Although little has been written about them, rats must have been present on the fairgrounds of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. Rats also contributed to a unique Columbian Exposition product. The excerpt below, from “Traps Suited to the Rat’s Taste” published in the November 4, 1894, issue of the Philadelphia Times, describes commercial rat traps having themes related to the Midway Plaisance:
It seems like rats are like persons. Some like one kind of trap and some another; just as different people like different houses … The [rat trap] dealer called my attention to the very striking influence the World’s Fair, especially the Midway Plaisance, has had upon trap building, and he assures me that trap patents had been taken out on a “Turkish Theaters” a “Dahomey Village,” and “The Streets in Cairo.” It seems odd that the great Exposition should not have had a building devoted to rat traps—they certainly deserved a large section of the Liberal Arts Building.
These Columbian Exposition rat traps must be among the most unusual World’s Fair collectibles! Are any know to survive?
