The World As Object Lesson

The World as Object Lesson: Cinema Audiences, Visual Culture and the St.
Louis World's Fair,

1904
Author(s): Tom Gunning
Source: Film History, Vol. 6, No. 4, Audiences and Fans (Winter, 1994), pp. 422-444
Published by: Indiana University Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3815019 .
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IIIII .I!II!III!IIII!!IIIIIII!I!IIIII!!IIII!III!IIIIIIIIII!!IIIII!I!!I!IIIIIII!II!IIIIIII!II!IIII!I
II I
FilmHistory,
Volume6, pp. 422-444, 1994. Copyright?John Libbey&Company
ISSN:0892-2160. PrintedinGreatBritain
The
world
as
object
lesson:
Cinema audiences,
visual
culture and
St.
Louis
the
world's fair,
1904
TomGunning
Evanescentmonumentsand dazzling world
pictures:
objectlessonsin modernity
s the studyof earlycinemabroadens,it

reveals itself less as a narrow, specializedfieldthanas a dynamicsite of
culturalinteraction.Cinema'sfirsttwo
decades providea vantage pointfromwhich we
can examinenotonlythe earliestperiodof cinema,
butalso the currentmodernage thatmay be drawfuture
ing to a close (andthe possibly'post-modern'
thatawaitsus)by allowingus to explorethe experiwhen it was takingshape. The
ence of modernity
of
the
history
beginningof cinema previouslyprovided an originand infancyforthe developmentof
the newestartform.Seeingearlycinemaas a siteof
makesthe markingof
complexculturalintersections
this origin more problematicand the metaphorof
biologic immaturity
nearlyuntenable.As we move
from
a
naive
away
teleology we mustnot only
abandon conceivingof earlycinemaas the ur-form
of laterpractices,butalso avoid valorizingit as the
of a seriesof inventions
climaxand culmination
and
culturalpracticesunderstoodsimplyas stages in the
inventionof 'themovies'.New approachesto early
cinemamustplace it carefullywithinthe visualand
technologicalculturewhich marksthe turnof the

centuryand mustresistsituatingcinemaas the apex
of thatculture.Cinemaemerges,notas a pinnacle,
but as an occasionally marginalplayer upon a
contestedterrain.
Emmanuelle
Touletin hermasterful
studyof the
role cinema played in the 1900 Paris Universal
has summedup film'sstatusat the ExposiExposition
tionas 'bothgloriousand marginal'.
Itsglory came froman unprecedentedpublic
recognitionand a numberof highlyvisualuses of
cinema, such as the massive(70' x 53') screen of
the Lumiere
GiantCin6matographe.
Butamong the
of
and
the
attractions
elaborate
triumphs technology
of the Fair,filmremaineda sideshowratherthanthe
mainevent. As Touletputsit, 'Itwas not felt in this
Tom Gunning is a FoundingMemberof Domitor,
authorof D.W. Griffithand the Originsof American
NarrativeFilm:TheEarlyYearsat Biograph(University of IllinoisPress),and of numerousarticleson
earlycinema.He teaches FilmHistoryin the Departmentof Radio,Televisionand Filmat Northwestern
University.Addresscorrespondencec/o Radio,TV,
Film,Annie Mae Swift Hall, NorthwesternUniversity, Evanston,IL60208, USA.

423
The
worldas object
object lesson
The world
lesson
contextto be a revolutionary
attraction,butformed
and of
partof a traditionof technicalreproduction
spectaclesof illusionof which it seemed to be the
industrialforerunnerratherthan the perfectedreplacement'2.
InitialresearchintoThe LouisianaPurchaseExpositionheld in St. Louis,Missouriin 1904 reveals
thatfouryearslaterand on anothercontinentthe role
of cinemawas, if anything,moremarginal.Cinema
had no officialrecognitionor high profilepresence
at the St. LouisFair. Its main role was that of a
backstage technologyfor other attractionswhich
offeredmechanicalillusionsmorevividand sensationalthanthe ratherfeeble experienceofferedby
motionpicturesalone. Andyet a close examination
of thisfair(particularly
in relationto thefairit sought
to rival,The ColumbianExpositionin Chicago in
1893) highlightsthe contextin which cinema appeared, the celebrationof modernityand technology throughan emergingvisualculture,bothofficial
and popular.Thenew formsof mechanicalillusions
so popularat the St. LouisExposition
also ultimately
influencedthe way thatcinemawas popularlylaunched - afterthe Fair- as an attractionin its own
right.
The World's Fairprovidesone of the richest
instancesof the visualand technologicalculturethat
countriesfromthe middle
emergedin industrialized
of the nineteenthcenturyintothe twentieth.Cinema
moveswithinthiscultureless as its culmination
than
as a parasite,drawingupon both its formsand its
themes but initiallyremainingrelativelyneglected,
seeming likea pale shadow of richer,morevivid,
forms.Butas suchit has a greatdeal to tellus about
thevisualpracticeswhichcinemasoughtto emulate
and fromwhichit emerged.
TheWorldFairof the nineteenth
and twentieth
centuryrevealedits modernitythrougha seemingly
paradoxical combinationof grandeurand transience. Theformof all the UniversalExpositions
was
monumental
and oftenexplicitlyrecalledthe image
of an imperialcity, as neo-classicalarchitectural
motifsexpressedits universalambitionsin termsof
worlddomination.Yet, at the same time, fromthe
of the modernexposition)
CrystalPlace (theur-form
of 1851 on, these grandstructures
were also transient,made to be constructed
quicklyand designed
to be impermanent3.
As Neil Harrishas said of the
WhiteCityof the ColumbianExposition:
Fairgoershad a sense of evanescence even

duringthe heightof the exposition.Thedream
metaphorsso easily applied to the WhiteCity
suggestednotonly its magicaland illusionistic
qualities,butalso an awarenessthat it would
all soon vanish,thatitspompand beautywere
the thingsof justa day. Everyoneknewthatthe
wouldnotbe maintained,thatJackfairgrounds
son Parkwould be returnedto the SouthPark
systemwiththe expositionpalaces takendown
aftertheclosingdate4.
Thecreationof a disposableimperialcity, expressingthe power of man'sdominanceover the
earth, but designed to be ultimately
discarded, is
more than an amusingoxymoron,however. The
UniversalExhibition
was intendedas the showplace
for a commodityculturebased on a worldwide
networkof production,distribution
and consumption
which derived its impetusfromnovelty,a market
drivenby thedesireforthenew. Thisspectacleof an
everrenewingand changinguniversalmarketplace
sketchedboth the formand contentof the World
As WalterBenjamin
observed:
Exposition.
The world exhibitionsglorifiedthe exchange
values of commodities.Theycreateda frameworkin whichtheiruse value receded intothe
background.Theyopened up a phantasmagoria in which people entered in order to be
distracted5.
Inthisrespectthe veryevanescenceof the fair
reflectedthe natureof the commodityit showcased,
especiallytheirtransientnoveltyand the rapidityof
theirworldwidecirculation.
TheWorld'sFairExhibitions in which the abilityto purchasegoods was
replaced by theirpurelyoptical consumption,imaged the commodityas spectacle6. As such it
served as one of the great traininggroundsand
laboratoriesfor a new commodity-based
visualculture.It raisedthe act of spectatingto a civic duty
and a technologicalart.Thesespectacles,designed
to be both entertainingand educational,served
severalsemioticfunctions:they providedan image
of the worldwide power of capitalism;they transformeda marketplace intoa symboliclandscape
thatnot onlycelebratedbutexemplifiedmodernity;
and they formeda spectacle in which commodity
and thecommodityform
providedtheentertainment,

424
424
Gunning
Tom Gunning
itselfwas raisedto a
of entertainment
new technicalperfection.As AlanTractenberghas describedthe effectof the
ColumbianExposition:
Visitorsto the Fair found themselves as spectators,witnessesto
an unanswerable performance
which they had no hand in producing or maintaining.The fair
was delivered to them, made
availableto them.And delivered,
moreover,notas an actualplace,
a realcity, butas a frankillusion,
a pictureof what a city, a real
city, mightlook like. White City
represented itself as a representation,an admittedsham7.
The World Exposition, then,
served as a site where not only the
productsof modernitywere displayed
butthe protocolsof modernspectating
were rehearsedwithinthe contextof a
new consumerculture.Inthissite Capiand Imperialism
talism, Industrialism
a
stagemanoged complex interaction
among technology,commodity,spectacle and, ultimately,new forms of
popularculture,all of which shaped
the emergenceof cinema.
The World Expositionwas designed, then, not simplyas a site of
displaybutas a carefullylaid out text,
whose mode of organizationserved
an educationaland ideological function. This effortin planningand arrangement marked the cultural
pretensionof the Expositionswhich
...........
Al:?
??
... ????
Figs. a, 1b, 1c. TheSt. Louis

World'sFairas an imperialcityof
new technology:1a ThePalaceof
1b ThePalaceof
Transportation,
and 1c ThePalaceof
Electricity,
Machinery.FromLouisianaPurchase
Exposition(St.Louis:Official
Co., 1904). [Courtesy
Photographic
of SpecialCollections,Deering
Northwestern
Library,
University.]

:E.
~???il????1??
a:
??????l?i?
The
worldas
as object
object lesson
lesson
The world
425
425
soughtnotsimplyto gatherthe marvelsof the world know',and his theoryof educationvalorizedvisual

