Chicago World's Fair Centennial

An illustration of the Chicago World's Fair encircled by yellow text on a red and dark red background. 

The 1933 World’s Fair, or Century of Progress International Exposition as it was officially known, was held in Chicago from 1933 to 1934 to celebrate the city's centennial. This was the second World's Fair hosted by Chicago and by the time it closed on October 31st, 1934 it had nearly 40 million visitors. The fair was held on 427 acres on Lake Michigan’s shoreline just south of Chicago’s downtown. The exposition focused on science and industrial development with a motto of “Science finds, Industry applies, Man adapts”. The fair boasted various technological innovations from the Sky Ride, an aerial tram, that transported fairgoers above the fairgrounds to the Homes of Tomorrow Exhibition that demonstrated modern home conveniences and new building materials. Another popular attraction was the Midway which had nightclubs and performers as well as various exhibits including freak shows, models of ethnic villages, and recreations of scenes from Chicago’s history.

This image is a poster made for the event in 1933 by artist Weimer Pursell and published by the Neely Printing Company. The poster shows the exhibition buildings with boats on the water in the foreground.