Chicago’s 1933 World’s Fair, photographed while it was open
A large pictorial history and souvenir of Chicago and its Century of Progress exposition, published in the city during the fair.
The story
In 1933 Chicago held a world’s fair, A Century of Progress, as the city celebrated a hundred years of growth, and the F. Husum Publishing Company brought out this oversize book while the exposition was running. Descriptive prose and many black-and-white photographs survey the city and the fair together.
The pictures show the fair’s modernist architecture, its illuminated buildings, its exhibitions and wide views of the city; among the spreads are an aerial panorama and the Sky Ride. Library records describe about 157 pages, with portraits and a map.
The blue pictorial cloth is worn. The top of the spine is frayed and torn with loss, the front joint is splitting, and tape or something like it has been used to reinforce the spine and an inner hinge; the edges and corners are rubbed, with scattered spotting.
Details
- Date
- 1933
- Publisher
- F. Husum Publishing Company, Inc., Chicago
- Binding
- cloth: Original blue illustrated cloth/pictorial boards, with upper spine and front joint damage and tape or adhesive reinforcement
- Condition
- Original blue pictorial cloth hardback. Upper spine/headcap frayed and torn with material loss and visible splitting/separation at front joint. Tape or tape-like adhesive reinforcement visible at the spine/joint and at the inner hinge/endpaper; exact material, age, and extent not established. Rubbed edges/corners and scattered age spotting/foxing, including endpapers. See uploaded photo pages 2–4 and 10–11 for wear and repairs. Binding stability and collation have not been verified.