”The Century of Progress Exposition” (1933)

Synopsis

A Century of Progress was a non-profit corporation organized in January 1928 to plan and host the Chicago World’s Fair in 1933-1934 in Chicago, Illinois to celebrate the city’s centennial. The theme of the fair was ‘technological innovation’ with the motto “Science Finds, Industry Applies, Man Adapts”. This rarely-seen long-length silent film by Burton Holmes shows the World’s Fair with its many exhibits, performances, buildings, and parks, all to portray the progress of the century. The film’s footage represents an assemblage of Burton Holmes’ separate monographs about the Chicago World’s Fair, which were released in 1933. “The Century of Progress Exposition” title banner (00:08). Birds-eye views of the city of Chicago (00:15). The Avenue of Flags (00:33). The Illinois Host Building (00:48). The Italian Pavilion (00:52). The Hall of Science, a science museum (00:56). The General Exhibits Building (02:10). The Hall of Religion (02:47) Various performances of the world fair (03:08). The Horticultural Exhibit, a flower and garden exhibit (03:33). The Enchanted Island, an amusement park with performers, rides, and zoo-animals (04:45). The Electrical Group building (07:38) and views of exhibited historical models (08:27), a diorama of municipal electric sources (08:38), Penstocks and Pelton wheel generator (08:48), a steam turbogenerator (09:25), and a robot able to communicate with humans (09:38). The Social Science building (10:00). The Sky Ride, a cable-car ride across cloud…

Uploader's description on archive.org

Details

Running time

45 minutes

Collection

Ephemeral Films

Subjects on the Internet Archive

• General Exhibits Building
• Chicago World
• Science Finds
• Industry Applies
• Man Adapts
• Burton Holmes
• The Century
• Progress Exposition
• Illinois Host Building
• Italian Pavilion