Sesquicentennial exposure
| Sesquicentennial Exposition 1926 | |
|---|---|
 Luminous Liberty Bell |
|
| General | |
| new hits | Sound film and electric typewriter |
| Place of issue | |
| place | Philadelphia |
| terrain | League Island Park Coordinates: 39 ° 54 ′ 31.4 " N , 75 ° 10 ′ 23.7" W
|
| calendar | |
| opening | March 31, 1923 |
| closure | November 10, 1823 |
| Chronological order | |
| predecessor | Paris 1925 |
| successor | Barcelona 1929 |
The Sesquicentennial International Exposition (literally International and a half-century Exhibition ) 1926 was a World's Fair in Philadelphia ( Pennsylvania ), to 150ten anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and the 50th anniversary of the Centennial Exposition of the 1876th
history
Philadelphia was entrusted with hosting this World's Fair in 1921. The originally large-scale plans had to be shortened considerably before the opening. The original exhibition director, David Charles Collier , resigned in protest of the budget cuts. His successor Asher C. Baker retired a few days before the opening due to illness and left the affairs to EL Austin. Baker died less than two weeks later.
The exhibit opened on May 31, 1926 and lasted through November on a site in south Philadelphia bounded by 10th Street, Packer Avenue, 23rd Street and the US Navy (Terminal Avenue). Originally called League Island Park , the site now included FDR Park , Marconi Plaza , Packer Park Residential Neighborhood , the three stadiums of Philadelphia's great South Philadelphia Sports Complex ( Wells Fargo Center , Lincoln Financial Field , and Citizens Bank Park ), and the training ground of the Philadelphia Eagles . This part of the exhibition grounds was the location of the Philadelphia Naval Hospital from 1933 to 1993, which was demolished in 2001.
The main person responsible for the design of the exhibition buildings was the young Louis I. Kahn , later a world-famous architect who was then working under the city architect John Molitor. The sculptor Charles Tefft was selected as the person responsible for the objects in the exhibition, while the well-known sculptor and artist Albert Laessle from Philadelphia created the prize medals for the exhibition.
The exhibition attracted significantly fewer visitors than the originally planned 10 million. In the end she was unable to service her debts and went bankrupt in 1927.
Highlights
At the entrance, the organizers created a 24 m high replica of the symbol of the exhibition, the Liberty Bell, filled with 26,000 light bulbs . The "Sesqui-Centennial Stadium" - later "Philadelphia Municipal Stadium" and after 1964 called John F. Kennedy Stadium - was built in connection with the exhibition. The Curtis Organ , which is still one of the world's largest organs , was also exhibited at the exhibition . In 1926, anticipating the crowds, the first bridge was built over the Delaware River between Philadelphia and Camden , later renamed the Benjamin Franklin Bridge .
The keynote speakers at the opening event were United States Secretary of State Frank B. Kellogg , Secretary of Commerce and later President of the United States Herbert Hoover, and Philadelphia Mayor W. Freeland Kendrick .
The center of the exhibition along the main axis on southern Broad Street was the so-called “Forum of Founders”, which consists of the “Court of Honor”, the exhibition buildings for liberal arts and agriculture, a group of sculptures and the "Staircase of Nations", which was aligned on the opposite "Tower of Light" ("light tower").
The exhibit also included an amusement park within League Island Park. The area was laid out as "Treasure Island", covered more than two hectares and was called a children's paradise. There were a number of rides and amusements such as B. a replica of the Canadian Rocky Mountains, a miniature train, a mountain slide, "Robinson Crusoes Beach", a pirate hideout, boat trips and the "Noah's Ark" with animals. The exhibition also had a number of roller coasters, such as B. the "Zyklon", a prototype by Harry Travers Giant Cyclone Safety Coasters and a version of his Jazz Railway train.
The US Navy Mustin Field airfield was opened on September 17, 1926, i.e. at the end of the exhibition, and named after the Navy aviation pioneer Henry C. Mustin , who made the first catapult launch from a ship in 1915 with a Curtiss AB-2 undertook.
Perception and aftermath
From the beginning, the exhibition was faced with challenges that made its success questionable. On the opening day it rained heavily, which caused many visitors to leave the exhibition early or not to visit at all. It has been estimated that no more than 250 visitors entered the exhibition in the first hour.
The fair drew a much lower number of visitors than the expected 10 million people. Variety named it America's Greatest Flop, with a loss of $ 20 million (equivalent to today's $ 288 million) by August 1926. The exhibit failed to cover its debts and went bankrupt in 1927, after which its assets were sold at auction.
Benito Mussolini commemorated the 150th anniversary by donating an 800,000 dollar replica of Bernini's Seahorse Fountain, which arrived after the exhibition closed. In Fairmount Park built, the fountain was many years of neglect before it was restored, 2013.
The US Post printed a commemorative stamp showing the Liberty Bell . Two commemorative coins were minted, a silver half dollar and a gold quarter eagle (two and a half dollar coin). The fifty cent coin features the heads of George Washington and Calvin Coolidge on the obverse and the Liberty Bell on the reverse. The two and a half dollar coin depicts Liberty on the obverse holding a torch and the Declaration of Independence while standing on a globe, the reverse depicts Independence Hall . The stamp was issued in large numbers and is accordingly of little value to collectors. The coins sold rather poorly, although both are still more common than other commemorative coins of the period.
literature
- Sesqui! Greed, Graft, and the Forgotten World's Fair of 1926 by Thomas H. Keels, 2017, Temple University Press
Web links
- Liberty Bell Museum: http://www.libertybellmuseum.com/WorldsFair/1926sesqui.htm ( Memento from December 6, 2002 in the Internet Archive ) (English)
- Collection of Photographs from the Sesquicentennial Exposition , Philly History.org. (English)
- Collection of art objects, postcards, brochures, photographs and other objects from the Sesquicentennial Exposition (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ Collier Quits Directorship of Exposition . In: Los Angeles Times , October 30, 1925, p. 2.
- ↑ Exposition Head Retires . In: New York Times , May 26, 1926, p. 27.
- ↑ Capt. Baker dead; head of exposure . In: New York Times , June 6, 1926, p. 28. (English)
- ^ Kahn, Louis Isadore (1901–1974) - Philadelphia Architects and Buildings
- ^ Proske, Beatrice Gilman, Brookgreen Gardens Sculpture, Brookgreen Gardens, SC, 1968 p. 150
- ↑ a b City of Philadelphia Information Locator Service (English)
- ↑ Sesquicentennial opens as sun shines; 100,000 pass gates . In: New York Times , June 1, 1926, p. 1. (English)
- ^ Richard Munch: Harry G. Traver: Legends of Terror . Amusement Park Books, Inc., Mentor, OH 1982, ISBN 0-935408-02-9 . (English)
- ↑ America's Greatest Flop . In: Variety , August 25, 1926, p. 1. Retrieved May 28, 2017.
- ↑ Italian Fountain restored, getting ready to splash again this summer (English)