butto sortthemintoa schemawhichwoulddemon- methodsof conveyinginformation:
strateman'stechnologicalprogressand the world
The eye is used moreand more,the ear less
Suchorganwide dimensionsof modernproduction.
and less, and in the use of the eye, descriptive
izationwas alreadyevidentat the CrystalPalace
is set aside for pictures,and picturesin
writing
where PrinceAlbertproposeddividingthe displays
theirturnare replacedby actualobjects.Inthe
intofourcategories:RawMaterials;Machineryand
schoolroom,the diagram,the blackboardand
MechanicalInventions;
and
Manufactures;
Sculpture
the object lessonunknownthirtyyearsago are
PlasticArtsGenerally8.Most of the World Exposiuniversally
employed11.
tionsfolloweda similarplan, by whichvisitorscould
trace the logic of civilizationfromthe potentialof
ForGoode, an Expositionshouldbe 'an illusraw naturalmaterial(includingthe displayof colo- trated Encyclopaediaof Civilization'12.
The term
nial peoples, or the beautiesof nature),throughthe 'objectlesson' became the buzz word which justimechanicalmeansof technologicaltransformation, fied the WorldExposition
as an educationalexperito the exhibitionof finalproducts,accompaniedby ence. (The guide prepared by the Boston and
a displayof the FineArtsas the finalformof cultural MaineRailroadto lurevisitorson theirtourof the St.
sublimation.
LouisFairurged them not to miss 'Thismarvellous
Plannersof World Expositionsexplicitlyde- object lessonof Twentieth
The
CenturyProgress'13).
couldalso cloak
signed the eventsas educationaltexts.The Exposi- objectlesson'sscientificpretentions
tionwas mostoftencomparedto an encyclopaedia its ideological role. Forinstance,DirectorGeneral
which not only gathered but also classified and Buchananof the BuffaloPan-American
of
Exposition
Fairbeorganizedthe diverseknowledgeof a culture.The 1901 (the largestAmericanInternational
Director
of Exhibitions
fortheSt. LouisFair,Frederick tweenthe Chicago Exposition
and the St. LouisFair
and the firstafterthe UnitedStates fulfilledits imJ. V. Skiffdescribedhis Fairas:
perialambitionsby obtainingcolonialpossessions)
an encyclopaedia of society ... a classified, used the conceptto explainitsPhilippine
exhibition.
we have had',
compact, indexed compendiumavailable for 'Thisis the firstand best opportunity
ready reference- of the achievementsand he declared,'to justify,by meansof the mostavailideas of society in all phases of its activity, able object lessonwe can produce,the acquisition
Inthiscase the 'objects'included
extendingto the mostmaterialas well as the of new territory'14.
mostrefined9.
not only raw materialand artifactsfromthe Philippines, butalso nativepeoples.
But this was a peculiarlymoderntext, one
The object lesson with its direct and visual
embodied less in verbal signifiersthan in visual evidence,seemedto shortcircuittheact of significaones, exemplifyinga new conceptionof education tion and to bringthe thingsthemselvesbefore the
which made use of thingsthemselvesratherthan spectatingpublic.However,the discoursesurroundconventionalsigns. By the turnof the centurythe ing the expositionscontinuedto describethe experiWorldExposition
servedas thedemonstration
of the ence as a mediatedone, organizedas knowledge
latesttheoryin education,the 'object lesson', an and demonstration,
and experiencedas a picture.
in
schools
and
museums
which
Director
Skiff
of
the
St.
LouisFairdescribeditseffect
approachpioneered
less
on
to
as
a
depended
language convey knowledge
'livingpicture'(a termwhich, of course,was
than on picturesand, when possible, scrutinized also appliedto the nascentcinema,althoughwitha
actual objects for the lessons they contained?0. somewhatdifferentmeaningl.The groundsof the
Institute, Expositionsin the United States from Chicago
George BrownGoode of the Smithsonian
who arrangedexhibitsfora largenumberof World throughBuffaloto St. Louiswere laidout notonlyas
of the relationsbetween natureand
Expositions(beginningwiththe 1876 Philadelphia demonstrations
CentennialExposition),was a strongadvocate of technology,but with a strongconcernfor the unitheobjectlessonwhichhe tracedbackto theCrystal fyingeffectsof the picturesque,
withtheaxial boulePalace.Goode proclaimedthe dictum,'to see is to vards providingpredeterminedview points and

426
426
Tom
Tom Gunning
Gunning
Fig.2. A map of the St. LouisFairprovidedby the Bostonand MaineRailroad(1904).

Northwestern
University.]
[Courtesyof SpecialCollections,DeeringLibrary,
compositionalcentres,visualeffectsunderscoredby
electricalillumination.
reflectingpools and nocturnal
The Bostonand Maine Railroadguide to the St.
LouisFairdescribedit as a 'matchlesspicture'.The
officialproclamation
of the St. LouisExpositionindicated thatvisualeffectsand livelinesscould serve
educationaland ideological purposeswhen it announced, 'Life,colour, motionand demonstration
[willbe] the chief featureof all departments5.
Of course, the totaleffect of a World Expositionrestedon itsattemptto producea worldpicture,
an imago mundiorganizedaroundthe demandsof
commerceand the methodsof technology.As the
of technologyin
Expositioncelebratedthe triumphs
the 'annihilation
of space and time'16,the image it
offeredof the world containedwithinits bounded
compendium
groundssoughtto providea miniature
of all the world had to offer, broughttogetherat
greatexpense and effort.One officialhistoryof the
St. LouisFairdescribed it as the 'latestattemptto
bringwhat is practicallythe whole world into an
enclosureof 1240 acres'17.The Fairitselfwas a
world in which space and time had been, if not
annihilated,significantlyreduced.TheWorld'sFair
not only
was a microcosmwhose miniaturization
affirmedthe new unityof the globe butalso made
as a single,thoughdiverse,
possibleitsconsumption
was seen as
spectacle.A triparoundthefairgrounds
the substitutefor a triparoundthe world, a compressedand timesavingeducationalexperience.As
theBostonand Maine Railroadguideto theSt. Louis
Fairput it:
Taking it all altogether, the domestic and

foreign exhibitscombined representthe concreteexpressionof moderncivilizationand impress upon the eye and the mind of the
beholderthatwhichwouldrequireyearsof time
and thousandsof dollarsto learnby personal
travel18.
Butif thecompressionand varietyof the World

was designed to educate and enrichthe
Exposition
spectator,the modernityof this experience is also
revealedby its excessive nature.While a profound
and extensiveunderstanding
of the modernworld
and man'sprogressprovidedthe purposefora visit
to the Fair,the initialeffect(at least)oftenproduced
neitherknowledgenor insight,butdazzlementand
sensory overload. This response of complete
astonishmentin the face of the spectacle is vividly
expressedby a postcardpreservedfromthe Philadelphia CentennialExpositionin which words give
way to sheerplay of phonemes:
DearMother,Oh. Oh. o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
!!!!!!19

The world as object lesson
427
beforethe intensityof technologyand

Observers more articulate (if no more ex- bewilderment
and
sensual
Wiscultural
Owen
describe
similar
variety.Ratherthanvisualmasexperiences.
pressive)
and
described
The
of
the
novel
the
author
ter,
understanding,the spectacle could protery
Virginian,
his entryinto the ColumbianExposition:'before I duce an excessiveexperiencewhich riskedleaving
at the no impressionat all otherthanthatof the limitsof
had walkedfortwo minutes,a bewilderment
me
...
until
seized
of
my perceptionand no lessonotherthanDorothyGale's
gloriousness everything
Anda journalist plaintive,'There'sno place likehome'.
mindwas dazzled to a standstill'20.
Dazzlementplayed an essentialrole in the visfor HarpersWeeklycoveringthe Trans-Mississippi
of the fair,even if itsplace was rarely
and InternationalExpositionheld in Omaha in ualattraction
1898 reported,'Ihaveseen menand womenstand explicitlytheorized.Mostdescriptionslimitthisdazstupifiedat theentranceof theGrandCourt,blinded zlementto an initialexperienceon firstbeholding
as theywould have been by a flashof lighting'21. the Fair,a suitablyawed entrywhich would then
Occasionallythisdazzlementwas literal,caused by give way to the morerationalobject lessonsof the
the brightwhite scheme of mostAmericanWorld exhibition.However,the somewhatuneasyrelation
fromthe WhiteCityon, a keyaspect of between dazzlement and knowledge marksthe
Expositions
the visualexperiencedevised by Fairplanners.But complex experience of this exemplarof modern
cinema
moreoftenthedazzlementwas the productnotof a visuality,as italso markedthecontemporary
A journalist
coveringthe St. Louis
single visualstimulusbutof theiraccumulation.The of attractions25.
special ExpositionNumberof the magazine The Fairdescribedthe exposition'seducationalmethod
World'sWorkcoveringthe St. LouisFairwarned in termsof the modernexperienceof 'shock',prowould-bevisitorsaboutthe Fair's'endlessvarietyof claiming:'Thefairis a successionof mentalshocks,
and educational'26.Itis no wonderthat
of cumulative
thingsto see - theseat firstproducean impression
Infact, Dr.CharlesHughesa pro- doctorsmightadvise theirneurasthenicpatientsto
bewilderment'22.
fessorof neurologyat BarnesMedicalCollege inSt. avoid thisratherjoltingeducationalexperience.
Louisurged his colleagues to preventany patients
Why wouldshockand dazzlementplaya cendiagnosed with nervousdisordersfromvisitingthe tral role in a supposedlyeducationalexperience?
St. LouisFairfor fear its very massivenessmight While the answersforthisare undoubtedly
multiple
the
uses
of
awesome
occasion a totalcollapse23.
(e.g.
political
spectacle in a
The mostpoignantaccountof the overwhelm- societydemandingnew disciplinesforitsworkforce
in the
ing effect of a World's fair comes from author and buildingsupportfor militaryinvolvement
HamlinGarland'smemoirsof bringinghis aged strugglefor colonial possessions),it is possible to
parentsfromtheirmidwesthomesteadto visitChi- considerthe World Expositionas the monumental
cago's WhiteCity.Garlanddescribedhis mother's formof a visualprocessingof modernlife through
reactionas theywatchedthenightlyspectacleof the the mediumof spectacularattractions.While the
of the fairgrounds:
electricalillumination
experience of dazzlementcame largelyfromthe
effect of the fairgroundsitself- their immensity,
Stunnedby the majestyof thevision,mymother
and intensevisuality,it also served as the
sat in herchair,visioningitall yet comprehend- variety
in whichto experiencethe wonframework
proper
ing littleof its meanings... At last utterlyover- ders of new
technologywhich promisedbewildecome she leaned her head against my arm,
transformations
in dailylife.
closed her eyes and said, 'Takeme home. I ring
Modern technology played an increasingly
can'tstandany moreof it'. ... Intruththeywere
centralrole in World Expositionsas they moved
surfeitedwiththe alien, sickof the picturesque.
towardsthe twentiethcentury.Machinery,Electricity
Theirears sufferedfromthe clamourof strange
and Transportation
exhibitionsseem to elbow their
soundsas theireyes ached with the clash of
into
the
way
ideologicaland spatialcentreof the
unaccustomed
color'24.
symbolicgeography of the fairgrounds.Electricity
Thevisualeffectof the WorldExposition,then, especiallycommandedan increasingly
centralpositeetersbetween the rationaland classifyingknowl- tion, gaining its own buildingat the Columbian
edge of the object lesson and an experienceof Exposition,representedby the massive Electrical

428
428
Tom Gunning
Gunning
Fig.3. ThePalaceof
at night.FromThe
Electricity
Greatestof Expositions
(St.
CompletelyIllustrated
Louis:OfficialPhotographic
Co., 1904).
[Courtesyof Special
Collections,DeeringLibrary,
Northwestern
University.]
Towerat the BuffaloExposition(meantto 'suggest

the triumph
of man'sachievement'accordingto the
Fair'splanners)28,
and occupyingthe truecentreat
the St. LouisExposition.The World'sWorkread the
symboliclayoutof the St. LouisFairin a mannerthat
underlined the role of electricity: 'The larger
meaningof thewholeschemeis this:FirstPowerand
and Machinery.The machinesthat run
Electricity
and light the Fairmarka new era in the use of
electricity.... Forthe firsttimeelectricityis the dominantpower. Itmaywell turnoutthatthe new age of
willdate fromthe Fair.Thepublicwill, for
Electricity
the firsttime,be made aware of the extentto which
sucha new era has alreadycome'28.
As had been true of World Fairsfrom The
of the fairChicago Expositionon, the illumination
groundsby electriclight- the spectacle that produced Mrs. Garland's desire to returnhome servedas the principaldemonstration
of the power
of the new energy.With itstransfiguration
of night,
this scientificdemonstration
in the formof a spectacle overcamethe orderof nature.A historyof the
St. LouisFairdescribesthe deep audienceabsorptionin the technologicalspectacleof the firstofficial
lightingof the fairgrounds:
effectof the gloriousspectaclewas realized...

