Call Number:

Print Collection 47

Repository:

University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts

Extent:

6 linear feet (8 boxes)

Language Note:

This collection is largely in English but some portions are in French, German, and Spanish.

Preferred Citation:

Michael Zinman collection of World's Fairs and Expositions material, 1851-2000 (bulk: 1873-1992), Print Collection 47, Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, University of Pennsylvania

Date:

1851-2000 (inclusive) and 1873-1992 (bulk)

Form:

Prints (visual works), Advertisements, Memorabilia, Postage stamps, Printed ephemera, Slides (photographs), Brochures, Exhibition catalogs, Tourist maps, Photographs, Souvenirs (Keepsakes), Postcards, Tape reels, Audiovisual materials, Magazine illustration, Sheet music, and Articles

Abstract:

Wolrd's fairs and expositions have been held internationally from 1851 and continue into the present. This collection comprises written materials, memorabilia, and, to a more limited extent, other materials such as photographs and musical recordings from or related to world's fairs and expositions that took place between 1851 and 1992. Most expositions recognized by the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) are represented, as well as many that are not officially recognized by the BIE. Some non-world's fair events are also represented to a limited extent. While events from around the world are featured in the collection, it primarily centers on expositions that occurred in the United States.

While national expositions had taken place in France since the end of the eighteenth century, the modern institution of what would come to be known primarily in the United States as the "world's fair" and, in most other regions, the "world exposition" properly began with the 1851 London Great Exhibition of the Works and Industry of All Nations. The Great Exhibition, as it would come to be known, took place in the famous Crystal Palace in Hyde Park and prominently featured the industrial achievements of the United Kingdom specifically and the western world generally. From then, world's fairs, expositions, and other internationally-oriented festivals became a veritable craze that lasted well into the twentieth century and continue to this day. In the nineteenth century, world's fairs/expositions generally followed the rubric established at London's Great Exhibition in 1851 whereby both national committees and private companies sought to showcase new technologies and industrial progress in general. Many world's fairs/expositions also centered around specifically nationalistic and at times generally western-imperial themes, such as the famous 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, the 1899 First Greater America Colonial Exposition in Omaha, the 1922 Exposition nationale coloniale in Marseille, and the 1925 Empire Exposition in Johannesburg.

Beginning with the 1939-1940 New York World's Fair in New York City, the theme of which was "Dawn of a New Day," the institution of the world's fair/exposition took on a future-oriented perspective that focused on intercultural exchange in addition to industrial and national advancement. As consumerism took hold, these events also placed a premium on showcasing new products and the supposed capacity for corporations to improve the lives of people around the world. Of course, historian Robert W. Rydell points out in World of Fairs: The Century-of-Progress Expositions (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993) that this shift did not necessarily stem from a decisive move away from the "imperial dreams" of exposition organizers but rather reflected a need to marry "science and technology to the modern corporation as the blueprint for building a better tomorrow" (7). From the 1990s to today, the primary focus of world's fairs/expositions shifted again as these events began to center more on displays of national image and cultural achievement. World Expos, as they are now typically called, continue to be held every few years, have only grown in size and expense, and tend to center on themes that foreground challenges faced by humanity as a whole.

This collection was compiled and donated by Michael Zinman, and the bulk of its materials span from the years 1873 to 1992. For an extensive, critical study of world's fairs and expositions in general, see Paul Greenhaulgh, Fair World: A History of World's Fairs and Expositions from London to Shanghai, 1851-2010 (Winterbourne, UK: Papadakis, 2011). For studies of American world's fairs, see Robert W. Rydell, All the World's a Fair: Visions of Empire at American International Expositions, 1876-1916 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1987) and Rydell, World of Fairs: The Century-of-Progress Expositions (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993).

This collection comprises written materials, memorabilia, and, to a more limited extent, other materials such as photographs and musical recordings from or related to world's fairs and expositions that took place between 1851 and 1992. Most expositions recognized by the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) are represented, as well as many that are not officially recognized by the BIE. The collection includes appreciable amounts of material related to some of the most historically significant world's fairs, such as the 1893 Chicago World's Columbian Exposition, the 1900 Paris Exposition universelle, the 1933-1934 Chicago Century of Progress, the 1939-1940 New York World's Fair, the 1939-40 San Francisco Golden Gate International Exposition, the 1958 Brussels Wereldtentoonstelling/Exposition universelle et internationale, and the 1962 Seattle Century 21 Exposition. With regard to each exposition featured in the collection, the majority of materials included tend to be promotional and/or informational handbills, brochures, and booklets either relating to the exposition in general or to specific exhibits, companies, or nations represented at the exposition. Some non-world's fair events are also represented to a limited extent, such as the 1888 Cincinnati Flower Festival, the 1925 Scottish Motor Exhibition, and the 1957 Jamestown Festival. While materials from events that took place around the world are included in the collection, it primarily centers on expositions that occurred in the United States.

This collection is arranged chronlogically.