Edgar The Eagle

Come and Meet Edgar The Eagle

at

Fete du Feather 2011

1904 World’s Fair

Edgar is filled with beans; can you

 guess how many beans it takes to fill an eagle?

50/50 pot!

$5.00 per guess and the person who is closest without going over wins!

Edgar has a link to the 1904 World’s Fair :

At the California state display, a 10-foot tall snarling bear made of prunes greeted visitors.  Visitors could enter a contest to guess the number of prunes – which was 14,265!!

Louisiana Purchase Exposition (1904 World’s Fair) Fun Facts

1.     The 1904 World’s Fair was supposed to take place in 1903 to celebrate the 100^th anniversary of the Louisiana Purchase.  Because of construction and planning problems, the fair was delayed until 1904.

2.     From groundbreaking to Opening Day was 2 years and 4 months.

3.     The fair cost $15 million, roughly the same price paid for the entire Louisiana Territory.

4.     Interesting numbers: there were 1,576 structures, 12,000 railroad cars of exhibits, 20 million plants, 75 miles of roadways and 14 miles of railroad tracks.

5.     The St. Louis Police Department became the first in the U.S. to adopt fingerprinting, which was demonstrated at the Fair.

6.     Thomas Edison had an exhibit at the Fair where the electric wall outlet and plug made their debut.

7.     The state of Virginia sent so many apples to display in the Palace of Horticulture that a statewide shortage developed!

8.     Missouri constructed the largest of all the state buildings and was the only major building cooled by refrigeration and warmed by steam.  Married men could receive a free book about the state, but not women.

9.     The Cliff Dwellers exhibit re-created the ancient American Indian pueblos of Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico.  The Moki (Hopi) snake dance was a big attraction but was a fabrication; the dancers were Pueblo Indians, fake snakes were used and the dances were made up.

10.  The Hereafter exhibit presented visions of heaven and hell, complete with the tortured undead and Satan himself.  Many women fainted during the journey.

11.  On Thanksgiving Day, 326 children from all nations enjoyed dinner at the model playground on Model Street.  One of the guests was a pygmy named Lomo.  Not yet 15 years old, he had two wives and several children of his own.

12.  The Inside Inn was the only hotel located on the fairgrounds.  A room was $1.50 a day or $3.00 with three meals.

13.  The Jefferson Guard served as the police force for the fair.  The guard kept the peace well: although over 19 million visitors came to the fair, there were just 1,439 arrests.  There were 5 murder arrests, 421 for disturbing the peace, 312 for trespassing and 1 for wife abandonment.

14.  After the Fair closed, the Chicago House Wrecking Company paid $450,000 for most of the exhibit palaces and buildings.  The company salvaged and offered for sale 100 million linear feet of lumber, 500,000 incandescent lights, 1,700 washstands and 5,000 flags.