Created by Goodyear as a promotion for their airships, which were featured at the event, this historic silent film shows the Chicago World’s Fair of 1933, known as the Century of Progress. Some of the highlights include the Skyride at the 3:30 mark, the replica of Fort Dearborn seen at the 5:30 mark, amusement rides at the 7:00 mark, a dancing revue at 9:00, and views of the City of Chicago as seen from a Goodyear blimp at the 10 minute mark.
A Century of Progress International Exposition was a World’s Fair held in Chicago, as The Chicago World’s Fair, from 1933 to 1934 to celebrate the city’s centennial. The theme of the fair was technological innovation. The fair’s motto was “Science Finds, Industry Applies, Man Adapts”; its architectural symbol was the Sky Ride, a transporter bridge perpendicular to the shore on which one could ride from one side of the fair to the other. A Century of Progress was organized as an Illinois nonprofit corporation in January 1928 for the purpose of planning and hosting a World’s Fair in Chicago in 1934. City officials designated three and a half miles of newly reclaimed land along the shore of Lake Michigan between 12th and 39th streets on the Near South Side for the fairgrounds. Held on a 427 acres (1.73 km2) portion of Burnham Park the Century of Progress opened on May 27, 1933. The fair’s opening night began with a nod to the heavens. Lights were automatically activated when the rays of the star Arcturus were detected. The star was chosen as its light had started its journey at about the time of the previous Chicago world’s fair—the World’s Columbian Exposition—in 1893. The rays were focused on photoelectric cells in a series of astronomical observatories and then transformed into electrical energy which was transmitted to Chicago.
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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD and 2k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