The myriadsof electriclights,glimmeringand
fromeverynookand cornerof the big
twinkling
Worlds Fairbuilding,transformed
the grounds
intoan enchantedcityfilledwithfairypalaces
of lightand gold29.
The new scientific era of electricity was
presentedas a strangeand otherworldly
spectacle,
a fairylandattraction
morethanan objectlesson.Or
ratherits effectivenessas a lesson was founded
upon its uncannypower. The World's Work describedthe dazzling sensualeffect of enteringthe
electricalexhibit:
As you enterthe Palace of Electricity
you hear
uncannywhirringsand snappings; you see
electricallightsof huesand intensitiesthatyou
neversaw before;strangemachinesbegin to
glide or whirror glow or click.Themeaningof
all these thingsis thatelectricityis putto more
varieduses ... thanever before30.
But if this descriptionmoves effortlesslyfrom

dazzlementto meaning,the cumulative
effectof the
display of the new uses of electricitycould still
deliver a shock as these magical technologies
Inwhisperingsilencethe greatthrongwatched caused a revolution
in theexperienceof space, time
the firstfaintglow of the lightsin the various and humanpresence.TheSt. LouisFairin particular
buildings,and as the splendourgrew, ani- abounded in technologicalinventionswhich could
matedexpressionsproduceda hummingnoise send messages instantaneouslyacross distance.
whichgave way to deafeningcheersas the full Amongthesewere the 'telautograph'
which'through

429
429
The
worldas
as object
object lesson
The world
lesson
Fig.4. TheDe ForestWireless

TelegraphTower.
[FromTheGreatestof
Expositions
Completely
Illustrated.]
the mediumof but two wires connectingdistant

withexactnessa message
points,is used to transmit
writtenat a sendingpointto a receivingstation.The
personwritingthe messagewriteswitha stylusmuch
likean ordinarypencil,and at the distantreceiving
stationa second stylusaccuratelyreproduceseach
strokeof the pointin the handof the sender'31.The
telegraphone,an earlyformof answeringmachine
using wire recording,was capable of receiving
messages 'duringone's absence'32. These inventionsnotonlymaximizedthe abilityof previoustechnologiesto overcomedistance, butcould transport
thetraditional
sign of one's presence,the signature,
or could receive messages duringone's absence.
the naTechnologywas increasinglyproblematizing
tureof bodilypresenceand experience.
TheMachineryand Transportation
Exhibitsat
the St. LouisFairalso pictureda world in which
distancewas collapsing. The LouisianaPurchase
Expositionpresentedthe firstlarge automobiledisplay at an AmericanFair33,and announced a
grand competitionin aeronauticachievement,althoughdue to stiffregulationsno aircraftwas able to
qualifyfora prize34.Butthe dominanttechnological
marvelat St. Louiswas certainlythe De ForestWireless TelegraphTower. One historyof the Fair
claimedthatas the PhiladelphiaCentennialExposiof the
tion was rememberedfor the introduction
telephoneand the Chicago Expositionhad popularizedthe incandescentlightbulb,the St. LouisFair
wouldbe recalledfortheDe ForestTower35.TheDe
ForestTowerstood hundredsof feet high, a major

structure
of the Fair.Itcouldtransmit
radiomessages
a distanceof 1500 miles,withreceivingstationsin
KansasCityand Springfield,Illinois.
Theencroachingdomain of popular
amusements:exoticism, technologyand
virtualvoyages
I paid a visitto the Fair,the wondroussightsto
see;
I reallyfeltbewildered,Iconfess
Suchmarvellous
inventionsof ingenuity
'Twasstrangeto see thedifferentstylesof dress.
On the Midway, the Midway, the Midway
Plaisance
Where the naughtygirls fromAlgiersdo the
KoutaKoutadance,
Marriedmen when with their wives give a
longingglance,
At the naughtydoings on the Midway Plaisance.
- song by W.C. Robey, 1893 (mythanksto
RichardCrangle)
TheWorldExposition,
then,offeredobjectlessonsin
technologythroughthe mediumof visualspectacle
which presentedthe astoundingtransformations
of
modernlifewithina formdesignedto dazzle as well
as instruct.
Butit is possiblethattheenduringlegacy
thatthe World Expositionleftmodernvisualculture

430
430
Tom
Tom Gunning
Gunning
Likethe eccentricplacementof thisarea, Higliespreciselyinitsdazzlingeffectswhichmayconvey

of modernexperi- ginbotham'selaborateuse of litotesexpressesthe
as muchaboutthetransformations
ence as the lessonstheywere supposedto communi- literaland culturaldistance the Expositionmaincate. VisualspectaclepervadestheWorldExposition tainedfromthecommercial
amusements.
Theorderly
inwhatwas known facades of the mainexhibitionbuildings,the neobutfindsitspurestdemonstration
as the ConcessionsSection,the commercialamuse- classicalpalaces, the GrandBasinand theCourtof
mentareas of the Fairwhich progressively
invaded Honor,which formed,as Neil Harrisputs it 'the
as
dark
AmericanExpositions,
their
shadow visiblecentre,the orderedheart,the sourceof conlooming
links trol'38of the Fairoccupied a carefullydesigned
or eviltwin.Itis inthisarea thatthe Exposition's
centralarea fromwhichthe Fairradiatedoutward.
to earlycinemaare thestrongest.
The attitudeof the AmericanExpositionsto- TheMidwaydangled likean appendage pointing
wards commercialamusementsmoved fromexclu- toward the dispersal of unorderedurban space
to along the riskypathwaysof pleasure.The actual
sion throughgrudginginclusionand containment
offeredthereoftenplayedon thedisoriena somewhatcautiousembrace,chartinga change attractions
in officialculture'srelationto popularentertainment tationthatvisualdistortionoffered, ratherthan the
of popular centeredand orderlyspace of the mainExposition
as well as a technicaltransformation
Centennialin 1876 whichguaranteedcultural
cultureitself.Atthe Philadelphia
solidityand enrichedperareasof the
commercialamusementshad been excluded.How- sonalidentity.Incontrasttheamusement
a
confusion
of
an
the
of
the
outside
ever,
fairgrounds
Exposition's
displayed carnivalesque
perimeter
in
'The
as
this
of
had
'Centennial
commercial
City'
identity,
description
Templeof
unregulated
from
St. Louis
the
with
visual
an
attraction
the
Elm
down
'Pike',
Mirth',
Street,thronged
grown up
the
s
area:
that
distort
of
'Wild
amusement
'Mirrors
as
such dioramas,displays
entertainments
Exposition
as
the
turn
which
well
food
human
confront
Men of Borneo'and freakshows, as
visitor,
way he
body
one
direction
seem
to
stands. These flimsilyconstructedattractionsdrew will;looking
weigh 300
you
than
a
crowds and caused concerns about fire, safety, pounds, anotherless
100; or tall man is
in made shortand a shortmantall'39.
TheColumbianExposition
crime,and propriety36.
Butlikethe bodies of waterincludedin nearly
Chicago in 1893 decided to includea commercial
in orderto exertcon- all American Expositions which mirrored an
sectionprimarily
entertainment
trolover it. TheMidway,originallydesigned as an etherealizedreflectionof Fairground
buildings,the
area forthe overflowof crowdswaitingto get into Midwayactuallyserveda vitalrole in the Chicago
of commercialat- Exposition's
the Fair,became a thoroughfare
symbolicgeography,providinga bitof
tractionsleadingaway fromtheorderlyspace of the shadowforthedazzlingWhiteCity,a ballastforits
idealism. Fair designer Daniel Burnhamsaw the
proper.
Exposition
ambivalentattitudetowardthis trajectoryfromthe centralCourtof Honorto the
TheExposition's
can be Midway as a journeyfromorderto chaos40.The
formof popularcommercialentertainment
seen throughitsmarginalplacementwithinthe Fair's RandMcNallyGuide to the ColumbianExposition
sectionleading organizedthe fairaccordingto threedistinctarchisymbolicgeography,a rectangular
from
the
groundsproper.The tecturalstyles: the dignified neoclassicismof the
away
perpendicularly
Harlow
Higginbotham,justi- buildingsaroundthe Grand Basin,the less formal
president,
Exposition's
of the outlyingbuildingsand state and
on architecture
fied the inclusionof commercialentertainments
the MidwayPlaisancethroughtheirspatialposition- foreignpavillionsand finallythe MidwayPlaisance
where'no distinctorderis followed,it being instead
ing:
a most unusualcollectionof almostevery type of
... locatedas itwas, separatefromthe Exposi- architectureknown to man - oriental villages,
tion proper,so that those who were not dis- Chinesebazaars,tropicalsettlements,ice railways,
of
posed to visitthesightsto be seen theredid not the ponderousFerrisWheel and reproductions
havethemforceduponthem,the Plaisancewas ancientcities. All these are combinedto formthe
a featurefromtheabsence of whichthe Exposi- lighterand morefantasticside of the Fair'41
TheMidway Plaisanceservednot only as the
tionwouldhave sufferedgreatly37.

