Report of the Illinois Commission to the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, St. Louis, Missouri, 1904
Imagine the world in 1904:
“The Wright Brothers’ famous flight at Kitty Hawk occurred the previous year. Gasoline-powered automobiles, motion pictures, and the “wonder drug” aspirin were introduced to the public only 10 years before. Electric lighting and telephones were less than 25 years old, and still a novelty only read about by most Americans. Food was stored in ice boxes, and the horse-drawn ice wagon was a familiar site.
But from Opening Day – April 30, 1904 – to the closing ceremonies on December 1st of that same year, the St. Louis World’s Fair played host to nearly 20 million visitors, who witnessed the public debut of air conditioning, were able to ice skate throughout the entire summer, and spoke by wireless telegraph to cities 1500 mile away. In addition, they could “see the world”: from the Tyrolean Alps to the jungles of the Philippines; from the gardens of Japan to the holy sites of Jerusalem; from Southwestern pueblos to Eskimo villages. And all within the 1240 acres of the fair.” (Source: Meet Me At the Fair)
The Louisiana Purchase Exposition, also known as the St. Louis World’s Fair of 1904, was designed to celebrate the centennial of the Louisiana Purchase. According to the Report of the Illinois Commission it was “…an exposition of the progress of the world’s industries, arts, sciences and civilization to date, but more particularly an exposition of the progress of the American States which are part of the Purchase, and of their neighbors.” This report gives – in detail – the work of the commission, including reports of committees in charge of the exhibits in the Illinois Building at the Fair.
Examples of images in the Report:
Page 124: The busts of Abraham Lincoln and U.S. Grant, in butter. Could this be the inspiration for the Illinois State Fair tradition of the butter cow?
Page 78: The Illinois State Seal, made from grains and grasses.
More Images from the Fair:
(Source: http://genealogyinstlouis.accessgenealogy.com/1904.htm)
(Source: National Museum of American History, Archives Center)
For more information about the Louisiana Purchase Exposition:
Websites:
1904 World’s Fair, The Louisiana Purchase Exposition, St Louis, Missouri, 1904
The 1904 World’s Fair: Looking Back at Looking Forward – Missouri Historical Society
At the Fair: The Grandness of the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair
Postcards of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition St. Louis, Missouri, 1904
Bibliography:
Bennitt, Mark. History of the Louisiana purchase exposition, comprising the history of the Louisiana territory, the story of the Louisiana purchase and a full account of the great exposition, embracing the participation of the states and nations of the world, and other events of the St. Louis world’s fair of 1904; comp. from official sources by Mark Bennitt, editor-in-chief … Frank Parker Stockbridge, managing editor … with an introduction by Walter B. Stevens … Illustrated under direction of Edgar M. Dilley with more than four thousand engravings; Saint Louis, Universal exposition publishing company, 1905.
Hendershott, Robert L. The 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair: the Louisiana Purchase Exposition mementos and memorabilia; Iola, Wis. : Kurt R. Krueger Pub., c1994.
Parker Engraving Company. Ground plan of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, St. Louis, Mo., 1904; St. Louis : Buxton & Skinner, Stationery Co., c1904.
Roosevelt, Theodore. Address of President Roosevelt upon the occasion of the opening of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, St. Louis, April 30th, 1903
New York, Cincinnati, etc., American Book Company, 1904