Chicago Fair History

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The First World Fair took place in Chicago in 1893. Chicago was not the first choice to host the World Fair. The U.S. Congress would be the one to make the big decision. Chicago, St. Louis, New York, and Washington D.C. all placed bids to try to host the 1893 fair. In the end, the choices came down to New York and Chicago.” New York considered Chicago a backwater town with not much to recommend it.” (Where the Future Came From: A Trip Through the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, 2013). Chicago, however, had a different plan. They planned on proving to New York and the rest of the world there Fair was going to be one remembered for ages. Many financially sound men, such as J. P. Morgan, pledged to raise the 15 million dollars for city expenses. However,…show more content…
However, “Buffalo Bill” wouldn’t take no for an answer. He came and set up his show right outside the fairgrounds at Chicago and took away many customers from the fair. Chicago’s first world fair was in need of money. A new invention gave the finances of the Chicago fair a boost. The Ferris wheel, was invented by George Washington Gale Ferris Jr. He wanted the invention to be a rival of the Eiffel Tower. The Ferris wheel was 264 feet tall and was called an “engineering marvel” (Networks, 2014). The Ferris wheel cost 50cents, which was twice the price to get in to the fair. The wheel also sat 2,160 people at a time. The Ferris wheel, however, was not the only first that the Chicago World Fair gave…show more content…
Many of which we still have around today. Three of the main commercial products were Cream of Wheat, Pabst Blue Ribbon beer, and my favorite, Juicy Fruit gum. Dishwashers and fluorescent light bulbs which would soon make their ways into homes nationwide had prototype versions in Chicago for viewing by the public. A few more interesting inventions were “yellow pencils, brownies, the zipper, the first cartoon character, the frozen pastry industry, and Chicago deep dish pizza” (Picket, 2014). New technological and commercial products were not the only firsts to take place though. The U.S. government also joined in. They issued the countries first postcards and memorial stamps. They also created two new celebratory coins. The first was the half dollar which displayed Christopher Columbus since the fair had been set up in his honor. It was honoring the 400th anniversary since he came to North America. The second coin was the quarter that featured Queen Isabella of Spain. She was chosen because she was the one that funded Columbus’ voyages. This also made it the first coin to honor a woman. Many people enjoyed all these new inventions and ideas. However, fairgoers needed to be cautions and on the lookout during the fair because there were two dangerous people lurking during this

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