431
431
The
worldas
as object
object lesson
lesson
The world
Fig.5. TheRandMcNally
Guideto the Columbian
Exposition.
[FromGrandIllusion:The
WorldColumbian
Exposition(Chicago:
ChicagoHistoricalSociety,
1993).]
fantasticaspect of the fair, butas a literalcounterimage to the civilization emblazoned in the

of theofficialbuildings.The
monumental
architecture
of
exotic
oriental(Bedouins,Egypstrongpresence
tians, Tunisians, Sudanese, Turks, Chinese,
Japanese and Javanese) and 'primitive'cultures
Indians,Dahomeansand SouthSea Islan(American
related
the Midway to the non-whitemajority
ders)
of the world, positionedon the outskirts
of civilization.TheChicagoTribune
describeda tripalong the
to descend the spiralof
Midwayas an 'opportunity
evolution',viewing these peoples from the racist
perspectivethathistorianRobertRydelldemonstrates
was embodiedby the Fair'spopularization
of Darin
a
character
winianprinciples42.
a conSimilarly
a
to
the
novel
describing trip
temporary
Exposition
fittedtheMidwayback intothe object lessonclassificationsof the largerschemaby claiming,'Midway
is justa representation
of matterand thegreatWhite
of
Mind'43.
is
an
emblem
City
Butif the layoutof the symbolicspace of the
Columbianexpositionencouraged a contrastbetweenthe White Cityand the Midway, one could
also finda numberof similaritiesbetween the two
areas. TheMidwaywith its exotic international
atas the WhiteCity
tractionscouldclaimas justifiably
to be a microcosm,an imago mundi.Andwhilethe
Midway(andtheotherconcessionsectionsfoundin
later AmericanExpositions)certainlyencouraged
mockingracistattitudesin manyvisitors,it was also
of the
possibleto invertthe impliedvalue structure
and
the
colour
and
cultural
diverfairground prefer
of
the
to
the
solemn
and
sterile
ideal
sity
Midway
Beautiful
the
White
City
proposed by
City. The
in
youngJewishentrepreneur
placed charge of the
Sol
indicated
in his memoirsthat
Bloom,
Midway,
this was his own experience, claiming that 'the
spiritualintensityof the performancepresentedby a
troupeof Bedouinacrobatsexceeded theemotional
power of a pre-Renaissance
tapestry'44.The Midcarried
other
lessons
for Bloomthanthe
object
way
officialone:
I came to realize thata tall skinnychap from
Arabia with a talent for swallowing swords
expressed a culturewhich to me was on a
higherplane than the one demonstratedby a
group of earnestSwiss peasantswho passed
theirday makingcheese and milkchocolate...
And I could not pretendto deny that God's
handiworkseemed moreclearlyshown in the
musicof even a second rate band than in all
the productsof the world'smillsand factories
hereon display45.
On the other hand, the relationbetween the
Midwayand the White Citymightbest be characterizedas neithercontrastnoridentity,butas demystification, as the Midway with its overt
commercialism
and open courtingof visualfascination tended to desublimatethe pretensionsof the

432
432
Tom Gunning
Gunning
the firsttime 'a streetof concessions becomes the

Theofficialattiearliestimpressionof the visitors'46.
tude toward the amusementsarea still expressed
reservations
about its popularity.An officialhistory
of the Fairexpressedthistentativeacceptanceof the
Pikeas an undeniable,if not entirelyfelicitous,reality:'Indeedit mustbe admittedwithhowevermuch
regretthatthe side shows probablydraw as many
people as the mainexhibit'47.
Althoughthe Pike still holds somethingof a
liminalplace withinthe Fair,its positionparallelto
the entranceseems to proclaimitas an
alternative
centreto the Exposition,anotherway to conceive its image of the
world.TheSt. LouisFairseemed determinedto stressthe Pike'ssimilarities
to
the fairratherthanitsopposition.
And, indeed, the termsused to
describe the Pikeclearlyreflectthose
used to describe World Expositions
generally.Thepressagent forthe Pike
described it in terms that recall
Goode's descriptionof the Fairas object lesson:'ThePikeis a livingcolour
page of theworld,and picturesspeak
louder than words'48.The St. Louis
Worlddeclaredin a headline'ToSee
ThePikeIs to See the EntireWorld'49,
a sentimentseconded by the Boston
: and Maine Railroad Guide which
claimed, 'a journeyup and down the
'the Pike'practicallyamountsto a tour
:
of the world'50.Similarly
Jackson'sFamous Photographsof the St. LouisExpositionand 'thePike'saw the Pikeas
area of the Fair,
the mostinternational
describingitas 'themostcosmopolitan
thoroughfarein the world. Denizens
from all quartersof the globe come
and go, attractingthe visitor'sattention
by their quaint customs, peculiar
speech and strangegarb'51
Once again this world picture
consisted primarilyof exotic native
peoples on display, includingattracinhabitedby natives of Persia,
tions
Pike'.
6.
Two
views
of
'the
Fig.
Burma,Hindustan,
The
rtestof
the
from
Grec
down
6a
Ceylon,
Japan, PaPike,
Fig. (upper).Looking
Illustrated.
The
6b
lestine,
Turkey;
Spanish
gypsies,
Hairy
Pike,
(lower).
Fig.
Expositions
Completely
from
Ainus
Louisiana
from
Purchase
Indians,
Japan,
Patagonian
east,
looking
Exposition.
official Expositionand bare its devices. On the

Midway,TheWhiteCity'scapitalismand imperialism cloaked in universalidealismbecame a commercialcarnivalesqueTowerof Babel, where the
powersof visualdazzle providedtheirown justification.
As if acknowledging the secret identitybetween the methodsof officialexhibitsand the concession area, elevenyears laterat the St. LouisFair
the amusementcentre, known as the Pike, had
switchedpositions.As the St. LouisWorldnoted,for

The
worldas object
The world
lesson
object lesson
433
433
Africanpygmies, Kwakiutl
and ZuniNative AmeriJerusalem...
cans (as well as visitsby such great war chiefsas
Whole streets transplantedfrom Asakusa in
This
Geronimo,ChiefJosephand QuantahParker).
tightapan.
assemblyof non-western
peoples was climaxedby
Flightoverthe ocean by airship...
the largest'anthropological'
exhibit,displayingthe
Discovery of the North Pole in twenty
inhabitants
of the UnitedStatesrecentcolonialposminutes...53
the
a
of
cultusession, Philippines,including variety
ral groups:Visayans,Moros, Bagobos, Negritos
While the tone of thislistcertainlysituatesthe
and Igorots.
visitoras a privilegedwesternvoyeurof theworldof
As the Pike'simage of the worldwas notonly 'strange'events and customswhich are often dismorecolourfuland exotic thanthe non-commercial played in a condescendingand exploitativemanexhibits,it was also less unifiedand thrivedon the ner,nonethelessitis in the polyglotchaos of thePike
thatthe bringingtogether thata morediverseimago mundiwas available.
unexpectedjuxtapositions
of diverseattractionsallowed. A guide to the Fair
The range of attractionsalong the Pikewas
the
Railroad
publishedby
emphasized enormous,and its sense of varietyand contrastdid
Pennsylvania
the contrastsalong the Pike:'Thespectacularsights not come exclusivelyfromthe displayof exotic culrangefromTheCreationto TheHereafter.TheCliff- ture. In fact the Pikeserved as a compendiumof
dwellersare neighboursto the SouthseaIslanders popularcultureas muchas the Expositionproper
and Old St. Louisto Cairo'52.A featureintheBoston servedas an encyclopaediaof officialculture.The
and Maine guide entitled'Odd Thingson the Pike' Bostonand Maine guide to the St. LouisFaircomlistedin intentionally
randomorderattractions
to be pared the varietyof attractionsofferedalong the
found along the amusementthoroughfare,clearly Pike to a vaudevilleshow54. Most of the exotic
Theseincluded:
delightingin theirincongruity.
peoples were, in fact, performers,
offeringdances,
acrobaticfeats or demonstrations
of craftsmanship
A floodof fiftythousandgallonsof waterevery for the curiouscrowds,and were joinedby performinute...
mersfromEuropeand the UnitedStatesas well. But
Man who carves images on a single grainof beyond its actual vaudevillecomponent,the Pike
rice ...
offereda rangeof visualentertainments
consistingof
RelicsfromGoldentemplein Rangoon...
attractionswhich entrepreneurs
felt could separate
ZuniIndiansdance the mask,fluteand snake gawkersfromtheircoins. Thisrange of attractions
dance
directlycorrespondsto thesubjectsof earlycinema.
Elevensectionsof arcaded bazaars of StamRunningdown the list of Pike attractions,a
boul...
historianof early cinema becomes overcomewith
Devildancers- the strangemedicinemen of de6j/vu. Theattractions
directlyparallelthe genres
Burmah...
of early film, both staged films and actualities.
Gypsy lane of Barcelonawith genuine Rom- Clearlythe exotic locales reproducedon the Pike
courtthe same curiosityabout foreign lands that
anys, ...
Geishas dance sing and serve tea in native early travelfilmsdo. These exhibitsconsistednot
kiosk.
only of native performersand crafts, but also of
Worldrecreatedin shell 150 feet in diameter; recreationsof theirenvironment.
The Pikeincluded
1 5 feet high ...
recreationsof Philippinevillages, the streets of
mirrors;
Transparent
you dissolveintoa master- Cairo, the Taj Mahal, Constantinople,an Irishvil...
piece
lage, the streetsof Seville,TheHolyCityof JerusaCafe Chantantstheelixirof Parisianfever...
realistic
lem,St. Louisin 1804, and an astonishingly
Burmesevillage with houses of straw and mockup of the TyroleanAlps. Railwayjourneys,so
to the earlytravelgenre, also abounded
strangepeople.
important
The Maine will be blown up in Havana har- on the Pike,fromthethreemilelongScenicRailway,
bour...
to a forty-fiveminutetrip over the Trans-Siberian
Churchof Holy Sepulchre,size of originalin Railway.Historicand recenteventsthatservedas

