3094

MO - St. Louis,1904 - World's Fair Souvenir

Currency:USD Category:Everything Else / Other Start Price:200.00 USD Estimated At:400.00 - 800.00 USD
MO - St. Louis,1904 - World's Fair Souvenir
Session D is a Mail-Bid Only Auction. Absentee bids will be accepted only. No live bidding will be allowed. All winners will be contacted after the auction. BIDDING ENDS MONDAY JUNE 27 AT 5PM PACIFIC TIME!!!
Rare. Measures about 2 1/2" Wide 1/2" High, 1" Length. A led souvenir bar painted gold. "World's Fair Gold Brick (nit) St. Louis, 1904." Writing one the reverse is illegible. Between the 30th of April through the 1st of December, more than 20 million people had attended the fair. According to the city of St. Louis Missouri website, the city of St. Louis loaned the park so that it could be used for the fair as long as when it was over that it would go back to a park and loaned over $5 million for the event. This was the largest of world fairs which had covered an area of 1,272 acres and consisted of 900 distinct buildings. Twenty-two countries were represented, including Japan, China, the Philippines and Ceylon. Forty-four U.S. cities, states and territories built large display buildings. The federal government built a bird cage large enough for the birds to fly freely. A working coal mine was realistic, since the workmen actually found coal under the park ground while building the exhibit. From 1893's Chicago World Fair, the Ferris Wheel was moved to St. Louis. It was so large it could carry 2,160 people which was 60 in each car. Francis Field was the site of the 1904 Olympic Games, which was held during the fair. It was the first Olympics held in the United States. Fair visitors saw exhibits ranging from a cow made entirely of butter, to their first look at the automobiles and electric lights. It was estimated the park received $500,000 worth of improvements from the fair, including streets, bridges, sewers and water systems. However, this fair was not only about fun. They had real live people displayed in their own "environment" where other people could see the different cultures, see the and "superiority" of the Euro/white man. It was like a museum where people could take pictures with people of other races and cultures. It was supposed to be celebration of progression of the white man. Only a few buildings and artifacts still remain.