Fairs and Expos

"Iowa State Fair, Des Moines, Iowa, September 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11. Complimentary Pass: H. H. Harris, Lady, a/c C.B.&Q. R.Rd. Number 539. John R. Shaffer, secretary. Wm. T. Smith, president."

Although I haven't uncovered any specific information regarding Thomas Edison's Uncle Sam automaton at the Columbian Exposition in 1893, I suspect that it wasn't too far removed from the inventor's unsuccessful talking doll, which appeared in 1890. For info on this, see Gaby Wood, Edison's Eve: A Magical History of the Quest for Mechanical Life (Knopf, 2002); Edison’s First, Less Scary Talking Doll Recording , a posting on The History Blog; a page dealing with the Edison Talking Doll - 1890 ; and, finally, a short segment on Edison's Talking Doll (with a demo of the doll!) that aired on Discovery's Oddities show. Uncle Sam The wonderful Edison talking automaton at World's Fair, delivering 40,000 speeches during the Exhibition, about Highest Award, Gold Medal, Hub Gore. Hub Gore Makers, Elastic for Shoes. Hub Gore A. Trade Mark. Highest Gold Medal Awarded. Elastic for Shoes, Highest Award to Hub Gore Makers. Columbian Exposition.

"At the World's Fair. Uncle Sam--What have you found now, Christopher? Columbus--Ah! At Last we have discovered 'solid comfort.'" Sign: "Re:Marks on Solid Comfort." -------- Text on back of trade card: If you want "solid comfort" you must have a Marks Adjustable Folding Chair. It combines in one a handsome parlor, library, smoking, and reclining chair, a perfect lounge and full length bed, and is altogether the best chair in the wide, wide world. In construction it is simple, durable, and elegant. Are you interested to know more about it. Catalogues fully illustrating the Marks Chair as well as a most complete line of invalids rolling chairs, invalid and library supplies will be furnished free on application to: Marks Adjustable Folding Chair Co., Ltd., sole proprietors and manufacturers, 930 Broadway, New York, and 215 Wabash Avenue, Chicago, Ill. Frank E. Marks, pres., R. K. Thompson, sec. & treas. Philadelphia agents, John Wanamaker. San Francisco agents, Burr Folding Bed Co. Bigelow Lith. Co., Springfield, Mass.

A " cinderella stamp " issued for the Pan-American Exposition , which was held in Buffalo, N.Y., in 1901. For other images of the building, see Pan-American Exposition - Electricity Building from the Southeast and Electricity Building at Night on Wikimedia Commons.

Over 19 million people visited the St. Louis World's Fair (officially known as the Louisiana Purchase Exposition), which was held in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1904. For one of the attractions at the fair, the Chicago House Wrecking Company bought the world's first Ferris Wheel , originally constructed in 1893 for the Chicago World's Fair , disassembled the wheel in Chicago, and then rebuilt it in St. Louis. After the St. Louis fair closed on December 1, 1904, the Chicago House Wrecking Company purchased many of the fair's buildings, which the company then dismantled and resold in parts and pieces (the Ferris Wheel, however, met a different fate--it was dynamited and scrapped in 1906). As this small advertisement demonstrates, all sorts of fixtures were available for sale. If you needed a toilet (or, I suppose, if you just wanted a unique souvenir from the fair), you could buy a "high-grade front washout closet" like the one above for $9.00. Or for a better bargain at only $8.00, you could turn the ad over and select a " hopper closet " (see image below) that was safe even in unheated bathrooms. Bargain Water Closets from World's Fair No. W.F. 100. 2,000 of these high grade Front Washout Closets. They are in first class condition. Outfit consists of porcelain front washout closet bowl, with a top supply closet tank all complete with best flushing devices; strong seat to fasten to wall. N.P. flush pipe and elbow coupling, floor screws, chain and pull, brackets, etc. Special price while they last, $9.00. Chicago House Wrecking Co., 35th and Iron Sts., Chicago. (Over).

For information regarding the Chicago House Wrecking Company and the world's fair toilets that the company sold, see Bargain Water Closets from the St. Louis World's Fair (1904): Front Washout Closets . Bargain Water Closets from the World's Fair No. W.F. 108. 500 of these Hopper Closets. Just the thing for bathrooms that are not heated--as they won't burst. Outfit consists of porcelain hopper bowl, top supply tank complete with best flushing devices, strong seat to fasten to the wall. N.P. flush pipe and elbow coupling, floor screws, chain and pull, brackets, etc. Special price while they last, $8.00. Chicago House Wrecking Co., 35th and Iron Sts., Chicago. (Over).

A Century of Progress, International Exposition, Chicago. Good for one admission to Fort Dearborn. Price 25¢ tax free. 1833-1933. L. R. Lohr, general manager. Rufus C. Dawes, president. A-216172.

"Texas Centennial Exposition, Dallas, extends to Mildred Zahn, Resettlement Administration, the courtesy of free admission to the gates of the exposition from June 6th to Nov. 29th, 1936. W. A. Webb, general manager. 1543." As Wikipedia explains, "The Texas Centennial Exposition was a World's Fair held at Fair Park in Dallas, Texas (USA) to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Texas's independence from Mexico in 1836. . . . The exposition was credited for buffering Dallas from the Great Depression, creating over 10,000 jobs and giving a $50 million boost to the local economy." Sadly, William Alfred Webb , the general manager whose signature appears on the pass, died two months after the exposition opened. Mildred Zahn, the recipient of the pass, worked for the Resettlement Administration , which was "a New Deal U.S. federal agency that, between April 1935 and December 1936, relocated struggling urban and rural families to communities planned by the federal government."

