Overview of the Innovations:
More than 65,000 items from all over the world were shown at the fair. Exhibits included contemporary innovations as well as historical displays.
Visitors saw a clothing "clasp locker" (an early zipper), heard live orchestra music from New York, rode a "moveable sidewalk," and wrote home on the first U.S. picture postcards. Hamburgers and diet carbonated drinks were introduced, along with Juicy Fruit gum, Cracker Jack, and Shredded Wheat cereal. A character named "Aunt Jemima" offered homemakers everything they needed to make pancakes, in one box. Pabst brewery won an award for its beer; the beverage has been known as Pabst Blue Ribbon ever since.
Some of the most significant innovations weren't displays, but part of the fair. Although Thomas Edison fought to power the fair with direct current electricity, Nikola Tesla and Westinghouse won the commission; their alternating current would become the predominant means of powering homes and businesses. To speed up the process of painting the hundreds of buildings, decorations director Francis Davis Millet devised the first form of spray paint.
The greatest technological marvel of the fair was the mammoth Ferris Wheel. Designed as America's answer to the Eiffel Tower -- the centerpiece of the 1889 Universal Exhibition in Paris -- the wheel stood 264 feet high. Its 89,000 lb. axle was the largest piece of steel ever forged.
Although the age of the automobile was dawning, little was made of the new horseless carriages. Only one gasoline-powered automobile, the Daimler Benz Victoria, was shown. A few electric cars were exhibited by the Morrison Company, but trains and ships dominated the Transportation Building.
(Adapted from Encyclopedia of Chicago)
More than 65,000 items from all over the world were shown at the fair. Exhibits included contemporary innovations as well as historical displays.
Visitors saw a clothing "clasp locker" (an early zipper), heard live orchestra music from New York, rode a "moveable sidewalk," and wrote home on the first U.S. picture postcards. Hamburgers and diet carbonated drinks were introduced, along with Juicy Fruit gum, Cracker Jack, and Shredded Wheat cereal. A character named "Aunt Jemima" offered homemakers everything they needed to make pancakes, in one box. Pabst brewery won an award for its beer; the beverage has been known as Pabst Blue Ribbon ever since.
Some of the most significant innovations weren't displays, but part of the fair. Although Thomas Edison fought to power the fair with direct current electricity, Nikola Tesla and Westinghouse won the commission; their alternating current would become the predominant means of powering homes and businesses. To speed up the process of painting the hundreds of buildings, decorations director Francis Davis Millet devised the first form of spray paint.
The greatest technological marvel of the fair was the mammoth Ferris Wheel. Designed as America's answer to the Eiffel Tower -- the centerpiece of the 1889 Universal Exhibition in Paris -- the wheel stood 264 feet high. Its 89,000 lb. axle was the largest piece of steel ever forged.
Although the age of the automobile was dawning, little was made of the new horseless carriages. Only one gasoline-powered automobile, the Daimler Benz Victoria, was shown. A few electric cars were exhibited by the Morrison Company, but trains and ships dominated the Transportation Building.
(Adapted from Encyclopedia of Chicago)