MAAA | Programs | ExhibitsUSA |
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Centuries of Progress: American World's Fairs, 1853-1982 |
Click image for video What do the telephone, the Ferris Wheel, a 28,000 pound typewriter, and nylon stockings have in common? They were just a few of the thousands of featured products, curiosities, and inventions that made their debut at one of 17 international festivals on American soil. Many familiar consumer goods that are now part of the fabric of American life—from Wonder Bread to Juicy Fruit gum—were either introduced or popularized at world’s fairs. Fairgoers also experienced art, architecture, design, music, popular culture, and entertainment. These fairs were marketplaces of ideas and technological innovation that celebrated progress, trade, and goodwill. Centuries of Progress: American World’s Fairs, 1853–1982 from the Hagley Museum and Library presents a remarkable overview of the fairs, from the Crystal Palace Exposition in New York to the World’s Fair in Knoxville, Tennessee. Approximately 150 objects, photographs, and ephemera detail more than a century of progress, promotion, and public response. The history of the fairs is related through six thematic categories: Progress as a Way of Life introduces the rationale for the creation of world’s fairs. Marketplace of Ideas demonstrates the immense opportunity manufacturers had to market new inventions, while Consumerism depicts fair-goers as an eager audience for innovative goods, from Juicy Fruit to Wonder Bread and Dr. Pepper. Art, Architecture and Music and Popular Amusements illustrate the vast entertainment options, from colossal buildings and sculptures to carnival rides and exhibitions of “exotic” lands and cultures. Finally, Remembering the Fair includes souvenirs and commemorative items. After all, who could go home empty-handed after experiencing the wonders of a World’s Fair? |
Exhibition
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Available Dates May 7–July 19, 2009 Price Tower Arts Center; Lexington, MA (pending) For the most current information e-mail or call Ramona Davis or Raina Heinrich at 800-473-EUSA (3872). | |
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