#world's fairs

“Canoe tilting, which gives the unlucky loser a sudden ducking, is one of the many water sports provided for the amusement of visitors at the Swift's Bridge of the new Chicago World's Fair.”

We couldn’t choose just one canoe-related image, so we have three from three different digital collections. For more information, Ask A Librarian!

FPDCC_00_01_0010_040, Forest Preserve District of Cook County Records, Special Collections and University Archives, University of Illinois at Chicago Library.

COP_17_0005_00215_001, Century of Progress World’s Fair, 1933-1934,  Special Collections and University Archives, University of Illinois at Chicago Library.

ESTPs who don’t care for that 1893 expo or the guy whom it celebrates: you can choose any World’s Fair you want. I highly suggest the Centennial Exposition (Philadelphia, 1876).

View of the Hall of Science building from the Century of Progress Skyride.

To find out more about the Century of Progress World’s Fair that took place in Chicago in 1933-34, visit the Century of Progress collection finding aids or check out other photos in this digital collection: Images of Progress: Views from A Century of Progress International Exposition, 1933-1934.  

For our next #PageFrights installment, we’re sharing this photo (and a few-close-ups) taken at the 1939-40 New York World’s Fair. It may look like the last scene of Rosemary’s Baby, but the caption reads:

Eileen Leonard visits the home of some miniature World’s Fair performers, at the du Pont “Wonder World of Chemistry” building. A marionette show is used to sum up the story of chemical research and its relation to the lives of the average American family. The little chap is perched on the lady’s knee is the guide. The Tatterman group, under the direction of William I. Duncan, is producing the show. 

This World’s Fair Wednesday, we’re sharing a few pages from this ca. 1939 pamphlet promoting Canada Dry, the “champagne of ginger ales”, and reminding consumers of the Canada Dry Exhibit at the New York World’s Fair. It also contains some very tempting recipes. Ham a la Canada Dry, anyone?

On Typewriter Tuesday, a few of the postcards depicting a mainstay of the Underwood Typewriter Company’s marketing: The giant typewriter. These postcards date from 1915 to 1939. You can learn more about the images by clicking on them.

Also visible on two of the above postcards is Underwood’s slogan: “The machine you will eventually buy”. You have to appreciate the fatalism.