EXPO – Magic of the White City

(Narrated by Gene Wilder)

Narrated by Gene Wilder,  Jan 8, 2016

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpOQE5KJJds

EXPO – Magic of the White City brings the Chicago World’s Fair to life. Experience the world of 1893 through a cinematic visit to Chicago’s Columbian Exposition. Subscribe for more great documentaries! Nearly 28 million people visited the Fair. Dubbed the “White City,” it inspired future innovators like Henry Ford and Frank Lloyd Wright, unveiled the Ferris Wheel and Cracker Jack®, and, in many ways, marked the beginning of the 20th century. Many of the era’s greatest achievements in science, technology and culture were unveiled there. The grounds were designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, famous for his design of New York City’s Central Park, and constructed under the supervision of Daniel Burnham. The Fair was an engineering marvel. On opening day, President Grover Cleveland depressed a golden telegraph key which sent the first courses of electricity throughout the Fair powering fountains, machines, electric railways and thousands of lights. It was the first use of electricity on such a massive scale. In addition, fairgoers enjoyed the Midway Plaisance where a one-mile boulevard of fun offered camel riding and guilty pleasures such as belly dancing, street fighting and beer drinking. Against the backdrop of 1893’s troubles with workers’ rights, prejudice, discrimination and corruption, the World’s Columbian Exposition cast a brief ray of hope for the future of humanity. Filmed in spectacular High-Definition, EXPO – Magic of the White City immerses viewers in one of the world’s biggest extravaganzas and one of the most unforgettable events in American history. There will never be another event like it… or will there?

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Maps of the Fair

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Pabst Blue Ribbon Casino

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Lagoon side restaurant. Indoor dining room and outdoor terrace. Table d’hote and a la carte service. Also grill and lunch counter. Orchestra. Floor show and dancing by guests, afternoon and evening.

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White Owl Cigar Co.

General Cigar Co. Exhibit

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The exhibit shows in operation two modern cigar making machines which produce 10,000 cigars a day. Other machines complete the operation of wrapping the finished cigars in cellophane and applying the revenue stamps, all without the cigars being touched by hands. Lounge and rest room adjoins the exhibit.

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Black Forest Village

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A glimpse of German country life, in the Black Forest in winter is given in the Black Forest Village. Snow is banked on cottages and chalet roofs. Icicles hanging from the eaves, frozen mill pond and wintry background form the scene which is given verity by the buildings being cooled by an air conditioning plant.

Ice skating exhibitions are given continuously on the mill pond. Surrounding the mill pond are picturesque village houses and shops in which are carried on German home industries. You see cuckoo clocks made, canes carved and a village blacksmith hammering out small useful articles. Home manufacture of Kirsch is one of the village activities. German orchestra and strolling musicians give the musical entertainment. The villagers are in the quaint German mountaineer costumes.

German restaurant, indoor and outdoor tables, table d’hote and a la carte. Also grill, lunch counter. Orchestra, floor show and dancing by guests afternoon and evening.

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Sinclair Exhibit

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Sinclair sponsored this dinosaur exhibit which was meant to point out the putative correlation between the formation of petroleum deposits and the Age of Dinosaurs. The exhibit included a two-ton animated model of a brontosaurus. The exhibit proved so popular it inspired a promotional line of rubber brontosaurs at Sinclair stations, complete with wiggling heads and tails, and the eventual inclusion of the brontosaur logo.

Giant prehistoric monsters. On the heaped up reddish brownstone hillside of the age of reptiles the forty-ton brontosaurus swings his long neck, jerks his huge tail, clashes his jaws and emits life-like screeching grunts. In a pool a glaring-eyed trachodon, bigger than a hippopotamus, splashes with his huge clawed foot. He is watching a fight between a three-horned triceratops and a tyrannosaurus, most ferocious creature that ever lived, with crocodile jaws and hind legs like a kangaroo. Near them a stegosaurus, large as an elephant, browses on prehistoric vegetation. Visitors pass through a cave in which are seen explanations of the connection between the age of monsters and the origin of oil deposits.

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Hiram Walker & Sons Exhibit

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Extending 400 feet out into the cool waters of the lagoon from the middle of the 16th Street bridge are the Hiram Walker & Sons exhibit and the “Canadian Club” Cafe

Here you will see one of the most interesting and educational displays at the Fair. A series of beautiful
murals depicts practically every stage in the distilling process from the grain fields to the finished product. There is a complete, modern bottling line in operation, showing the speed and the care with which Hiram Walker & Sons products are bottled.

