Research project!!

During the years of 1880 through the 1920’s, there was much advancement in American culture, industry, as well as technology. The largest change or advancement that came during these years was the transition into a consumer economy. This completely changed how the majority of Americans lived their lives. Several new forms of buying products, and entertainment emerged due to the consumer economy. The growth of college football, as well as the establishing of large department stores is just a few examples of how the consumer economy changed the lifestyle of the majority of Americans. One of the areas in which Americans could see how the consumer economy changed their lifestyles was at the Chicago World Expo of 1893. The Expo was the showcase for the technological marvels of the time period. Not only did the Expo show Americans all of the technological advancements of the time, but it also gave them a glimpse of what life was like in Europe due to the Beaux arts style of architecture that was used for the majority of buildings in the expo.

The Chicago World Expo was held in order to celebrate Christopher Columbus’s four hundredth anniversary of him landing in the Americas. Also Chicago beat out large cities such as New York and Washington D.C, and won the right to hold the worlds fair for 1893.  The Expo covered nearly six hundred acres and it also featured almost two hundred structures. These structures featured Beaux Art style architecture as well as many lagoons and a canal system. The expo was located in Jackson Park. The overall layout and floor plan of the expo was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, and the Beaux Art style buildings were the brainchild of Daniel Burnham. One of the most well know nick names for the world expo is “The white city”. The expo received this name due to the fact that all of the Beaux Arts structures were constructed out of white stucco. This building material was said to give the buildings a “bright white glow” Overall, most of the visitors were blown away by the size, content, and the extensive use of electrical lighting.

One of the main exhibits of the expo was the electrical showcase of Nikola Tessla’s alternating current illumination. Before alternating current, the majority of Americans only knew of direct current lighting systems. The main advantages of Tessla’s AC(alternating current), were that the AC bulbs put off greater amounts of light with half of the heat, when compared to direct current bulbs. Another advantage of AC was that the bulbs used much more common materials for the filaments than direct current bulbs, thus greatly reducing the cost of production. One way that the AC bulbs were put to use, was that they allowed for the first ever night football game. The game only lasted forty minutes, compared to ninety minutes for a regular day game.

One aspect of modern life that came into existence during the 1880’s, was urban planning. The main idea of urban planning was to create a more attractive and efficient city design. The highly integrated design of the landscapes, promenades, and structures provided a vision of what is possible when planners, landscape architects, and architects work together on a design scheme. The overall success of the World expo created great success for its co-architect Daniel Burnham. The Merchants Club of Chicago decided to commission Daniel Burnham to design a city plan for Chicago. His plans became the first modern city plan in America. The main recognizable design feature of the White City was its Beaux Arts style of architecture. Beaux-Arts architecture depended on sculptural decoration along conservative modern lines. Some other notable design characteristics of the Beaux Arts style are: a flat roof, arched windows as well as arched doors, and classical details.

The World expo had a lasting effect on the way that Americans viewed their culture and how it was advancing. Not only did the expo create a showcase for all of the technological advancements of the time period, but it created an excellent opportunity for merchants to advertise all of their products. The expo was the ideal for a merchant to advertise their products due to the vast amount of visitors that the expo received. All of these factors added up to create the perfect environment for merchants. Overall the Chicago world expo was an enormous achievement across all fields. It presented the public with all of the cutting edge technology as well as a forerunner for urban planning and the Beaux Arts style of architecture. Every single aspect of the expo was ground breaking, and it was definitely a crowning achievement in the history of Chicago. Tragically, the expo suffered a great fire and was entirely destroyed. The fire started off as just a small flame, but it quickly spread throughout the entire fair. This was primarily because of the fact that the majority of the structures were built as temporary structures, and they had not been properly fire gaurded

This photo shows the Administration building of the Expo, this building is an example of the Beaux Arts style

This is a very detailed map of the World Expo

This is a view of the court of honor. The court of honor was the main section of the Expo

This photo shows the court of honor during the night hours. This was a display of how the expo utilized alternating current

This photo shows the large electrical motors that were necessarily for alternating current to work