434
Tom Gunning
the subjectsof filmswere re-enactedas well, with

the GalvestonFlood recurringon the hour;major
battlesof the BoerWar restagedin an arena with
several of the original participants;the Battleof
Maine
Santiagoand the explosionof the Battleship
were enacted witha 22-foot modelbattleshipin a
huge tank at the Naval Exhibit;and a series of
battles were presented in cycloramas in Battle
Abbey (includingPhilippoteaux'sfamous circular
panoramaof Gettysburg).
of the dangersin the
A dramaticre-enactment
life of Americanfiremenwas staged in George C.
Hale'sspectacle 'A MidnightFirein GreaterNew
York'.Visualtrickswere offered in the Templeof
and transof distortingmirrors
Mirth,witha labyrinth
formationeffects.TheTyroleanAlpseven offereda
recreationof OberamergauPassionPlay'seen and
Of course,this
approvedby 1000s of ministers'55.
in
themes
between
earlyfilms
extraordinary
parallel
imitation
not
does
indicate
Pike
attractions
and the
the
on the part of
Fairwayamusements,but the
contrary.Thesewere therangeof visualamusements
thatearlycinemasoughtto emulateand reproduce.
One of the contrastsbetweenthe Pikeand the
ChicagoMidwayabouta decade beforelies in the
which
enormousincreasein mechanicalattractions
vied with the exotic exhibitionsas the mainattractionsof the amusementsection.The directorof the
St. LouisFairstressedthatthe Pikeamusementsembodied the sort of technologicalprogressthat the
mainexhibitscelebrated,claimingthat'advancesin
the theoryof presentingsuch attractionsmade the
scientificmechanicaland spectacularfeaturesfar
Entersuperiorto thoseof preceedingexpositions'56.
a
common
offered
attractions
scientific
taining
ground between the amusementsections and the
Expositionproper. The placementof a scientific
in one area or the otherseems often
demonstration
ColumbianExposition,for instance,
the
(at
arbitrary
the Edisonkinetoscopewas slatedto appear in the
ElectricityBuildingwhile Muybridge'szoopraxothe laws of animallocomotion
scope demonstrating
was placed on the Midway).Many of the Pike's
attractionsdemonstratedscientifictechnology,such
as the pavilionof baby incubatorsin whichspectainfantsintheirtranspartorscouldobservepremature
ent warmers,'a uniquetestimonyof the power of
modernscience'57
Technology in these mechanical attractions
playeda complexrolesimilarto thatof new technological devices appearing duringthese same decades in the magical theatre of illusions of
Maskelyneor Meli6sor in thefascinationofferedby
the firstprojectionsof cinema58.On the one hand
they soughta vividsensualintensityand verisimilitudethatmovedthe attractions
towardan illusionof
On
other
the
this
effect
of verisimilitude
hand,
reality.
also displayeda triumph
of technology.Such masterfulillusionsdemonstratedan openly acknowledged stagecraftratherthanseamlesslycreatinga
naturalisticillusionaimed at an effect of realism.
Thusmechanicalattractions
deliveredto theirspectators not simplya simulacrumof real events, but
marvelsof technology.Thecriteriaof realismserved
moreas a measureof the effectivityof the technology ratherthansimplyas the finalaim of the representation.
The elaboratetechnicaleffects of two attractions,TheGalvestonFloodand Hale'sMidnightFire,
show how verisimilitude
and a tour de force of
and
mechanical
'scientific,
spectacularfeatures'
and satbothsuppliedspectatorswithastonishment
isfaction:
The GalvestonFloodwas a livingpictureof
remarkable
effectsobtainedby the use of plasticartcombinedwithmechanicsand electricity.
was realand thestill
Theimmediateforeground
lifewas fullsize. Realgrass, realtrees,fences
and housesappearedaroundthespectator.As
the picturereceded,objectsgraduallyflattened
out, yet with theirangles so constructedthat
each retained its true perspective.They became flatterand flatteruntilthey merged into
silhouettes.In the view of Galvestonthe foregroundwas real water carriedback into the
picture,so thatpracticallyall thewaterlapping
the beach and stretching
away intothe middle
distancewas real. A new inventionkept the
waterin continualmotion.Theillusionwas carried out all the way to the horizonso thatthe
eye could follow a wave as it flowed from
underthefeet of thespectatorfaraway intothe
was lost in the
picture,untilits individuality
wide ocean distance59.
was somethingnew undertheguise
Firefighting
trained
A corpsof wonderfully
of entertainment.
in
firemenwho were almostcircusperformers

435
435
The
worldas
as object
object lesson
lesson
The world
Fig.7. TheGalvestonFlood,
fromTheGreatestof
ExpositionsCompletely
Illustrated.
agilityand acrobaticskillkeptthe thrillsworking fornearlyan hour.Seated in a vastauditoriumthe audiencewatched the alarmturnedin

to a modernfirestationfive hundredfeet from
thegrandstand.Thefiremenwere seen to leave
theirbeds, slidedown the brasspoles, hitchthe
horsesand respondby dashingthrougha moving panoramaof the New Yorkstreets.Justin
frontof the audience a six storey block was
ablaze. People appeared at the windows
screamingfor help. As the firemenrescuedthe
unfortunates
by aerial hooks, the whole scene
was enveloped in a fieryglare. No fire was
usedbuttheeffectwas producedby electricity,
steam, stained glass, celluloid,silk and other
mechanicalappliances.Theeffectwas startling
especiallyas the buildingcollapsed afterthe
victimswere removed60.
The 'special effects' of these mechanicalillusionsdid morethanreproducereality.Likethe spectacularelectricaleffectswitnessedas visitorsentered

the Palace of Electricity,they demonstratedin a
stunningmannerthe possibilitiesof the new technology. Itis no wonderthatprojectedmotionpictures
on a flatscreenmightseem a rathertepidattraction
nextto theseextravanganzas,a poor man'sillusion.
At the same time such illusionsundoubtedlyused
projectionsand possiblysome formof motionpicturesas partof theirbackstagetechnology.

Perhapsthe mostseamlessblendingof technoland
entertainment
on the Pikecame withits rich
ogy
of
offering technological'virtual'voyages61.Some
of these imaginarymodes of world travel likely
employedcinematicdevices, buteven thosewhich
were pre-cinematic
in technologyhad a determinant
influenceon the way cinema became popularized
as an attractionafterthe Fair.Thesevirtualvoyages
also literalizethe basic tropeof the World Exposition itself,the worldtourcompressedin space and
timeand renderedeffortlessforthe tourist,in which
the roleof touristand spectatorare trulycollapsed.
The effortlessspectatorvoyage had played a
earlier
majorrole in the riseof visualentertainments
in the century(especiallythe Dioramaand panoramawhichfrequently
portrayeddistanttouristsites).
It motivatednot only the World Expositionas a
whole, butalso therecreationof foreignlandswhich
throngedthe Midwayand the Pike.Butthe technological virtualspectatorvoyage formsa particular
sub-genreof great consequence for early cinema.
The originof the spectatorvoyage comes as well
fromtransformations
withintouristtravelitself.WolfSchivelbusch
describes
thegrowingcomfortof
gang
traintravelin which the upholsteredseat insulated
the travellerfromthe discomfortsof the journey,as
the railroaditselfhad deliveredthemfromthe physi-

436
436
Tom Gunning
Gunning
Fig. 8. New Yorkto the

NorthPolefromThe
CompletelyIllustrated.
cal effortof travel62.Schivelbuschlocates a new

visual perceptionarising with train travel, 'panoramicperception'in which 'the travellersees the
objects,landscapes,etc. throughthe apparatusthat
moves himthroughthe world'.The ideal of a 'frictionless'63voyage around the world had been
pushed to the point of parody in 1873 by Jules
Vernein hisAroundthe Worldin EightyDayswhose
impassivehero PhileasFogg was describedas 'not
travelling,but only describing a circumference... he
hawkeditstravelattractions
as effortless(thoughnot
visual
gratuitous)
voyages. Describingwhat most
are
likely peepshow devices of the kinetoscopeor
mutoscopesort,the Edisonia'spublicityinvitedvisitorsto:
... entertheworldof travel,imagineyourselfat
the top of TelegraphHill in San Francisco,
looking throughthe Golden Gate upon the
broadexpanse of waterwherethe lightof day
reflectsits departingraysof brilliantsplendour
uponthe placid Pacific,untilyou are reminded
thatanothercoin willtakeyou to thesnow clad
peaksof theAlps,the boulevardsof fascinating
Paris,or amongthe palmtreesof the tropics65.
was a solid body traversingan orbitaround the

terrestrial
globe, accordingto the laws of rational
mechanics'64.
Thevirtualtechnologicalvoyages offeredalong
the Pikereproducedthe Exposition's
dominanttrope
of the collapse of space, time and distance. One
Thevoyage attractionsstressedmagicaltransattraction
was called 'New Yorkto the NorthPolein formationsof landscape with their relativelyshort
TwentyMinutes'and publicityemphasizedthatthe traveltime as well as providingsimulacraof new
ones notyet
tripover the the entirerouteof the Trans-Siberian technologicalmodesof travel(including
railwaytook only forty-fiveminutes.Butjustas im- invented, introducingan utopian aspect to their
portantas diminishedspace and timewas the se- travelillusions).'New Yorkto the NorthPole' took
duction of effortlesstravel, consumed primarily place on an elaborateand detailedmockup of an
throughthe eyes. The movementthroughspace re- Atlanticsteamer(two hundredby fiftyfeet) which
to
quiredno efforton the partof the spectatorwho sat movedfrompanoramasof the teemingmetropolis
impassivelytransported,like PhileasFogg, by the arcticlandscapes,with'greatfieldsof snow and ice
power of technology.The descriptionsof these at- and huge icebergs 100s of feet high'66,accompatractionsstressrepeatedlythatthe passivevisitoris nied by 'an electricaleffectgivinga startlingillustraof the tionof the NorthernAurora'67.
'Overand Underthe
'carried'or 'taken'.Eventhe announcements
Edisonia(a concession area holding hundredsof Sea' provided'a mechanicaland electricalillusion
coin-operatedvending machinesand amusements) which supportedthe sensationof a trip in a sub-

The
worldas object
object lesson
lesson
The world
marine'68
to Pariswith'an aerialreturnvia London,
New Yorkand Washington'69duringwhich the
'visitorfirstenteredan airshipand seeminglysailed
away' and laterlanded on the EiffelTower.'This
illusionwas reportedto 'havea strongsuggestionof
and may have involvedsome use of moreality'70,
tionpictures(althoughotherdevices may be justas
likely).
Althoughthe St. LouisFairmightbe considered
the climaxof these entertainments
(whichhad remained in a rudimentary
of
stage developmentat
theChicago Exposition),
theyhad been developing
in
the
eleven
steadily
years betweenfairs.TheParis
had
Exposition probablyserved as theirfirstgreat
triumph.There21 of the 33 majorattractionsinvolved some illusionof a voyage, includingthe
Mareorama sea voyage so well described by
Toulet,a Trans-Siberian
panorama(whichwas most
probablythe same one exhibitedon the Pike)and
Grimoin-Sansom's ill-fated Cineorama which
plannedto use motionpicturesto conveythe illusion
of a balloonvoyage71.A numberof suchattractions
also appearedat the smallerintermediary
fairssuch
as the Scenic Railwayat the 1898 Omaha TransMississippiExposition,or the Pan-American
Expositionin Buffaloin 1901, whichincludeda voyage to
the realmsof Satan in 'Darknessand Dawn Underworld'and an attraction(whichalso seems to have
been displayed at the ParisExposition)
which offereda Tripto theMoon. Theextra-terrestrial
nature
of this last attractionpromptedone journalistto
comment,'Thereyou see, notsatisfiedwithexhausting the earth[showmen]havealreadybegunon the
universe.Beholdthe worldis a suckedorange'72.
In addition,between the two fairsthe United
Stateshad experienceda rapidproliferation
of new
amusementparkslocated on the outskirts
of large
urbanareas, suchas Coney Islandor Riverside
Park
near Chicago. As John F. Kassonhas shown, the
developmentof theseparkswas directlyindebtedto
the popularity
of the Midwayat the Chicago Exposition73.The new amusementparkswere in many
respects patternedon the Midway, both in their
layoutand in theattractions
theyoffered,whichhad
been eitherimporteddirectlyfromChicago or were
modelledon its mostpopularofferings.Mechanical
illusionssuchas TheTripto theMoon,theGalveston
Flood,or TwentyThousandLeaguesUnderthe Sea
at theseamusementcentres,particularly
proliferated
437
437
at LunaParkwhichopened in 1903, justbeforethe
St. LouisExpositionand at Dreamlandwhich opened a year later.As Kassondemonstrates,these
amusementparksbothdrewupontheWorldExpositionsand invertedtheirvalues,as had theMidway.
While amusementpark architectureadopted the
technologicalpossibilitiesof visual spectacle premieredat the Chicago Exposition- such as the
elaborateuse of electriclight74- it used themto its
own ends. As Kassonputsit, contrastingLunaPark
and the Chicago Exposition:
Initsneoclassicalformalism,
the Exposition
representedan architecture
of responsibility;
here,
of pleasure.The
however,was an architecture
Columbian Expositionpreached discipline;
LunaParkinvitedrelease.Constructed
outof the
same impermanentplaster materialsas the
White City, Luna's buildings achieved
withoutoppressiveness,granmonumentality
deur withoutsolemnity75.
The rise of these amusementparksand their

overtlytechnologicalattractionsmay have affected
the change in attitude(and positionwithinthe fairground)of theconcessionsarea at theSt. LouisFair.
As the journalist
at the Pan-American
Exposition
quotedearliernoted, the technologicalvirtualjourney illusion,untrammelled
by theconfinesof realistic
or actual geography, could easily
representation
slide into fantasticvoyages. A numberof travel
attractionson the Pike left the real world behind
entirelyand launchedspectatorsintothe realmsof
metaphysics.'The Hereafter'offereda voyage in
which, 'the visitorwas taken throughthe undergrounddomainof Satan and thence throughDaphne's Grove to the Gates of Paradise'76
'Creation',one of the mostpopularattractionson
the Pike,was even moreambitiousin its metaphysical itinerary,takingvisitorsback throughmillenia.
Thisattractioncombineda boat ride in whichtime
travelwas experiencedas anothervirtualvoyage.
Thisupstreamtripagainsttheflowof timedeposited
its passengersat the momentof creationitself,followed by a displayof demiurgicpowermade palpable througha visualspectacle combiningall the
devices of visual transformation
available in the
contemporary
technologyof manipulatedlightand
stage craft.