The “Canadian Club” Cafe which adjoins the exhibit offers a splendid variety of food besides entertainment, music and dancing. There is a fine view from the restaurant, which is swept by cool breezes from Lake Michigan.

You are cordially invited to visit this truly remarkable exhibit. It will be something to tell the folks about when you get back home.

 

Diamond Mine Exhibit

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A South African diamond mine in operation, with native laborers, is seen in the $5,000,000 exhibit of the cooperating diamond and jewelry interests. Thirty tons of diamond- bearing blue clay from the Kimberley mines were brought from South Africa for the mining demonstration.

You have the illusion of descending 1,500 feet to the workings where the Kaffirs are toiling. You see the clay brought up on elevators and the diamonds recovered on the grease tables. A
compound, in which the South African native workers live, is background for the diamond pit.

Cutting and polishing of diamonds is shown in a reproduction of a section of Amsterdam, Holland. In the display of famous gems is the 128.5 carats Tiffany Diamond and the 42 carats perfect blue diamond, formerly one of the jewels of Emperor Maximilian of Mexico.

In other exhibits, modern costume and other jewelry are shown.

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Radio Flyer Exhibit

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Born in Rosa, an Italian town near Venice, he learned cabinet-making from his father and grandfather. The elder Pasins did carpentry work at a palatial Italian estate.

As a youth, Antonio helped them craft an indoor carousel, complete with hand-carved horses.

In 1914, the Pasin family sold a mule to pay for 16-year-old Antonio’s voyage to America—the land of promise, they felt. But arriving in New York City was more like a nightmare. Pasin made his way to Chicago, where he found work hauling water for sewer-digging crews.

By 1917, Pasin had saved enough money to buy tools and rent a one-room shop where he built phonograph cabinets. Sales trickled in, but what really caught the fancy of customers was the wooden wagon that Pasin built to haul tools around his workshop. People were more interested in his wagon than his cabinets.

The Italian immigrant who was born on the Fourth of July dubbed it the Liberty Coaster—a nod to the statue that had greeted him in New York—and sales rolled in.

By 1923, he had several employees at his bustling company. But Pasin didn’t coast. His mind always sped toward the horizon and whatever was new.

What was especially new was Henry Ford’s assembly line. Fired up by the carmaker’s manufacturing innovations, Pasin toyed with metal stamping as a way to mass-produce his wagon.

“He was a very technical guy. He was very into how the product was made,” Robert said. “When he saw the metal-stamping technology, he thought: Oh my gosh, I could use this. He went after it full-bore.”

Using scrap pieces, Pasin made a metal version of his wagon and dubbed it the Radio Flyer. The catchy phrase captured the two hottest innovations of the time — radio and commercial flight.

Pasin opened a metal-stamping factory in Chicago and changed his company’s name from Liberty Coaster to Radio Steel & Manufacturing Company in 1930, at 6041 W. Grand Ave (1934 Chicago Red Book). An order for 7,000 wagons put the business in motion.

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With a toehold on the market, Pasin put everything into his product—”the only wagon that outsells Ford station wagons,” according to a company advertisement. His approach was: “Let’s keep the price low and the margin low, and let’s not invite a lot of competition.”

Despite the depression, Antonio had his sights set on the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair. He took out a $30,000 loan to build a 45-foot-tall structure of a boy atop a wagon, determined to make a statement.

The massive art deco structure housed a kiosk, inside of which Anna helped work a mini assembly line putting together tiny steel wagons that sold for just 25 cents each. They sold more than 100,000 of the trinkets. The Coaster Boy promotion was a huge success that helped spread the Radio Flyer name across the world.

The name Radio Flyer comes from Antonio’s fascination with the new invention of the radio and is wonder of flight.

When World War II put the brakes on the wagon business, Radio Flyer shifted production to the 5-gallon steel Blitz cans that GIs used to tote fuel and water. In 1945, the company received an Army-Navy E Award for excellence in producing essential wartime materials.

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Midget Village

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Midget Village, populated by Lilliputians, is a reproduction—reduced to midget scale, of the ancient Bavarian city of Dinkelspuhl, one of the few remaining walled towns in Europe.

