Extended Reflection Journal - Changing America

The World's fair in Chicago, 1893, was momentous occasion during its time.  It brought ideas, structures and technologies from all over the world into one single location and displayed them for all the visitors to see.  Many people today have no idea the Columbian World Exposition ever existed or the technological wonders that emerged from it and that are still used today.  Many of my classmates, including myself, thought this story was fiction and believed the fair to be just one dream in the imagination of a creative mind.  But it was real and the Exposition did occur.  There are a number of simple objects that were invented for the fair, either to provide entertainment or to actually run the fair.  Some we use every day in our homes.  It also gave Americans a look at outside cultures and to see the advances other countries had made as well.  Up until that point, middle class citizens had not been educated by television or internet to know what lied beyond their borders.  But the world fair provided them with an opportunity to actually see what other nations were like.

One of the most important things at the fair was the lighting and the new technique of the Alternating Current system with electricity bulbs.  They generated all of the indoor light for the fair, besides the windows, and provided a much safer environment for such a great amount of electricity in one place.  The AC system is still used today in homes and larger venues.  Other smaller food items that were invented were Cracker Jack and Aunt Jemimah Pancake Mix.  Also, one of the biggest attractions there was created specifically for the fair and to rival Eiffel's Tower in Paris.  It was the Ferris Wheel.  It was enormous and one car could hold up to sixty people.  It was a feat for engineering and for entertainment, for now Ferris Wheels, though none quite as grandiose as the original, are seen at carnivals and fairs all over the world.

Many people were affected by the fair's allure as well.  Many visitors and architects went on to creating and inventing even greater things thanks to their influence at Chicago's fair.  Walt Disney was one example, who went with his involved father as a young boy and was enamored by the bright lights and the many culturally adept buildings.  His perception of the White City had a big part in the creation of Disneyland.  A lot of architects, and not just the ones that spent countless hours building the fairgrounds, came from all around the world to marvel at these giants.  They took the ideas they saw and molded them into their own and created some of the most well-known skyscrapers, like the Rockefeller Center in New York.  Mainly the Chicago World's Fair changed the world's perception of America and it's capability to do great things in a little amount of time.  People left the great Exposition with a new appreciation for culture and took with them the memories of the fair, for soon after its closing it was destroyed.