438
438
Tom Gunning
Gunning
??
?~~~...
?
Fig.9. Creation,fromThe
CompletelyIllustrated.
The visitorglided backwardsthroughtwenty

centuriesin a grotesquecraft along a water
canal encirclingthedome fora distanceof one
thousandfeet. A movingpanoramaof the centuriesin plasticand real life was passed en
routeto the mastermechanicaldenouement.At
the firstcenturythe passengers left the boats
and entereda templeof thatperiod.Thewalls
of thetemplemeltedaway and a feelingof vast
void surroundedthe Piker.It was chaos. The
spectatorwas in the midstof the dome and
completelyenvelopedin a cloudwrack.A loud
voice utteredthe words: 'The Lordmade the
heavenand earthin six days'. Intensedarkness
surroundedthe waiting audience. The voice
continuedthe storyof creation. 'Letthere be
light'was obeyed as the soft glow of dawn
pervadedthe hollow dome. It increaseduntil
theglareof theday revealedthevoid of clouds
about the spectators.The lightfaded into the
eveningof the sixthday. 'Lettherebe a firmament',proclaimedthe voice. Itappeared, separating from the waters. 'Let the dry land
appear'.Thelimitlessocean rolledback revealing the land. Trees,flowersand shrubsgradually resolvedthemselvesinto the Garden of
Eden.'AndtheLordmadetwo greatlights'.The
sun and moon came forthmakinga day and
nighteffect. 'Letthe waters bring forthliving
creatures'.Fantasticshapes movedthroughthe
waters while the birdswere seen and heard

overhead. Reptilesand beasts of long ago
crept and walked throughthe forest. 'Letus
make man afterour image', said the voice. A
spectralformof Adamseen approachingfrom
the invisiblereachedtheforegroundin fulllight.
Adamand Evediscoveredone anotherand the
storyof the creationwas complete77.
Themode of representation
here is syncretistic,
a
wide
of
series
means, ranging
seeminglyusing
fromprojectedimages to fullthree-dimensional
actors.Motionpicturesmay have playedsome rolein
these illusions,but only as one componentin a
carefullymanaged spectacle. 'Creation'outlasted
the St. LouisFairand became the centralattraction
of the last of the great Coney Islandamusement
parks,Dreamland,where its massivenude female
flankedthe entrancewayto the park78.
Coda:the world'sexpositionand the film

spectator
Theplaceof motionpicturesat theSt.LouisExposition

seems to have been resolutelysecondary.Animated
novel to be acpictureswere no longersufficiently
cordedattentionas an important
scientificinnovation
(iftheyevertrulyhad thatstatus).Beyondtheirlikely
roleas backstagedevices for the morespectacular
illusions,filmswere also used in the educational
exhibitsoutsidethe Pikeas illustrative
material.The

439
439
The
worldas object
object lesson
lesson
The world
of the Holy City of Jerusalem,for inreproduction
stance,includedwithinSolomon'sTemple'dissolving
views, moving pictureand lecturesillustratedthe
The American
variouscustomsof the Israelites'79.
and
Biograph
Mutoscopecompanyproducedsevfilmswhichwere shown
eralseriesof suchillustrative
in at leasttwo venues,publicand private,at the St.
LouisFair.
First,Biographfilmswere shown daily in the
UnitedStatesGovernmentExhibits.TheDepartment
of the Navy supplementedtheirdisplayswith film
of the Interior
showed a
showings.The Department
series of filmsof AmericanIndiansand of views of
Yellowstoneand YosemiteNationalParks80.
These
filmsshowed bothNativeAmericanrituals(suchas
Kachinadances by PuebloIndiansfromWalpi and
Orabi, Arizona, and Crow Indiandances on a
Government
Navaho womenweaving
reservation),
baskets,and Native Americansengaging in a variety of sports(wrestling,basketball, racing,tug of
war). Scenes on reservationsand at Government
IndianSchoolscontrastedwiththe ritualdance films
by showing'welleducatedand civilizedIndians'81
suchtasksas performing
a firedrill,
takundertaking
ing classes incarpentry,and rakinghay.Thesefilms
of NativeAmericansconformedto thecentralenthographicview of the Exposition,
displayingtheexotic
while simultaneously
celebratingthe civilizinginfluenceof White domination.The InteriorDepartment'stouristviews offered vicarioustoursof the
recentlyestablishedNational Parksin Yellowstone
and Yosemite,includingviewsof famoussights(e.g.
BridalVeilFallsand Artist'sPointat Yosemite;Fountain Geyser, Old Faithfuland the MammothPaint
Pots at Yellowstone),and includedfilmsin colour
(mostlikelytintedor stencilcoloured)82.The United
StatesPostOffice Exhibition
also used motionpicturesto display contemporarymail handlingtechniques.Thedevice used hereseemsto have been a
mutoscopemachineoutfittedforseveralviewers:
service,collecting,delivering,assorting,distributingand depositing83.
Besidesthe Governmentsponsoredfilms,Biograph motionpicturesalso displayedthe achievementsof privateenterprisein someof theearliestfilm
'industrials'.
The extraordinary
series of Biograph
filmsshotby BillyBitzerinWestinghousefactoriesin
Pennsylvaniain April and May of 1904 were
shown as partof the WestinghouseExhibitin the
Hallof Machinery84.
Theauditorium
in whichthese
filmswere shown had a seating capacity of 350
and the threedaily filmshows were 'nearlyalways
givento standingroomonlyaudiences'.Theexterior
of the theatrewas describedas resembling'a fairy
land, contrastingstrangelywith the cold commonAn
places of the surrounding
machineryexhibits'85.
officialhistoryof the Fairdescribedeven theseindustrialfilmsas virtualvoyages:
Thenoveltyof sittingin a comfortableseat and
literallytaking a stroll throughthe different
Westinghouseplantsand seeing them in full
operationwas one that will be remembered
with pleasureas long as memorylasts with
thosewho saw the highestdevelopmentof the
art86.
photographer's
Thereare undoubtedly
otherexamplesof films
shownwithinexhibits.Fromsourcesnotdirectlypublicizingthe Fairthereis evidencethatforeignmotion
pictureshowmenpresentedfilmseitherat the Fairor
somewherein St. Louisat the same time. Oskar
Messterapparentlyshowed examplesof his talking
films at the LouisianaPurchaseExposition87,althoughI have not discoveredin what context.The
earlytravellingexhibitorfromQuebec, the vicomte
Henryd'Hauterives,indicated in his publicityfor
showingsin Quebec in November,1904, thathe
had 'arriveddirectlyfromSt. Louiswhere he had
I have not
spenttwentyweeks at the Exposition'88.
foundhimlistedas a concessionaire,however.The
... a half dozen or more biographs were famousHale'sTours,the novelformof filmexhibition
placed in the Post-officeDivision,and fitted whichhad an enormousimpacton futurefilmexhibiwith several stereoscopiceye-pieces so that tion, is often claimedto have premieredat the St.
fouror five personsmightuse one instrument
at LouisFair,butmy researchdoes not indicatethatit
the same time.Thesewere keptconstantlyrun- actuallyappearedat the Exposition.
Hale'sToursis worthdiscussingin some detail,
ningand being free to visitorswere enthusiastiThe
motion
showed
it clearlyshows the strongrelationearly film
since
cally patronized.
pictures
in
of
the
shows
maintained with the traditionof virtual
operations every department
postal

440
440
TomGunning
Tom
Gunning
voyages so well displayedon the Pike.Thisnovel

attractionreveals early film'svital relationto the
visualculturepioneeredat the World'sFairs.To an
importantdegree, Hale's Toursrepresentsan attemptto bringthese virtualvoyages to a broader
sectionof the population,makingthemgeographically moreaccessibleand economicallymoreaffordable. This attractionhoused its audience in a
screeningroomdesignedto resemblea railwaycar.
Motion picturesshot fromthe frontof trainsand
trolleyswere projectedat the frontof this railway
mock-up.Combinedwith a lecturerconductorand
the noise of click-clackingwheels, the exhibition
producedthe sensationof traintravel89.
Therelationof the Hale'sToursto the St. Louis
Expositionis a vexed issue, muchlikethe presence
or absence of Edison'skinetoscopeat the Columbian Exposition.No guide book or accountof the
PikethatI have read mentionsa Hale'sToursattraction and it is not listed in the official list of 40
concessionaires90.
Althoughhe concedes this lack
of evidence, RaymondFieldingin his carefullyresearched pioneeringarticleon Hale's Toursmaintains that the attractiondid premiereat the 1904
Fair,basing himselfon TerryRamsayeand on the
childhoodmemoriesof two witnesses91.Partof the
confusionmaybe due to thefactthatthedescription
Fieldinggives of Hale's originalpatent(whichinvolveda mobiletraincar open at the side running
tunnelon which
on a trackthroughan underground
projectedimages were shown) could well correspond to otherPikeattractions,such as the Scenic
Railway. Or memories recalled from childhood
mightconfusethe elaboratemovingpanoramasof
the Trans-Siberian
Railway(whichinvolvedfive differentmovingcanvases at differentdistancesfrom
the observationcar and runningat differentratesof
speed)92 with projectedmotionpictures.Barring
further
evidence, IdoubtthatHale'sTourspremiered
at the St. LouisFair,at leastunderthatnameor in its
laterform.
However, the relationbetween Hale's Tours
and the St. LouisFairremainssignificant.Theentrepreneurfromwhomit takesitsnamewas the ex-firechief of Kansas City, George C. Hale whose
did provideone of the chief
exhibitionof firefighting
on the Pike.Althoughthe patentapplicaattractions
tion for the attractionwas filed in March 190493
(shortlybeforethe opening of the St. LouisFair),it
seemslikelythathisexperienceon the Pikewhereso

