Columbian Exposition

Fairs were popular events in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Manufacturers used fairs to introduce new products and demonstrate their uses. States and provinces set up booths and competed for new citizens and investments. For the price of 50 cents for adults and 25 cents for children ages six through twelve (about $10 and $5 in today's money), fair goers could spend a day being simultaneously educated and entertained. It was the equivalent of Disney World, the Olympics, and the Super Bowl all rolled into one event, so great was the impact of fairs on American society.

One of the most famous and influential fairs in history was the World's Columbian Exposition, also known as the Chicago World's Fair. The Columbian Exposition was held at Jackson Park in Chicago, Illinois , from May 1 through October 31, 1893.

The fair itself was huge, with fourteen main buildings and two hundred additional buildings. The fairgrounds included a system of lagoons and waterways fed by Lake Michigan. Architects designed the layout, and the exposition was nicknamed the “White City” because all the buildings were painted white.

Each main building at the fair had a different theme, including government, mining, machinery, agricultural, and manufacturing and liberal arts. In each building, fair goers could see the latest trends and inventions. Several popular and enduring products made their debut at the fair, including Juicy Fruit gum, Aunt Jemima syrup, Cracker Jack popcorn, Shredded Wheat cereal, Pabst beer, the hamburger, diet carbonated soda, postcards, and the Ferris wheel.

Once attendees tired of walking through buildings, they could enjoy entertainment in the midway (amusement park), where countless rides, musicians, and refreshments enhanced the carnival-like atmosphere. In addition, the midway contained a hot-air balloon ride, a zoo, recreations of traditional Japanese and German villages, a swimming pool, and a wax museum. It was not possible to get through the entire fair in one day. To the delight of Chicago's innkeepers and hotel owners, millions of people stayed overnight for at least one day, and usually for several more.

The Columbian Exposition was a financial success. It earned back more than the $28 million spent on developing it; the concession stands alone brought in $4 million. In fact, the fair was so successful that it became the model for most of the fairs to follow. The fair met its goals in other ways as well. The purpose of the exposition was to encourage American unity in the face of cultural change and to celebrate technology and commerce. By showing the American public that ethnic differences and the changes resulting from immigration and increased contact with foreign countries have a positive impact on society, the fair had a major influence on cultural attitudes.

The fair promoted consumerism as well. On the fairgrounds, millions of Americans were introduced to a vast array of products ranging from food to soap to home decorating materials. This awareness led directly to “conspicuous consumption,” or the buying of expensive products as a way to display a person's wealth. Although the term was not coined until 1899, the fair set in motion the attitude that the higher the price, the better the product.

Directly related to conspicuous consumerism was advertising. For months following the fair, advertisements for products that had won awards at the event used that fame to sell the products and gain brand recognition (in which consumers recognize a brand name and automatically link it to the idea of high quality or superior craftsmanship). Advertisers also took advantage of the new perception that buying is fun. They subtly reinforced the idea that the more a consumer spent, the happier he or she would be.

The Chicago World's Fair had other social effects as well. It was responsible for a new holiday—Columbus Day. Thanks to the fair, schoolchildren began each day in the classroom with a burst of patriotism by reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in front of the American flag . Some historians claim that Wizard of Oz author L. Frank Baum (1856–1919) modeled his famous fictional city, Oz, on the glamour and sensory experience of the fair. The event found its way into novels as well as songs, and a new musical genre called ragtime was introduced on the fairgrounds by Scott Joplin (c. 1867–1917).

The midway of the fair had a major impact on American culture at the turn of the century. With its exotic foreign villages and native tribal performers featured in displays created to replicate their rural (primarily African) villages, the midway inspired the idea of a modern carnival with various forms of live entertainment. By 1910, thousands of amusement parks dotted the U.S. landscape. All the parks were modeled on the Chicago Fair's midway. The most popular amusement parks of the twenty-first century—Disneyland and Disney World—also were modeled on the fair.

The rapid changes in technology and industry in the late 1870s and early 1880s stirred fear in many Americans. The fair invited Americans to learn more about advancing technology, especially electricity, in a leisurely way, and it helped shift the nation's attitude toward technology in a more hopeful direction. More and more, technology was being viewed as the new symbol of progress. The Columbian Exposition highlighted the United States's shift from an agrarian (agricultural-based) society to a more technological, consumer-based country.