1904 World's Fair A Success

The 1904 World's Fair was a huge success!  ...yes, that's right--The 1904 World's Fair! 

Of course, we're talking about the World Bird Sanctuary's Fete du Feather version of the Fair.

Saturday, May 7, 2011, was our re-creation of the World's Fair that put St. Louis on the map in 1904.  

Many of our guests joined in by wearing period costumes and posing in our photo booth

We had our own version of The Pike, served foods made popular during the original 1904 Fair, played games based on popular games of that era, held critter races commemorating living conditions prevalent at that time in history, had a photo booth offering sepia photos for fairgoers, sampled food stations offering cuisines from some of the many countries represented at the Fair, and many other activities too numerous to mention

 Our "Critter Races" reflected some of the living conditions encountered at the Fair in 1904

Our staff and volunteers were dressed in period costume, and many of our guests joined in the festivities by coming dressed in period clothing--some of them in authentic outfits dating back to 1904!

 Naturalist Sara Oliver holding Flip, an unreleasable Red Shouldered Hawk admitted through our wildlife hospital

Guests browsed the merchandise offered in our silent auction--some of them bidding fiercely to win the item of their choice.  As our auctioneer said "...friendships are put on hold at an auction!"

 The bidding was hot and heavy for many of our live auction items

In addition to the competition normally expected at a live auction, ours was enlivened by our Assistant Director, Jeff Meshach's, demonstration of how to use the treadmill that was one of the premier items up for auction.  We believe there were many bids offered just to see how long they could keep him running!

 Assistant Director, Jeff Meshach, ran the treadmill as long as people kept bidding

Our thanks to all the staff and volunteers who worked so hard to make this bi-annual event a great success. 

 Our hardworking staff and volunteers who helped make this evening possible

Above all--our heartfelt "thank you" to those generous individuals who donated the many items up for auction, and to those wonderful guests who joined us for the evening and bid so generously on the items offered.

Mark your calendars for the second Saturday in May 2013 when we do it all over again with a new theme.

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.

Revisit the 1904 World's Fair

Snow is blanketing the ground, and even though it seems hard to believe, Fete du Feather is just around the corner!

Waiting for guests to arrive...a bird's eye view of a previous Fete du Feather in the beautiful atrium of the Ameren UE building

Fete du Feather is the World Bird Sanctuary’s bi-annual themed fundraiser/auction.  The planning committee has been busy choosing a theme, designing invitations, selecting a venue, and doing the basic groundwork.  After much discussion it was decided that this year’s theme will be the "1904 World’s Fair"!  What could be more appropriate for a St. Louis event?

Director Walter Crawford, dressed for the theme, greeting guests

Now the hard work begins.  There are booths, activities, and costumes to be designed, and much research  to be done to bring the 1904 Fair to life. 

One of the most important aspects of putting this event together is solicitation of items for the auctions.  This is where we are right now.  There will be both silent and live auctions—with the larger items being sold at live auction. 

Just a small sampling of the many items offered at a past silent auction

In the past we have offered some of the following items for auction:

*            A fully restored vintage automobile

*            5 days at a vacation home in Montana

*            Weekend getaways at a Lake home

*            Autographed baseballs, footballs or hockey pucks

*            Hockey or football jerseys worn by major league stars

*            Tickets for sporting or other entertainment events

*            Quilts

*            Jewelry

*            Photo sessions for family portraits

*            A kayak

*            An antique stained glass window

*            Paintings

*            Fine art prints

*            A crate of oranges

*            Baskets with a collection of various related items

*            A hand crafted leather topped poker table

*            A handmade copper windchime

The list goes on and on--it takes a lot of items to create a good auction!

Do you get the picture?  Almost anything and everything is good fodder for an auction!

One of the many items up for bid at the live auction portion of the evening at a past event

Do you have an idea for something we could auction?  If you can imagine it, we can probably use it.  So--if you have an item or service that you would like to donate contact Teri Schroer at 636-225-4390, XT 3, or email her at tschroer@worldbirdsanctuary.org. 

All donations are tax deductible to the full extent of the law.

Help make our biggest fundraiser a resounding success, and “Meet Us in St. Louis” on May 7 at our re-creation of the 1904 World’s Fair!

Submitted by Gay Schroer, World Bird Sanctuary Volunteer