manyattractionsofferedvirtualvoyages musthave
convincedHaleof theviabilityof his motionpicture
attraction.ThefirstHale'sTours(otherthanthe putativeopeningat the Fair)opened at the ElectricPark
amusementcentre in Hale's nativeKansasCity in
May of 190594. Forthe next three years Hale's
Toursspread throughthe UnitedStates,opening a
newvenueformotionpictures.Besidesprovidingan
opportunityfor many investorswho later became
prominentin the nickelodeonera, Hale'sToursliberated motionpicturesfromthe vaudevilletheatre,
providingthe firstlarge-scalenetworkof exhibition
outletswhich offeredmotionpicturesas theirmain
attraction.Hale'sToursservedas the shocktroops
for the imminentnickelodeoninvasionwhich transformedmotionpicturesfroma mechanicalinvention
whose novelty was fading land an amusement
whose statushad become increasinglymarginal)to
in
the harbingerof a technicaland social revolution
show businessand the creationof a
international
massaudience.
Motion picturesconveyingthe experienceof
travelthrougha cameramountedon some meansof
are as old as Promio'scinematotransportation
graphic gondola trip down the VenetianGrand
Canal in 1896, and exhibitionsituationswhich
imitatedmeans of transportation
certainlypredate
Hale'sTours.Yetthesignificanceof thisnew formof
as a successfulcommercial
cinematicentertainment
enterprisecannot be denied. Locatedinitiallyin
amusementparks,theyundoubtedly
provideda lowbudgetversionof the elaboratevirtualvoyages offered at World Expositions and large scale
thanthese atamusementparks.Lessoverwhelming
tractionsand of a statureprobably beneath the
notice of such prestigiousevents as World Fairs,
theirnickelor dimeadmissionwas also less thanthe
50 cents chargedfor 'Creation'.Theirinitialpopuderivednotonlyfromthe factthat
larityundoubtedly
for expensiveworld tours,
they offereda substitute
butalso forthe moreelaboratemixedmediatechnoand
logical illusionsfamiliarfromWorldExpositions
theirpublicity.
Butthe Hale'sToursalso borrowedfromthese
formsa newly-definedspectatoraccustomedto virtualillusionsof travel.WhatCharlesMussercallsthe
convention95
drew its inspira'viewer-as-passenger'
tionfroma newlyformulatedmodernvisualculture

Theworld
worldas
object lesson
as object
lesson
The
that had been exemplifiedby, and to a large deThisessay
gree createdfor, the WorldExpositions.
has attemptedto outlinethe keyaspectsof thisnew
visualculture:a new faith in the power of visual
knowledge;a conceptionof the world itselfas a
consumablepicture,imagedthroughthecollapseof
space and time;and an aggressivevisualaddress
aimed at dazzling the viewer with a new control
overthegaze. TheWorldExposition
embodiedand
thisnewvisualculture,servingas a new
proselytized
formof visualpresentation
whose dialecticteetered
between object lesson and sensual dazzlement,
whose 'first goal' was (as Catholic journalist
MauriceTalmeyrobservedof the ParisExposition)
'to attract,to hold'96.The complex methodsfor
attractingand holdingattentionformedthe basis of
a visualculturefromwhichthe cinemaissued.After
its initialrunas a vaudevillenovelty,it was in the
form of Hale's Tours, that film emerged independentlyto wedge a firstfragilebeachheadin the
Leavcompetitiveworld of popularentertainments.
ing thisbeachheadbehind,thecinemathenmoved
into the urbanlandscape, launchingan invasion
destinedto radicallytransform
modernculture.
The differencein price between a fairground
attractionlike'Creation'and the Hale'sToursor the
nickelodeonmustalso indicate a change in the
economicstatusof the projectedaudienceforeach
amusement.Clearlythe movement
of motionpictures
out of the vaudevillehouses and the extensionof
virtualvoyages to a largerpublicreflectsa broadening of the class addressof the visualculturenurtured by the World Expositions97.While the
localitiesin which Expositionswere given offered
special days in whichworkingclass patronscould
attendat reducedadmissions,they metwithmixed
success98.TheadmissionpricesfortheWorldExpositions,theirculturalpretentionsand locationssignalledthemas middleor upperclassevents.As Alan
indicatesaboutthe ColumbianExposiTractenberg
tion,theywere largelycelebrationsof:
441
441
However,as we have seen, the exile of low
culturehad become problematicby 1904 and the
carefullydefineddifferencesbetweenlow and high
culturewere in peril of confusionin the polyglot
carnivalof the Pike. The innerconsanguinityof
officialexhibitsand the Pike(whichflowed beneath
their still maintainedspatial segregation)sprang
fromtheircommonexemplification
of a visualculviewers
ture, offeringan object lesson instructing
aboutnew technologyand theshrinking
distancesof
exotic lands, paradoxicallybroughtcloser by the
As nineteenth
impulsesof imperialism.
centurysocialistshad recognizeda powerfullessonof internationalism runningparallel with the CrystalPalace's
celebrationof capitalism'00,
so the new visualpopularculturefoundalong the Pikeofferedbothvisions
of racist imperialismand of a new multicultural
world.
The World Expositionsdiscoveredmore than
technologyand worldwide markets;they also formulatednew visual modes for understanding
this
new world.Thegrowingaccommodationof popularcultureevidentin the changingplace accorded
to the amusementconcessionsin WorldExpositions
of Americanculture.
certainlychartsa re-negotiation
Did the culturalelite who backed the Expositions
simplydiscovera way to managethefascinationof
the fairground
or did a differentview of
attractions,
and
visual
excitement
pleasure
begin to overwhelm
the monuments
of officialculture?Undoubtedly
elementsof bothtransformations
took place. Whether
thisnew visualculturesimplydazzled viewerswith
the blindinglywhite surfacesof evanescentmonumentsto elite cultureor began to providea new
basis for international
and cross class experience
remainsperhapsthe mostvitalenigma the Expositions bequeathedto the new phenomenonof the
movies.Need we pointout thatit is stillunresolved
and its historyremainsto be fullyresearchedand
written?+
Notes
... the victoryof elites in business,politicsand

cultureover dissidentbutdividedvoices of lablacksand women.
bour,farmers,immigrants,
Elitecultureinstalleditselfas theofficialdoctrine
of the Court,claimingdominionover the 'low'
confinedto the outskirts
of the Midway99.
Thisessaywas originally
delivered
ina somewhat
differentformat the thirdDomitor
Conference,
'CinemaTurns
One Hundred'
13-18 June1994
heldat New YorkUniversity
and theMuseum
of
Modern
Art.Iwouldliketo thanktheorganizers
of
theconference
anditsparticipants
forvaluable
discussions,withspecialthanksdue to AndreGau-

442
TomGunning
dreault,GermaineLacasse,GregoryWaller, Paul
RichardCrangleand
Spehr,MartinLoiperdinger,
JohnBelton.I wouldalso liketo thankthe Deering
14.
SpecialCollections,Northwestern
University,
Library
theChicago Historical
Societyand RickWojick.
1.
Emmanuelle
Toulet,'Cinemaat the UniversalExposition, Paris, 1900' Persistenceof VisionNo. 9,
1991, 10-36.
15.
via Bostonand MaineRailroad(Boston:Bostonand

MaineRailroad,1904) 2.
Quotedin RobertW. Rydell,Allthe World'sa Fair:
Visionsof Empireat AmericanInternational
Exposiof Chicago
tions,1876-1 916 (Chicago:University
Press,1984), 139.
Message fromthe Presidentof the UnitedStates
a Statement
Transmitting
ShowingReceiptsand Disbursements
for the LouisianaPurchaseExposition,
(Washington,D.C.: GovermentPrintingOffice,
1903) 42.
2.
Ibid.,33
3.
On the CrystalPalace of the Great Exhibition

of
1851 in London,see ThomasRichards,TheComof Victorian
16. H.B.Wendell,Ina Nutshell:1000 Factsaboutthe
and
Advertising
modityCulture
England:
StanfordUniverWorld'sFair(St.Louis,Publication
Office 1903), 6.
Spectacle, 1851-1914 (Stanford:
view,
sityPress,1991), 17-72. Andfora different
and theFair:AnExposition
see MarshallBermanin All thatis SolidMeltsinto 17. J.W. Buel,ed. Louisiana
its
of
and theirAchievements
the
World,
(St
People
Air:TheExperienceof Modernity(New Yorkand
Louis:World'sProgressPublishing
Vol
Co.,
1904)
235-248.
Berman
London:
Books,
1988),
Penguin
IV,1401-1402.
also stressesthe transienceof the CrystalPalace,
237.
18. Bostonand MaineRailroad,5.
Neil Harris,'Memoryand theWhiteCity'in Harris, 19. Quotedin
Rydell,13.
de Wit, Gilbertand Rydell,GrandIllusions:Chi213.
cago's World'sFairof 1893 (Chicago:Chicago 20. QuotedinTractenberg,
Historical
Society, 1993), 3.
21. Quotedin Rydell,107.
WalterBenjamin,CharlesBaudelaire:A LyricPoet
22. TheWorld'sWorkVolVIII
No. 4 Aug. 1904 Special
intheEraof HighCapitalism
(London:
Verso,1985),
DoubleExposition
Number,5053.
165.
4.
5.
6.
Thecommodityas spectacleformsa centraltheme

of the CrystalPalaceand its
treatment
of Richards'
effecton Victorian
commodityculture.See note 3.
23.
Rydell,157.
24.
HamlinGarland,Son of theMiddleBorder,(New
York:Macmillian
Co, 1923) 460.
7.
of America: 25.
TheIncorporation
Alan Trachtenberg,
Cultureand SocietyInthe GildedAge (New York:
Hilland Wang, 1982), 231.
8.
Richards,32.
9.
of 1904
DavidR.Francis,TheUniversalExposition
Co., 1913,
(St.Louis:St. LouisPurchaseExposition
371.
10.
11.
12.
13.
26.
SimonJ. Bronner,'Object Lessons:The Work of

Museumsand Collections',in Bronner,
Ethnological
and Display
ed. ConsumingVisions:Accumulation
of Goods In America 1880-1920 (New York:
W.W. Nortonand Co., 1989), 217. RosalindH.
Williamsalsodiscussestheobjectlessonina French
in 27.
context,in DreamWorlds:Mass Consumption
France(Berkeley:
LateNineteenthCentury
University 28.
of CaliforniaPress,1982), 58-59.
29.
Quotedin Bronner,222.
30.
The
Quoted in Wim de Wit, 'Buildingan Illusion:
Design of the World ColumbianExposition'in 31.
Harris,de Wit, Gilbertand Rydell,GrandIllusions. 32.
See myarticle'TheCinemaof Attractions:

