The 1893 World's Fair

The 1893 World’s Fair was an event unlike anyone had ever seen in 19th century America. Its official title was the Colombian Exposition that was held in Chicago in 1893 in order to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus arriving in America in 1492. The fair had a particularly significant impact on architecture, the use of electricity, and amusement attractions. It was an event that not only impacted the United States, but also made a lasting impression on forty six other nations around the world. The “white city” as it was labeled was an excellent portrayal of America’s continual growth in many areas of life.

The first primary region that the Chicago World’s Fair greatly demonstrated was in its architecture. Most of the buildings were built in the classical style of architecture derived from the Greeks and Romans, which entailed that the famous architects such as Richard Morris Hunt, Charles McKim, and Burham and Root who were the overseers of the construction of the main buildings who all utilized Corinthian, Doric, and Ionic columns in addition to other traditional ancient building techniques, such as curved arches and domes. The agricultural and administration buildings were the primary example of this, as they magnificently portrayed beautiful Corinthian columns and magnificent statues. However, these buildings were never meant to be permanent structures, as they were covered in a white stucco-like material known as staff which was flexible, yet durable and dried quickly. They chose white because it was the cheapest color, as they had many buildings to cover over a six hundred acre site, and did not want to spend massive amounts of money. In the end, people grew accustomed to the color as they claimed it “illuminated the city” and gave it the famous name “The White City.”

A second aspect that made the World’s fair so impressive was the utilization of electricity in ways the world had never seen before. The International Exhibition was located in a building that was devoted to electrical exhibits, featuring the General Electric Company that was primarily supported by Thomas Edison and J.P. Morgan. The main source of power behind the electricity was known as the “direct current” which had cost the United States 1.8 million dollars; however the General Electric Company managed to buy it for $554,000. Although Edison and Morgan were the two key men that made electricity available to be utilized at the fair, it was George Westinghouse who showcased it to the public by illuminating the exposition by way of spectacular lights. Westinghouse’s company displayed many polyphase systems, which were a means of distributing alternating current electrical power. They had two or three electrical conductors that provided highly-energized electrical currents that had a time offset between the voltages contained in each conductor. Their major function was to offer power to induction and synchronous motors. There was even one of these intricate motors on display for the public to appreciate the working force behind the high frequency lights that could be seen throughout the fair.

The third aspect of the fair that had the most practical use for electricity was in the wide variety of amusement attractions that were readily available for the entertainment pleasure of people. The 1893 World’s Fair was the first to have an area for amusements that was separate from the exhibition halls, an idea that was first introduced by Sol Bloom who called it “Midway Plaisance” causing the term midway to be placed in the American dictionary as a word used to describe an area where sideshows are located. It featured carnival rides such as the first Ferris wheel that was built by George Ferris that was 264 feet tall and had thirty six cars that could fit sixty people each. Edweard Muybridge also introduced a machine called a zoopraxiscope that displayed moving pictures, creating the world’s first movie theatre located in the Zoopraxographical Hall. Another groundbreaking invention was the moving walkway created by Kate McPhelim Cleary that was the first of its kind built along the banks of the lake that allowed people to move about the fair faster.

As demonstrated, there were many inventions that contributed to the successfulness of the 1893 World’s Fair and had left America a changed nation. The United States was in the midst of a major industrialization period, making steady progress through advances in architecture, electricity, and the practical outworking of electrical power through amusement attractions. Above all, the fair’s main goal was to show the world the progress it had made throughout the past century. It truly went above and beyond people’s expectations, portraying that America was genuinely a land of opportunity and industrial positivism.