We Will Never See It Again—The Ferris Wheel at the St. Louis World's Fair, 1904

A cyanotype real photo postcard for the Vintage Photos Theme Park theme of pick a particular format (daguerreotype, cabinet card, CDV, real photo postcard, cyanotype, slide, Polaroid, or what have you?).

Handwritten message: "It's been a long time since we saw this, and we will never see it again. I'm sorry it has been destroyed. I haven't forgotten the promised pictures of St. L. You shall have them some day. Yours, J.W."

Addressed on the other side to Miss Virginia Stone, Pulaski, Va., and postmarked at Tazewell, Va., on Jan. 24, 1907 (the year is illegible on this card but I have another St. Louis cyanotype from J.W. that was postmarked on Aug. 25, 1907).

J.W. and Miss Virginia Stone were two of the more than 19 million people who visited the St. Louis World's Fair in 1904. The Ferris Wheel that's visible in this blue-tinted cyanotype photo was originally constructed in 1893 for the Chicago World's Fair. The wheel was disassembled in Chicago, transported to St. Louis, and rebuilt in time for the fair in 1904 (mouse over the image above for an enlarged view of the Ferris Wheel).

After the St. Louis World's Fair ended, the Ferris Wheel met its fate on May 11, 1906, when it was dynamited and sold for scrap. "It's been a long time since we saw this," said J.W. in his note to Virginia in 1907, "and we will never see it again. I'm sorry it has been destroyed."

The Missouri Historical Society's World's Fair Ferris Wheel album on Flickr contains photos showing the installation and demolition of the wheel.