EarlyFilm,
inThomasElsaesser,
itsSpectatorandAvant-Garde'
ed. EarlyCinema:Space FrameNarrative(London:
FilmInstitute,
British
1990), 56-62.
Quotedin Rydell,p. 159. On theconceptof shock
in modernculturesee also WolfgangSchivelbusch,
TheRailwayJourney:Trainsand TravelIntheNineteenthCentury(New York:UrizenBooks, 1977),
135-160, andWalterBenjamin,
Baudelaire,113120. Ihavediscussedshockinrelationtothecinema
in 'AnAestheticof Astonishment:
of attractions
Early
Filmand the [In]credulous
Spectator'Art& Textno.
34, Spring,1989, 31-45.
Quotedin Rydel1, 134.
World'sWork,5057.
Buel,VolIV,1392.
World'sWork,5088.
Buel,VolX, p. 3349.
World'sWork,5092.
30 Aprilto 1 December1904
St. LouisExposition,

Theworldas objectlesson
443
34.
Purchase 59.
MarkBennitt,
ed., Historyof theLouisiana
Pub.Co.,
(St.Louis:Universal
Exposition
Exposition
60.
1905), 576.
61.
Buel,VolIX,3179.
35.
Bennitt,623.
36.
On Philadelphia's
'Centennial
City',see de Wit, 95
and Rydell,34.
37.
Quoted inJamesGilbert,PerfectCities:Chicago's
of Chicago
Utopiasof 1893 (Chicago:University
Press,1991), 94.
33.
38.
Excursions:
Neil Harris,Cultural
Appetites
Marketing
and CulturalTastesin ModernAmerica(Chicago:
of Chicago Press,1990), 121.
University
39.
of theSt. LouisExpoJackson'sFamousPhotographs
sitionand 'thePike'.(Chicago:Metropolitan
Syndicate Press,1904) (no page numbers).
40.
Quotedin Gilbert,88.
41.
Quotedin Tractenberg,
213.
42.
Quotedin Rydell,65.
43.
Thispassage fromthenovelSweetCloverwrittenby
ClaraLouisaBurnham,
is quotedin Rydell,67.
Francis,600.
Ibid.,600.
AnneFriedbergs discussionof the 'mobilizedand
virtualgaze' in her book Window Shopping:
Cinemaand thePostmodern
of
(Berkeley:
University
CaliforniaPress, 1993) introducesan important
contextforthevirtualvoyage of the fairground
and
theemergenceof cinema.See, especially,15-38.
62.
Schivelbusch,123-124.
63.
The concept of the urge towardsa 'frictionless'

environmentin contemporarylife has been deseminar
velopedby RickWojickin an unpublished
University.
paperat Northwestern
64.
JulesVerne,Aroundthe Worldin EightyDays(New

York:WilliamMorrowand Company,1988) trans.
WilliamMakepeaceTowle,52.
65.
Bennitt,726.
66.
Jackson'sFamousPhotographs
(nopage numbers).
67.
Francis,600.
68.
Ibid.,595.
69.
(no page numbers).
44.
Quotedin Rydell,62.
70.
Bennitt,721.
45.
Quotedin Gilbert,87.
71.
46.
Quotedin Rydell,179.
47.
Buel,VolIV,1388.
48.
ThomasR.MacMechenquotedin Rydell,178.
49.
Quotedin Rydell,179.
Thebestdescriptionof theseattractions
is provided
byToulet,17-23. See also Williams,73 A descriptionwithillustrations
anddiagramsof thepanoramas
fromthe 1900 ParisExposition
is given in Leonard
de Vries,Victorian
Inventions
(London:
JohnMurray,
fromtheDutchmagazine
1991), 124-25, reprinted
De Natuur.
50.
Bostonand MaineRailroad,31.
72.
51.
(no page numbers).
Quotedin Rydell,p. 151. Althoughnot mentioned

by Toulet,Williamsplaces the 'Tripto the Moon'
attraction
at the ParisExposition,
75.
52.
Railroadto theWorld'sFair,St. Louis 73.

Pennsylvania
Mo. Descriptivenotes, listof hotels,ratesof fare,
scheduleof trains,and generalinformation
(Philadelphia:Allen,Laneand Scott,printers,1904), 24.
53.
Bostonand MaineRailroad,31.
54.
Ibid.,6.
55.
(nopage numbers).
56.
Francis,594.
JohnF. Kasson,AmusingtheMillion:Coney Island

attheTurn
of theCenturyNew York:HillandWang,
1978), 17-28; 61-72. Kasson'sslimvolumehas
been a majorinspiration
forthisessay. A detailed
and insightful
discussionof Riverside
Parkin relation
to earlycinemais givenin Lauren
Rabinovitz,
'Temptationsof Pleasure:
Nickelodeons,Amusement
Parks,
and the Sights of Female Sexuality'in Camera
Obscura23 May 1990, 71-90. I wouldalso like
to thankProf.Rabinovitz
forsharingwithmeherwork
and thoughts
on theChicagoColumbianExposition.
57.
Ibid.,597.
74.
Ibid.,65.
58.
Cinema- a Frame-up?
or The 75.
See, 'My "Primitive"
Trick'son US' CinemaJournal28, no. 2 Winter,
1989, 3-1 2., as wellas 'Aesthetic
of Astonishment'. 76.
Ibid.,63.
Bennitt,717.
77.
Francis,567.

444
444
TomGunning
Gunning
78.
Kasson,82-85.
79.
Francis,601.
80.
Francis,560-561 listsfilmshowingsforthe Navy

and InteriorDepartment.The InteriorDepartment
screeningsaregivenindetail.In1905 theAmerican 97.
Mutoscopeand BiographCompanyofferedsomeof
thefilmsshownat theInterior
Exhibition
Departments
to showmen.See, KempNiver, BiographBulletins
1896-1908 (LosAngeles:LocareResearchGroup,
1971) 145, which reproduces'BiographBulletin
no. 40, 21 January1905 AmericanIndiansand
YellowstoneParkViews'.Comparingthe titlesofferedherewiththoselistedin Francis,itwouldseem
Biographofferedthe publiconlya partialselection.
I would like to thankPaulSpehrof the Library
of
Congressforcallingmyattentionto boththe Dept.
filmsand theWestinghousefilmsat St.
of theInterior
Louis.
96.
81.
Niver, 147.
82.
Francis,561.
83.
Buel,Vol. IX,3292.
84.
Musser,359-60.
85.
Buel,Vol. IX,3395.
86.
Ibid.
87.
Martin Loiperdingerinformedme of Messter's

presenceat the St. LouisFair.
88.
de Serge
GermaineLacasse(avec la collaboration
(Lesdebutsdu spectacle
Duigou),L'Histoirographe
au Quebec) LesDossierde la
cin6matographique
Cin6matheque,no. 15 (Montreal:Cin6matheque
Qu6becoise, 1985), 38. I thankAndreGaudreault
98.
and M. Lacasseforthisreference.
89.
Accountsof Hale'sTourscan be foundin Raymond

in the Pre-1910
Fielding,'Hale'sTours:Ultrarealism
MotionPicture'inJohnFell,ed., FilmBeforeGriffith
(Berkeley:Universityof CaliforniaPress, 1983),
1 16-130 and in CharlesMusser,TheEmergence
of Cinema (New York:Scribners,1990), 429430.
90.
See Listof Concessionaires,Francis,584.
91.
Fielding,121.
92.
See De Vries,124-25.
93.
Fielding,120.
94.
offersan interesting
Rabinovitz
Musser,429. Lauren
discussionof theroleof Hale'sToursat theRiverside
Ibid.,429.
GregoryWallerhassentmean ad appearinginthe
Leaderon 25 July1906 which
Lexington
[Kentucky]
proclaims,in part:
We are to havea Worlds Fair.Thisis unexpected
and Startlingnews, butwe hope it will be none
the less welcome ... Prof.ForrestD. High,of St.
lecturerand entertainer,
Louis,the world-famous
will give an exhibitionof World'sFairscenes,
showingtheworldat a glance, movingpictures,
with startlingeffects ... combiningin a brilliant
display the latest inventionsin the use of the
Stereopticon...
ABSOLUTELY
FREE
OF COSTTOYOU
Prof.Highcomeshereas therepresentative
of The
BrownShoe Co. of St. Louis... in orderto afford
the people an eveningof unmixedpleasureand
entertainment.
REMEMBER
BUSTER
BROWNAND HISDOG
willbe shownin comicmotionpictures.
'TIGE'
A largecanvaswill be stretchedacrossthe front
of McElhone&Moloney'sstore.
Thisannouncement
shows the way the motionpicturesserved to disseminatethe visualcultureand
to a widerpublicboth
fascinationof theExpositions
economicallyand geographically.The offeringof
World'sFairfilmsas partof an eveningof 'unmixed
with the
pleasureand entertainment'
programmed
comic Edisonseriesof BusterBrownfilmsis typical
of theinitialreceptionof motionpictures.IthankProf.
Wallerforthisvaluablereference.
Rydellchroniclesthemixedresults(andoftendubious
motives)of these attemptsto make the Fairsaccessibletoworkingclasspatrons,fromtheCentential
Exhibition
(32-33) to the PortlandLewisand Clark
Cententialin 1907 (188-191). TheCrystalPalace
had also offered 'ShillingDays' of reduced admissionpricesto encourageworkingclass attendance withuncertainresults(Richards,
37).
Tractenberg, 231.
100. A more ambivalent view of the Crystal Palace than

Richards condemnation of it as the seedbeed of
consumercapitalism is given by MarshallBermanin
AllthatIsSolidMeltsintoAirHe detailsChernyshev-
amusement park, 79-82.
95.
99.
Quotedin Williams,64. WilliamLeachin Landof

Desire:Merchants,Power,and the Riseof a New
AmericanCulture(New York:PantheonBooks,
accountof thisnew com1993) providesa brilliant
mercialcultureof visualattraction.
sky's utopian reaction to the CrystalPalace on 243245. Benjamin briefly discusses the influence of
World Expositionson the International

Workers
movementsof the nineteenthcentury,beginning with
a delegation of FrenchWorkersto the CrystalPalace
(Baudelaire, 166).


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The World as Object Lesson: Cinema Audiences, Visual Culture and the St.

Louis World's Fair,

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s the studyof earlycinemabroadens,it

technologicalculturewhich marksthe turnof the

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Fairgoershad a sense of evanescence even

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Figs. a, 1b, 1c. TheSt. Louis

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soughtnotsimplyto gatherthe marvelsof the world know',and his theoryof educationvalorizedvisual

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Fig.2. A map of the St. LouisFairprovidedby the Bostonand MaineRailroad(1904).

Taking it all altogether, the domestic and

Butif thecompressionand varietyof the World

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