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The following story was adapted from the Hyde Park Historical Society Newsletter by Kristi Hollingsworth©2001
Thanks to Patrick Meehan for providing a history of the Ferris Wheel in a wonderful paper he published. Thanks, too, to Jim Stronks for unearthing Meehan's paper, brushing off the cobwebs, and sharing his discovery with us. For the Kids' Corner, a 9 year old boy from 1893 tells us about the most exciting ride of his life on 'The Giant Wheel'. |
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UP IN THE AIRImagine a time without elevators and escalators and jumbo jets. Before buildings reached into the clouds. When horses still clip-clopped through the streets and the light bulb was a new invention. At nine years of age, the highest that I had ever climbed was in a tree! But in the summer of 1893, my life changed overnight. Right here in my very own Chicago neighborhood, Hyde Park, I saw something incredible-a gigantic wheel with cars that carried hundreds of people, rocking gently like a cradle, up into the heavens. For the first time, I could touch the sky, feel the same breeze the birds flew on, and laugh at the sun beating its rays closer to my face. This magnificent machine was called, 'The Ferris Wheel'. I want to tell you all about the most exciting day of my life, but first, I need to tell you how it all started... THE WORLD'S FAIRThe headlines in the newspapers announced
that the next World's Fair was going to be held in Chicago. It
was called, the 'World's Columbian Exposition'. I asked my dad
what was all the fuss over a silly fair. He smiled broadly. "This is wonderful news! What an honor to host a World's Fair. People will come from all over the world, some traveling for weeks, just to see the fair. "But why? What will they see at the
fair?" "Only the most exciting newfangled
inventions. They can read about them, see them work and maybe
even handle them. Think what Edison's light bulb alone is doing
for the world and then picture a whole fair full of stalls and
displays of new thing-ama-bobs." My dad sometimes spoke
in funny words. Quite often, he used big words that I didn't
understand. But he was trying hard to explain the fair. "What else will people learn?"
I could see that Dad was ecstatic, making me more curious. "Well," Dad took a deep breath,
"about the customs of people from other countries-what they
eat, the clothes they wear, how they dance!" I didn't really
like dancing and it must have shown. Dad winked and continued, "There will
be famous works of art". "Oh." I still wasn't sure about
this 'fair'. Dad burst out laughing and wrapped an arm
around me. "There will be rides, too, and fun food to eat
like popcorn and cotton candy. But best of all, there will be
some spectacular, um," he paused, "Well, there will
be something built that's unique and will astonish everyone!" Now this sounded interesting, like a mystery.
"What, Dad? What will it be?" He sighed, "I don't know, but," he smiled and wagged a finger, "If we keep a sharp eye out, we just might figure it out." |
