Stamford, CT - What do the telephone, the Ferris Wheel, a 28,000-pound typewriter, and nylon stockings have in common? They were just a few of the thousands of products, curiosities, and inventions that made their debut at one of 17 World’s Fairs that took place on American soil between 1853 and 1982.
Centuries of Progress: American World’s Fairs 1853–1982 presents a remarkable overview of more than a century of American World’s Fairs. Often organized to coincide with noted anniversaries, American World’s Fairs were dynamic mega-productions meant to fill visitors with a sense of awe and possibility. Countries, companies, and institutions recognized them as opportunities to present themselves in the best possible light. Their importance to industry cannot be overemphasized: companies saw them as tremendous marketing venues. Some hugely familiar products, such as Wonder Bread, nylon, shredded wheat, and the ice cream cone, were introduced, or at least made popular, at the fair.
Visitors will enjoy more than 125 objects, photographs, and ephemera that detail progress, promotion, and public response. Beginning with the 1853 Crystal Palace exhibition in New York through the 1982 World’s Fair in Knoxville, Tennessee, World’s Fairs have emphasized the technological, cultural, and political advances that helped shape the American society of today.
“Regardless of differences in place and time, these fairs had something in common: they presented our nation within an unstoppable stream of progress, one in which inventions and new ideas of the present only foretold even more awesome ones in the future,” said Rosa Portell, curator of collections and exhibitions at the Stamford Museum & Nature Center. “It was hard not to visit the fair and feel how lucky one was to be alive at that moment in history. “
Centuries of Progress: American World Fairs 1853–1982 is a program of Exhibits USA, a national division of Mid-America Arts Alliance and The National Endowment for the Arts. Its presentation at the Stamford Museum & Nature Center is made possible, in part, through the generous annual support received from our Premier Partners: Aquarion Water Company, Oaklawn Foundation, and Purdue Pharma.
Centuries of Progress: American World’s Fairs 1853—1982 will be on exhibit from January 14 through March 18 in the Museum’s Bendel Mansion Museum Galleries. The Bendel Mansion Museum Galleries are open, Monday – Saturday 9 am – 5 pm; Sundays 11am – 5 pm.
Members: Free/Non-Members: Free with gate admission. Admission Fees*: Adults $10; Seniors (65+) $8; Students (18+ with valid ID) $6; Children (4-17) $5; Children (3 and under) Free *excludes festival days & special events
