April 1: The World’s Fair
Most everyone knows about the 1933-4 Chicago Century of Progress Exposition held to celebrate the city’s 100thbirthday. It was a masterpiece of Art Deco design, sprawling 427 acres along the shores of Lake Michigan. Its motto was “Science Finds, Industry Applies, Man Adapts.” Everything was designed to show this forward-looking, optimistic [in the depths of the Depression] view. World famous entertainers performed, new automobiles were shown, new products promoted. The Graf Zeppelin landed nearby. During the two years of the show, almost 40,000,000 people attended. It was a tremendous success.
Like all such expositions, it produced a plethora of ephemera from pamphlets, brochures, flyers, tickets, poster stamps, spoons, paperweights, etc., etc.
The poster stamps have only now been catalogued! There are hundreds of different from the numerous “official” ones to the many private ones promoting products or organizations. Here are some examples. The blue and silver is an official one and the fair logo appears in many sizes, shapes. The others are private.
One of the more interesting bits I’ve found is a full booklet of tickets issued to Miss Helen Alvera Anderson of Altona IL. It was a special “Combination Book of Souvenir tickets made possible by the Palmer House” (a downtown hotel) and sold for $2.50. It contains a total of 12 tickets which would have cost $3.65 is purchased single. The book opens to show a map of the Exposition. Each ticket has a different design. Above is the front cover in black, green and silver.
This fair entry gate ticket and the Hollywood Soundstage ticket are samples of typical remnant pieces, all held by a metal rivet.
Miss Anderson must have visited all the exhibits except the Art Institute since that it the only one whose stub is still attached. (see below) The Art Institute was not, of course, on the Exposition grounds and, presumably, was too difficult for her to visit. Her loss!
We are still a few years away from the cetennial of the fair, but it’s not too early to enjoy all of the art and the history involved. This article was written several years ago for Topical Times, but now has been revised just for our club.
Art Groten
