Just forty years after the 1893 Columbian Exposition brought visitors from around the world to Chicago for a world’s fair; Chicago hosted its second world’s fair, A Century of Progress International Exposition. The fair was situated on 424 acres near the museum campus, and almost the entire fairground was filled in lake shore. According to A Century of Progress promotional materials, the exposition was within a day’s ride of 75% of the United States population. Over the course of the fair’s 1933-34 run, the world’s fair welcomed over thirty nine million visitors from Chicagoland and beyond, breaking world’s fair attendance records.
1933 may seem like an odd choice of year for a fair called a Century of Progress, but the name comes from the fair coinciding with the celebration of the centennial of the founding of Chicago. In the forty years since the Columbian Exposition, a lot had changed in Chicago, and in the rest of the world. In the intervening years, World War I and the Great Depression shaped society in new ways, and the world’s fair reflected some of the new attitudes and changes. Progress was the unifying theme for the world’s fair, and A Century of Progress offered a new idea of progress. Rather than focus on, and put faith in people to create a better world, the fair’s organizers looked to technological innovation as progress.
Planning for the Century of Progress began during the heady days of the Roaring Twenties, before the crash of the stock market in 1929 ushered in the Great Depression. The timing of the fair during the Great Depression influenced the development and reception of the fair. Given the tough financial times, some people thought the fair should not proceed for financial reasons, and that participation and visitation would be limited. However, A Century of Progress was remarkable for many reasons, not the least of which was that it turned a profit, even in the midst of the Great Depression. The fair was originally scheduled to run only in 1933, but due to the fair’s popularity, and the desire to turn a profit on the fair, it remained open for a 1934 season.
Unlike previous world’s fairs, the 1933-34 Chicago World’s Fair was funded by private money rather than extensive municipal and government funding. The economic crunch caused a number of countries to opt out of participating in the fair, or to focus on smaller exhibits rather than full exhibit pavilions. The limited funds also led to greater cooperation between exhibitors as in some cases, industries and other interests groups opted to share thematic buildings rather than hosting their own. Another new and unique feature of Chicago’s second world’s fair was the emphasis on science, industry, and the level of corporate participation. Companies like Havoline, Sears, and General Motors sponsored large corporate pavilions and fair landmarks, to use the fair as part of new marketing efforts.
As is the nature of world’s fairs, A Century of Progress was temporary. At the close of the 1934 season, fair buildings were torn down, and fair memorabilia scattered across the country. A Century of Progress served as a beacon of optimism and hopefulness during the Great Depression, and for many fair visitors, it provided memories that would last a lifetime.