Technology and Innovation at the Chicago World's Fair
http://www.flickr.com/photos/brooklyn_museum/2784217533/
More than 65,000 items from all over the world were shown at the fair. Exhibits included contemporary innovations as well as historical displays.
Visitors saw a clothing "clasp locker" (an early zipper), heard live orchestra music from New York, rode a "moveable sidewalk," and wrote home on the first U.S. picture postcards. Hamburgers and diet carbonated drinks were introduced, along with Juicy Fruit gum, Cracker Jack, and Shredded Wheat cereal. A character named "Aunt Jemima" offered homemakers everything they needed to make pancakes, in one box. Pabst brewery won an award for its beer; the beverage has been known as Pabst Blue Ribbon ever since.
Some of the most significant innovations weren't displays, but part of the fair. Although Thomas Edison fought to power the fair with direct current electricity, Nikola Tesla and Westinghouse won the commission; their alternating current would become the predominant means of powering homes and businesses. To speed up the process of painting the hundreds of buildings, decorations director Francis Davis Millet devised the first form of spray paint.
The greatest technological marvel of the fair was the mammoth Ferris Wheel. Designed as America's answer to the Eiffel Tower -- the centerpiece of the 1889 Universal Exhibition in Paris -- the wheel stood 264 feet high. Its 89,000 lb. axle was the largest piece of steel ever forged.
Although the age of the automobile was dawning, little was made of the new horseless carriages. Only one gasoline-powered automobile, the Daimler Benz Victoria, was shown. A few electric cars were exhibited by the Morrison Company, but trains and ships dominated the Transportation Building.
Lesson Plan
Working in groups, students will research and report on one of the topics below (or a topic of their choice). The resources listed with each topic should be supplemented with original research conducted online. (Demonstrate the use of Google Books, digital newspaper archives, and online journal articles, if a database is available.) Each group should find at least one primary source, in addition to those listed here, and as many secondary sources as they find useful for direction and clarification.
In their reports, groups should first describe the innovation. How did it look, what did it do? Did it solve a problem, improve on an existing technology, or create a need where none had existed? Were there challenges or obstacles to be overcome in its creation? What was its significance to fair visitors, to the United States, to the future?
Electricity at the Fair
Timeline of electrical innovation
Life of George Westinghouse (1921), page 140 and surrounding
Epigraph to Electricity at the Columbian Exposition
Science, vol. 22, p. 35, 1893.
The World's Columbian Exposition (1893), pg. 301 ff.
The Ferris Wheel
Six Months at the World's Fair (1895). Search "Ferris Wheel."
Engineer Ferris and His Wheel (1893), pages 269-276.
Dedicatory and Opening Ceremonies of the World's Columbian Exposition (1893), pages 191-193.
The Automobile
Timeline of road transportation
Daimler Benz Victoria
Automobile manufacturing
Express Gazette (1893), page 195
The World's Columbian Exposition (1893), pg. 263 and following (scan for types of transportation exhibited)
Visitors saw a clothing "clasp locker" (an early zipper), heard live orchestra music from New York, rode a "moveable sidewalk," and wrote home on the first U.S. picture postcards. Hamburgers and diet carbonated drinks were introduced, along with Juicy Fruit gum, Cracker Jack, and Shredded Wheat cereal. A character named "Aunt Jemima" offered homemakers everything they needed to make pancakes, in one box. Pabst brewery won an award for its beer; the beverage has been known as Pabst Blue Ribbon ever since.
Some of the most significant innovations weren't displays, but part of the fair. Although Thomas Edison fought to power the fair with direct current electricity, Nikola Tesla and Westinghouse won the commission; their alternating current would become the predominant means of powering homes and businesses. To speed up the process of painting the hundreds of buildings, decorations director Francis Davis Millet devised the first form of spray paint.
The greatest technological marvel of the fair was the mammoth Ferris Wheel. Designed as America's answer to the Eiffel Tower -- the centerpiece of the 1889 Universal Exhibition in Paris -- the wheel stood 264 feet high. Its 89,000 lb. axle was the largest piece of steel ever forged.
Although the age of the automobile was dawning, little was made of the new horseless carriages. Only one gasoline-powered automobile, the Daimler Benz Victoria, was shown. A few electric cars were exhibited by the Morrison Company, but trains and ships dominated the Transportation Building.
Lesson Plan
Working in groups, students will research and report on one of the topics below (or a topic of their choice). The resources listed with each topic should be supplemented with original research conducted online. (Demonstrate the use of Google Books, digital newspaper archives, and online journal articles, if a database is available.) Each group should find at least one primary source, in addition to those listed here, and as many secondary sources as they find useful for direction and clarification.
In their reports, groups should first describe the innovation. How did it look, what did it do? Did it solve a problem, improve on an existing technology, or create a need where none had existed? Were there challenges or obstacles to be overcome in its creation? What was its significance to fair visitors, to the United States, to the future?
Electricity at the Fair
Timeline of electrical innovation
Life of George Westinghouse (1921), page 140 and surrounding
Epigraph to Electricity at the Columbian Exposition
Science, vol. 22, p. 35, 1893.
The World's Columbian Exposition (1893), pg. 301 ff.
The Ferris Wheel
Six Months at the World's Fair (1895). Search "Ferris Wheel."
Engineer Ferris and His Wheel (1893), pages 269-276.
Dedicatory and Opening Ceremonies of the World's Columbian Exposition (1893), pages 191-193.
The Automobile
Timeline of road transportation
Daimler Benz Victoria
Automobile manufacturing
Express Gazette (1893), page 195
The World's Columbian Exposition (1893), pg. 263 and following (scan for types of transportation exhibited)