Ipswich High School - Tiger Yearbook (Ipswich, MA)

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1870, their wages were lower than men’s, they were not admittetd to trade unions, and they were regard- ed as intruders by all men. Transportation to this exposi- tion was aided by the new steam locomotive. Only those who pos- sessed strong constitutions and were not of timorous natui-e, how- ever, dared to ride on them, al- though they had been greatly im- proved since their advent in 1830. The Chicago Columbian Exposi- tion which was held in 1893 was a booming success financially. About this time there was a great western land boom, and out of our still sparsely settled frontier rose great cities and new states. Good times, after the panic of the 1870’s, created a class of “nouveau riche” ; and this class speculated widely in land, railroads, and build- ing projects. This was the period of the gay nineties, and the Colum- bian Exposition truly depicted the spirit of the age. The architec- ture was pompous and almost gro- tesque. Strangely enough, it was widely copied by the whole coun- try. The ladies with their padded figures and false curls gazed with wonder and admiration at the rows of electric light bulbs, a house run entirely by electricity, but still primitive when compared with the electrically equipped home of to- day. A very popular phonograph, the Pullman Train, the linotype. the expansion engine, and artificial ice also brought forth awe-stricken gasps. The ferris wheel, however, stole the show, and many an im- portant lecture and exhibit was ne- glected for a ride on this fright- ful contraption. This fair is said to have created a false impression of prosperity, and many people, after having visited the fair, specu- lated wildly and lost their fortunes in building projects. The western farmer and the eastern factory worker fought hard battles at the elections to gain their just de- mands, and the age became more advanced socially. The Louisiana Purchase Exposi- tion in 1904 brought that miracle of miracles, the automobile, before our eyes. A horseless carriage ac- tually covered the distance from New York to St. Louis without a catastrophe, though the driver did look a trifle the worse for wear. Another spectacular invention was the Wright airplane which, how- ever, was rather cynically received, as it had been tested only the pre- vious year, and the automobile was hugging th.e spotlight. Then, too, very important was the wireless message sent from Cornwall, Eng- land, to Cape Cod. We were feel- ing very important about this time, for we had just emerged from the Spanish War and could now boast an outside colony which was, inci- dentally, aiding our prosperity. 20

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dined to laugh at the barbarism of the first World’s Fair, for in the 1850’s America was just beginning to settle down to be a refined and cultured nation. Slavery was still existent, and New York was just discovering how corrupt its police and politicians were and, in com- parison with Boston and Philadel- phia, how unrefined its mann ers were. This was an age of rapid development in machinery, the Mc- Cormick reaper and the first steam locomotive having been invented a decade before. It was also an age of social reform : the suffrage was enlarged ; reforms took place in prisons, asylums, and schools ; and societies for the encouragement of temperance and the abolition of slavery were coming into popular favor. An interesting fact to note in passing is that the young men at Harvard were now playing foot- ball in top hats. As a result of its amazing progress, America v as eager for a fair to show the world her great achievements and to out- do old Mother England. However, “The Iliad of the Nine- teenth Century,’’ as the Crystal Pal- ace was often termed, did not prove as successful as the people had hoped, and even P. T. Barnum with his unusual gift of enticing the public could not awaken an inter- est in it. — It may have been the leaky roof. In 1876, the one hundredth an- niversary of the Declaration of In- dependence, we find America seek- ing a fitting celebration for this memorable occasion. Philadelphia was the chosen city because here the Declaration of Independence had been signed, and here the Liberty Bell had rung. The Cen- tennial Exposition, unlike our first fair, was a marked success. Slav- ery had been abolished and the country was in the midst of a new industrial age. People gazed in awe at the sewing machines, the telephone, an instrument by which one could hear another person talk- ing way down in the next block, a continuous web-printing press, the self-binding reaper, the Westing- house airbrake, the refrigerator c r. the typewriter, and Edison’s dunlex telegraph. Little can we, who consider these things necessi- ties, realize how the people of 1876 looked upon these inventions. There was also a v oman’s plat- form at this exposition. Women were just beginning to assert them- selves. but their equality was not generally assured until the cloce of the centurv. The v orld still be- lieved that the woman’s place was in the home, and although about fifteen percent of the ladies were engaged in gainful occupations b ' ' 19

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The country felt, and to a certain extent, acted like the fellow with his first long pants. We were the leaders in diplomatic relations among European countries, we were gaining new possessions, and business at home was triumphant and prosperous. The Panama Pacific Exposition in 1915 celebrated the opening of the Panama Canal. The construc- tion of the canal was one of the most spectacular feats in the his- tory of the United States. Thanks to the persistent efforts of scien- tists and doctors, a death trap was transformed into a highly livable area, and that section now is near- ly as healthful to live in as our own. Furthermore, the quicksands, a hitherto unconquerable obstacle, were conquered by steel locks. This canal, moreover, cut from six to eight thousand miles from the voy- age of freighters. This short route was particularly favorable to us because of our newly acquired pos- sessions in the Pacific. At this time we became very much interested in land projects. Conservation of forests, irrigation of arid areas, and improving of waterways were major issues of the day. It was not until then that we realized that the resources of nature could be exhausted, and that we must do something to conserve her energies. Woman’s suffrage again came in- to the limelight. No doubt the la- dies proved their worth on the platforms at the fair, for in 1919 the vote was granted to them. Much was done to prevent fraud in politics, and the vote was placed more directly in the hands of the people. Fairs were interrupted for a time by the World War and the period of reconstruction that inevi- tably follows. However, in 1933, Chicago took the lead and planned a fair to celebrate her hundredth anniversary. This was an age of science, and the Chicago Fair dis- played such novelties as prefabri- cated materials and windowless buildings with uniform lighting and air conditioning. It was a rather panicky country at this time. The crash of 1929 still haunted us (or should 1 say is haunting us yet?). Chicago, however, did her share in bringing back prosperity. Her fair succeeded financially, the city itself received millions of dollars worth of trade, and thousands of families were taken off the relief lists by the employment of laborers in the construction of the fair. Art exhibits played a dominant part at the fair and a new inter- est in both ancient and modern art was awakened. The Century of Progress Exposition truly depicted an era in which gigantic strides for 21