In episode 17 of The Devil’s in the Details, Dan Parrella tells Pedro Lima (and Chris Crespo) all about the Chicago World’s Fair of the mid 1890s, and how this one event impacted American culture and business in such a huge way.
In this episode:
First World’s Fair in 1851 in Great Britain.
France builds Eiffel Tower for the 1881 World’s Fair in Paris.
New Yorkers call Chicago the Windy City because of the boastfulness of Chicagoans planning the 1894 World’s Fair.
Jackson Park is created.
Nikola Tesla is hired.
Neo-Classicism design aesthetics.
Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show sets up shop across the street.
Saul Bloom, inventer of the Midway.
George Ferris and the Ferris Wheel.
The Popularization of ragtime.
Elias Disney survives working as a builder, goes home and tells his grandkids about the Fair.
Firsts/Inventions includes the people mover, cream of wheat, the zipper, the dishwasher, the hamburger, the penny press machine, Wrigley gum.