1934 World’s Fair

Past World’s Fairs were just as much of a look back as they were forward, but Chicago wanted to emphasize the modern America when they hosted the 1934 event. In fact, it’s this very World’s Fair that is accredited for introducing the “Art Deco” aesthetic to North America.

History class… blah, blah, blah… Lecturing… blah, blah, blah… The “Century of Progress” isn’t all that interesting to read about really. But when I toured the Henry Ford museum years ago, they featured a film that documented the company’s involvement in the fair. I’ve been on the lookout for that film ever since.

Ford’s contribution doesn’t start until around the 9-minute mark – where you get to see Edsel and his old man hop out of a town car to tour the V-8 exhibit – “Out of the Earth, Comes the Ford Car.”

If you’ve got the time, it’s worth a watch. I swear if there were only ONE event that I could travel back in time to attend, this would be it – if only to chastise the Ford engineers at the head gasket display or to praise the teenagers assembling the Stewart Warner gauges on site… at the fair… Pretty damned rad.