The Underwood Typewriter Company operated an enormous typewriter that was designed to impress fair-goers at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition , which was "a world's fair held in San Francisco, in the United States, between February 20 and December 4 in 1915." The company later exhibited another giant typewriter at the New York World's Fair in 1939 (see postcard image below). Text from the front of this postcard: The $100,000.00 Typewriter An exact reproduction of "The Machine You Will Eventually [Buy]." Westward ho! Over the Rockies we go! On our way to the Golden Gate, we will see deserts, prairies, cowboys, ranches, mountains, canyons, and the wonders of the West! The Orient, the Occident, the South Seas, the Arctic--all the world will be there. Meet us in the Palace of Liberal Arts, Court of the Universe, San Francisco. An Underwood Typewriter 1,728 times larger than the Standard Underwood. Weight 14 tons - 28,000 lbs. Dimensions in action 21 feet wide by 15 feet high. Writing daily at the Underwood Exhibit, Palace of Liberal Arts, Panama-Pacific Exposition, San Francisco, California, 1915.

For additional photos and information regarding the Greyhound "trailer coaches" that were used in 1933 and 1934 at the Chicago World's Fair (its offical name was "A Century of Progress International Exposition"), see Lord K's Garage #125: The Greyhounds of Progress , an article posted on Dieselpunks. Handwritten on the back of the photo: One of the Fair Buses 10¢ one way around the grounds. 25¢ round trip with all the stops you desire. This means anytime and anywhere. You can't see much by riding.

A postcard used to promote the Crosley automobile during the 1939 New York World's Fair . Also on display at the fair were various other products, including refrigerators, washing machines, stoves, and radios, that were designed and manufactured by Powel Crosley, Jr. , and the Crosley Corporation. -------- Front: The Car of Tomorrow at the World of Tomorrow. As shown at the Crosley Building at the N.Y. World's Fair. Also the amazing Freezorcold Shelvador Refrigerator, Feather Touch Electric Magnetune Radios. See the newest of the new in home appliances at popular prices. Crosley Reado, facsimile radio printing. Crosley Camera, Press Jr. model, Gas and electric ranges. Electric and gas engine washers. Electric ironers. At Crosley Dealers everywhere. Back (printed not handwritten): My feet are no longer tired after what I've seen at the Crosley Building.

"The 14-Ton Giant Underwood Master, operating daily at the New York World's Fair, 1939. Underwood Elliott Fisher Company. Underwood, Elliott-Fisher, Sundstrand, Speed the World's Business, One Park Avenue, New York." As this linen postcard suggests, a huge Underwood typewriter attracted visitors at the New York World's Fair in 1939. For some amazing photographs of the oversized machine, see The Giant Underwood Master Typewriter , a posting on the History By Zim blog. Underwood Elliott-Fisher (originally the Underwood Typewriter Company ) also displayed a giant typewriter at the Panama-Pacific Exposition in San Francisco in 1915 (see postcard image below). Printed on the back of this postcard: The Giant Underwood Master Typewriter The Largest in the World Operates daily at the Underwood Elliott Fisher Exhibit in the Business Systems and Insurance Building at the New York World's Fair. This huge machine, weighing 14 tons, is 1,728 times larger than the regular Underwood Master. It required 3 years to build. Each typebar weighs 45 pounds and the carriage alone weighs 3,500 pounds. Letters are typed on "stationery" measuring 9 by 12 feet, and the ribbon in the machine is 100 feet long and five inches wide. Two box cars were required to transport the Giant to the World's Fair.

A snapshot of "Johnny Gaso" (or "Gasso"), who was the "host of Wonderland," which was located in the Gas Exhibits Building at the New York World's Fair. The Johnny Gaso character was played by actors of short stature. For another photo, see the NYPL Digital Gallery's Gas Industries - Johnny Gasso, "Uncle Don" and man image. As Andrew F. Wood explains in his book New York's 1939-1940 World's Fair (Charleston, S.C.: Arcadia, 2004), p. 104, visitors to the Gas Exhibits Building in 1940 saw a "Gas Wonderland" that included "mystery gardens, disappearing dwarfs, flaming cactus plants, and Tiny Town with talking houses."

The 1893 edition of Boyd's Directory of Harrisburg and Steelton , p. 29, lists a "Hope Steam Fire Engine Co., No 2," in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, with an address on "2d [Street] bet[ween] State and North," and I believe that this is the same "Hope Fire Co. No. 2" described here, with a fire house located at "Second and North Streets." Although the fire company itself no longer exists, the "Hope Station" building is now the Fire House Restaurant . "Bazaar and fair, Hope Fire Co. No. 2, March 18 to 25 inclusive. We cordially invite you, your family, and friends to attend this bazaar and fair, which will be held in the parlor of fire house, Second and North Streets. Something doing every minute. Donations of cakes and candies will be appreciated. Admission free, everyone welcome. Raysor, printer."

A flowers or trees photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. This is a real photo postcard of two men sitting in an automobile decorated with flowers. The painted backdrop behind them depicts a tree-lined country road. The sign in the upper left-hand corner of the photo appears to be one for the "Morrow-Umatilla County Fair." This is now the Umatilla County Fair, which is still held in Hermiston, Umatilla County, Oregon. According to the fair's Web site (archived version), Morrow and Umatilla counties both sponsored the fair for its first year in 1912. Beginning in 1913, however, Umatilla County was the sole sponsor. If this is correct, then this postcard probably dates to 1912. The banner that the man on the left is holding says, "The Round-Up, Let 'er Buck, Pendleton," which refers to the Pendleton Round-Up , a rodeo that's been held in nearby Pendleton, Oregon, since 1910. Another Pendleton banner is partially visible on the wall behind the man on the right.