Said to be the smallest man in the world, Werner Krueger, 24 inches tall and weighing 18 pounds, is one of the 115 midget inhabitants of the Lilliputian city. It has 45 buildings, its own municipal building, police, fire department, church, school, shops exhibiting midget handicrafts, miniature taxicab, filling station and newspaper.Mayor of Midget City is Major Doyle, 33 inches tall.

Free entertainment is given on the outdoor stage in Midget City park, or indoors in case of rain, by three groups of midget professional artists—the Ritter, Rose and Singer troupes. There are 1,500 free seats for the outdoor show.

Midget restaurant serves full size meals. Indoor and outdoor tables, table d’hote and a la carte service. Lunch counter. Children’s sandwich shop.

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The Whiting-Nash Tower

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A glass tower of the Nash Motors is a spectacular feature of the outdoor exhibit. This parking tower, built by the Whiting corporation, cooperating with Nash Motors, is eighty feet tall, and it carries sixteen cars, each car in a pocket, its full height. Colored lights bathe the tower, and Nash cars pass up and down in continuous movement, bringing each car into a glass-fronted show room at the tower’s base.

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From Wagons to Wings – Diesel Locomotives

Chicago Tribune May 27, 1934

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The streamlined railroad train, the Zephyr, slid into Chicago last night after a nonstop run from Denver, completing the fastest long run of railway records.The 1,015 miles from the Rocky mountain city over the Burlington lines was covered in 13 hours and 5 minutes, an average of 77.5 miles an hour.

The top speed on the trip was reached between Yuma, Colo., and Schramm, Colo., where an instrument dial indicated 112.5 miles an hour.

Climax of a Pageant.
The time test was completed at Halsted street in Chicago, but the shiny stainless steel train continued, at abated speed, to the World’s Fair grounds on the lake front, and rolled out on the stage of Wings of A Century in a colorful climax of a pageant depicting the development of transportation in the last century.

“It was a sweet ride,” said Ralph Budd, president of the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy railroad, as he swung out of the train. “At a hundred miles an hour it was as comfortable as sitting in your favorite fire side chair.”

In a formal statement prepared en route Mr. Budd told of the significance of this new rail vehicle offering high speed at low operating cost due to its light weight, its streamlining and its recently perfected two-cycle Diesel engine.

A Vision of the Future.
“The ideas which are embodied in the materials and methods of construction of the Zephyr,” said Mr. Budd, “represent years of scientific study and research while business was relatively quiet. They point to new ways and means for industrial recovery.”

The arrangements for the run itself were almost as thorough and detailed as the scientific research in metallurgy, aerodynamics, and engineering that went into the construction of the train. All grade crossings in the four states traversed were guarded by railroad employés or American Legion volunteers, Boy Scouts, or civic club members. Maintenance crews combed the tracks and all passenger and freight trains were cleared from the main rails.

Crowd Present at Start.
The dispatching of the train from Denver at 6:04 a.m. was attended by official timers, railroad men, and a crowd of spectators. On the high plateau of eastern Colorado and western Nebraska the rounded nose and tapered tail rushed over the dusty plaines with the speedometer wavering between 90 and 100 miles an hour.

Between the two prairie settlements of Yuma and Schramm a flivver on a highway paralleling the tracks challenged the speed of the new iron horse. It fell behind when the Zephyr reached 112.5 miles an hour.

The total time of 13 hours and 5 minutes may be compared with the 23 hours and 45 minutes regular passenger service between Denver and Chicago. The top speed of 112.5 miles an hour were slightly less than the record of 115.2 miles an hour established by the Philadelphia and Reading in 1904 in a run of 4.8 miles between Egg Harbor and Brigantine Junction

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Federal Building

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Where the north Lagoon curves around at Science Bridge, a three pylon building stands on Northerly island, chromatic yet stately.

Above its gold dome three pylons, fluted towers 150 feet high, typify the three branches of United States Government legislative, executive and judicial. This is the building for which Congress made appropriation to house, develop and maintain the story of Government activities a story which might be said to be the crowning chapter of the story of science, and its application by industry to the welfare of the people, which A Century of Progress tells.

On the west front of the building a plaza extends to the lagoon, and a 40-foot span to an embarcadero used by dignitaries of state to disembark for a visit to the building.

At its back, and in V-shape seeming to embrace it, is the States Building, with its Court of States, thus typifying the increased feeling of loyalty of the citizens to the Union.

