This silent 16mm home movie shows a visit to the 1933-34 Chicago World's Fair also known as the Century of Progress. A Century of Progress International Exposition was a World's Fair registered under the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), which held in Chicago, as The Chicago World's Fair, from 1933 to 1934 to celebrate the city's centennial. The theme of the fair was technological innovation. The fair's motto was "Science Finds, Industry Applies, Man Adapts". Its architectural symbol was the Sky Ride, a transporter bridge perpendicular to the shore on which one could ride from one side of the fair to the other.
Some of the sights shown include the Indian Village at 1:52, the Ford pavilion at 1:37, the General Motors pavilion at 1:40, the Sky Ride at 1:50, Fort Dearborn at 2:10, Standard Oil pavilion, steam locomotives on exhibit at 3:00, pottery exhibition at 3:20, the Enchanted Island kids railway at 4:30, a car ride at 4:45, Pan Am Sikorsky S-42 flying boats at 5;14 -- including a ride over the fair and city at 5:20. At about 6:30 it looks like the plane ride has ended and you're seeing views from the Sky Ride, as the image is remarkably stable. But the altitude doesn't seem right? Belgium exhibit at 8:50. Ice skating show at 9:40 including barrel jumping. The Dutch pavilion is at 10:50, and Admiral Byrd's South Pole ship is seen at 11:00. At 11:30, the robotic dinosaurs that amazed visitors are seen.
Century of Progress was organized as an Illinois nonprofit corporation in January 1928 for the purpose of planning and hosting a World's Fair in Chicago in 1934. City officials designated three and a half miles of newly reclaimed land along the shore of Lake Michigan between 12th and 39th streets on the Near South Side for the fairgrounds.[2] Held on a 427 acres (1.73 km2) portion of Burnham Park, the $37,500,000 exposition was formally opened on May 27, 1933 by US Postmaster General James Farley at a four hour ceremony at Soldier Field.[3][4] The fair's opening night began with a nod to the heavens. Lights were automatically activated when the rays of the star Arcturus were detected. The star was chosen as its light had started its journey at about the time of the previous Chicago world's fair—the World's Columbian Exposition—in 1893.[5] The rays were focused on photoelectric cells in a series of astronomical observatories and then transformed into electrical energy which was transmitted to Chicago.
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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
