1904 World's Fair Facts: Read About The Louisiana Purchase Exposition

The World's Fair of 1904 was held in St. Louis, near Forest Park.

The major purpose of the fair was to celebrate the 100 years of Thomas Jefferson. Apart from that, the fair also signifies the execution of the Louisiana Purchase.

One of the major purposes of the World's Fairs across the world is to put up the discoveries and the fine arts that would leave a mark on history. The Louis World's Fair was successful in withholding the discoveries and the marvelous art that still remain on the pages of history.

It is believed that the St. Louis fair in Missouri invented and showed the largest variety of food that could have been done in an isolated event. Food like hamburgers and ice cream drew the greatest amount of attention.

Although hamburger steaks became very popular during the civil war. Due to this, the dish was served as a form of sandwich during the late 1800s, which was much before the fair.

The machinery discoveries were huge in number. All these discoveries were lit with lights that were considered the major attraction of the fair.

If you like reading this, you might want to read about 1920 entertainment facts and 1919 fun facts.

Fun Facts About 1904 World's Fair

When it comes to the World's Fair held in St. Louis in 1904, apart from the products, there could be a lot of fun facts as well.

The St. Louis Art Museum was made only to put up the World's Fair of 1904. It covered a massive area with several buildings, most of which cannot be seen today.

The museum was built beside a lake to make the venue look more attractive. In Forest Park, the Missouri History Museum is known to have a few of the artifacts left from the fair. The St. Louis Art Museum in Missouri is the only building that was made out of Plaster of Paris and is present now.

Recently, the lake or the grand basin near St. Louis has been reconstructed again. A few steps and fountains are known to be added. In 1904, the Olympic games were held as well at Washington University.

This building still exists. Apart from that, most of the leftover materials have been kept and preserved at the Missouri History Museum.

Facts About 1904 World's Fair's Significance

The World's Fair of 1904, also famously known as the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, holds scientific as well as economic significance in history. The fairgrounds of Missouri were not only enriched by the various discoveries of scientists and artists but also launched a lot of them into the markets for the customers.

The Louisiana Purchase Exposition was being put on to celebrate the 100th birth anniversary of Thomas Jefferson. The fair took place in St. Louis, Missouri, extending from April 30 to December 1 in the year 1904.

The major motive and significance of St. Louis were to offer new inventories, ideas, and advancements in the field of science to the world. St. Louis witnessed thousands of visitors who attended the fair, along with great minds.

Great scientists made a presence in St. Louis to interact with the general public and launch various products. Thomas Edison was also seen at the fair taking care of the electricity department as the entire fair was lit up with electric lights. He also made sure to take care of the overuse of electricity in the fair.

In order to fund the fair, a collection of funds took place locally as well as nationally. Around $16 million was needed to carry on with the entire event.

Around 60 countries attended the fair. It was estimated that around 19.7 million people attended the fair.

Facts About 1904 World's Fair's Inventions

The Louis World's Fair is considered to be one of the biggest events of the 1900s regarding display amusements and engaging the public in it. The festival hall of the event displayed multiple fine arts, machinery products as well as food.

Few of these products are believed to have been invented much earlier whereas the rest are claimed to have been invented during the fair itself.

Apart from the products, statures like the Eiffel Tower, the Ferris wheel, and the Space Needle were the center of attraction at the World's Fair. A few of the products that were invented earlier but gained popularity after being displayed at the world's fair were the baby incubator and the teleautograph.

The baby incubator is believed to have been invented by Drs. Alan M. Thomas and William Champion in the year 1888.

The motive behind creating this was to raise funds for a project. During the Fairs's Pike, numerous babies who were premature were kept inside the incubator.

The incubator was made of around 14 metal-framed glasses to protect babies. The babies usually came from orphanages or poor families.

Hence, the crowds of visitors who visited the fair paid the nurses to look after the babies, which led to raising the funds. The incubator was brought to the fair by Tennessean E.M. Bayliss.

On the other hand, the teleautograph was invented by Elisha Gray of Chicago. It was considered to be the primitive version of a fax machine and received a little appreciation during the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition that was held in Chicago.

A few products that were displayed for the first time in St. Louis were the different kinds of telephones, color televisions, and touchscreens. The electric typewriter also made an appearance at the World's Fair.

The X-ray machine was one of the products that gained an immediate response and was installed immediately in airports and hospitals. DeForest Wireless Telegraphy Company invented wireless technology during the fair.

The company would send news of the fair to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and to the St. Louis Star through the observation towers of the fairgrounds.

This wireless technology is now considered to be the processor of the cellular telephone. There were small carriers called 'letter carriers' spotted around the World's Fair to collect and post mail.

This was the first use of an automobile in the United States for a particular agenda. Thomas Edison came up with the stell-nickel battery system to run an automobile efficiently.

Although a similar invention was shown in Edison's own exhibition as well. A gas producer from Europe came to the World's Fair and showed the transformation of coal.

He transformed 1 lb (0.45 kg) of coal into at least three times the power of a steam boiler. This invention was considered to have an effect on the process of coal mining as well as have an adverse effect on the quality of air.

There was a battleship called the 'Submarine' that was shown at St. Louis. Most of the fine arts are lit up with electricity.

The fairgrounds and the buildings were covered with electric lights. All of the appliances and art were lit up with the help of electricity.

In fact, Thomas Edison was present in St. Louis to take care of the department of electricity. There were flying machines displayed, like an airplane being put up.

There were demonstrations organized to explain the taking off and landing of the airplanes. A $100,000 contest was also put up for anyone who could attempt to fly the plane with at least one passenger.

Facts About 1904 World's Fair's Food

As we talk about the discoveries that took place at the Louis World's Fair, food had a major role to play as well. Along with the hundreds of machinery inventions, the food that was invented at this fair was known to be one of the best.

During this time, the hamburger came with a patty that was made up of beef, preferably ground beef.

The burger, during the late 1800s, was mostly eaten with a fork and knife. At the fair, the idea of the hamburger steak changed the idea of steak-eating to what we see now in America.

Regarding ice cream, it is said that the cone of ice cream was invented at the fair.

Although few people claim it is merely an attachment given to glorify the importance of the fair, the original credit for the invention of the cone of ice cream must be given to Syrian concessionaire Ernest Hamwi. But the one fact that is true is the popularity of the dessert in America post-World Fair.

A few of these dishes were probably invented before the fair, but their popularity increased slowly over a period of time.

Although the invention of iced tea goes back to the Louis exposition, it is believed to be one of the most exquisite dishes of the fair that gained popularity worldwide.

In fact, the famous tea merchant, Richard Blechynden, is said to have lost a large chunk of his business following the invention of iced tea. Apart from this food, hot dogs, cotton candy, and peanut butter, were also put on display.

Alongside these dishes, the club sandwich became very popular among the public and slowly turned into a go-to dish for breakfast in the city.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for 1904 World's fair facts: read about the Louisiana purchase exposition, then why not take a look at 1920s radio facts or 1920s fashion facts?