establishes a common frame of reference

for the projection of individual actions Links people with their successors in a

meaningful totality, giving meaning to an individual’s death

Court of Honor

Court of Honor

View east from Ferris Wheel

Columbian Exposition as Symbolic Universe

Cohesive explanatory blueprint a reaction to country’s “unsettled condition” Directors of Fair offered “proper interpretation”

propagated ideas and values of countries political, financial, corporate, and intellectual leaders

presented an ideology of economic development labeled “progress”

transmitted new scientific view of evolution from academia to popular culture

Subtext of Columbian Exposition was scientific racism

“Mythic” aspects of Exposition

White City Statistics

Jackson Park --650 acres Cost-- $31 millionAttendance-- 27,529,400 during 179 days35 exposition corporation buildings, 38 state

buildings, 18 foreign country buildings (86 nations, colonies, or principalities participated)

Manufacturer’s and Mechanical Arts Building-- 44 acres, could hold 300,000 people with each having 6sq.ft. of space around them.

The foot of a main support arch in the Manufactures Building during construction.

Application of Staff

Decorating the Buildings

Manufacturers’ Building- West View

Manufacturer’s Building- Basin View

Eleven Ton Cheese Wheel-Canada

Dynamo

Midway

“Edutainment” Human “displays”First Ferris WheelColorful and noisy

Ferris Wheel

View from Ferris Wheel

West Entrance to Midway

Midway Village Street

Javanese Village

Dahomey “Village”

Sudenese mother and son

Algerian Village

Destruction of the Fair

Legacies and AftermathsThe original Ferris Wheel remained on the Midway until 1895, when it was dismantled and moved to 2643 North Clark Street, the present site of the Lincoln Park Post Office. It operated there until 1903 and was moved to St. Louis for the Louisiana Purchase Exposition of 1904. The Ferris Wheel was dynamited and sold for scrap in 1906.

Although the glory of the World's Columbian Exposition was temporary, its influence lived on long after the fair closed. Many of the products displayed at the Exposition later became everyday features of American life. Its assemblies influenced the way people thought and the park-like Exposition grounds made many Americans want to beautify their neglected cities.