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Mayan Temple

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And now, from the broad terraces of the Hall of Social Science, look away southward toward Thirty-First street, where the Maya Temple rises. When you come closer, like a pilgrim nearing a shrine, you may find it difficult to believe that this temple is an exact copy of a building in far away Yucatan, a temple at least ten centuries old, a bit of the 2,000 or more year old civilization of the Mayas. It stands on the highest ground within the Exposition boundaries, its walls covered with elaborate designs, huge mask heads, and great serpents carved in stone. Tulane University, under the sponsorship of A Century of Progress, sent an expedition, in charge of Dr. Franz Blom, director of its department of Middle Western research, to Uxmal, ancient seat of Mayan culture, and there they obtained the information necessary for making an exact reproduction of one section of the famous “Nunnery.” They brought back casts of its decorations to be incorporated in the Fair’s temple.

The Mayan civilization probably had its origin hundreds of years before the Christian era, in the highlands of Guatemala and Honduras. From there, apparently, it spread slowly into Yucatan, where its highest development was reached about 1200 A.D. These people, without elaborate mechanical equipment built great cities in stone. On the tops of 200-foot rubble and cement pyramids, stood stately temples, government buildings, and astronomical observatories, faced with cut stone and decorated with geometric designs and carvings representing men and animals.

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The Towering Skyride
Two towers stand like giant sentinels, 1,850 feet apart, seeming to guard the Hall of Science on the Mainland, and the Hall of Social Science across the Lagoon support of the spectacular Skyride, great thrill feature of A Century of Progress. Back in ’93, it was the monster Ferris Wheel that everybody talked about, and everybody rode. Today, striking example of the progress of science even in thrill makers, is this suspension bridge principle applied to an entertainment feature and perhaps the near solution of some problems of overhead transportation.
 

The Towering Skyride

https://chicagology.com/centuryprogress/1933fair22/
Two towers stand like giant sentinels, 1,850 feet apart, seeming to guard the Hall of Science on the Mainland, and the Hall of Social Science across the Lagoon support of the spectacular Skyride, great thrill feature of A Century of Progress. Back in ’93, it was the monster Ferris Wheel that everybody talked about, and everybody rode. Today, striking example of the progress of science even in thrill makers, is this suspension bridge principle applied to an entertainment feature and perhaps the near solution of some problems of overhead transportation.

They are higher than any building in Chicago, these two strong steel towers, imbedded deep in cement. Six hundred and twenty-eight feet they rise into the skies, with observation floors atop them. If you stand in one of these observation rooms at night and look down, you gaze upon a magic city that seems to float in a vast pool of light. From the towers, great searchlights sweep the sky, the lake, and over the great city to the west, to clash with other massive beams of light. In the day, look down, and it is a pattern of many hues, like a gigantic, gay rug, or a vast garden of colorful flowers. Far to the south you look upon Indiana, and to the north upon Wisconsin, to the west, Chicago and Illinois, and eastward across the lake you can see Michigan. Airplanes, and dirigibles may pass, as cars do on the ground, and clouds may swirl about you. You are standing a hundred feet higher than the observation level of Washington monument.

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A. Raymond Katz World’s Fair Poster

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In this famous poster for the 1934 Chicago World’s Fair, fan dancer and silent film star Sally Rand, one of the event’s star attractions, points the way to the fair. Rand simulated nudity in her act by wearing a body stocking. The street-sign-like device refers to the unique way the lights were turned on at the beginning of the fair: rays from the star Arcturus were collected at various observatories, focused on photoelectric cells, and converted to electricity. A rhythmic, luminous poster that exemplifies the Machine Age at its most kinetic.

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Hudson Terraplane Ruggedness Run

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Hudson Motor Car Company of Detroit introduced the Terraplane automobile line in 1932. They were inexpensive, but powerful vehicles that were used in both town and country, as both cars and trucks bore the Terraplane name. Orville Wright and Emilia Earhart were among the first owners of the new model.

Hudson planned about 20 such Ruggedness Runs across the country, each using a 1934 Terraplane already in the hands of a customer, sent out for two weeks straight on pre-selected circuits (or “Ruggedness Routes”) of 1,500 to 1,800 miles. Hudson did not have a presence at the World’s Fair, but was able to create some excitement by entering a car that started the Ruggedness Run in Chicago. Unclear as to why the car has a Wisconsin license plate.

Not sure how “rugged” a ride that includes Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana would be, but then again, it was 1934.

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