This Way to the Egress of the Midway Plaisance

Had he lived to see it, many aspects of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition would have delighted P. T. Barnum. Visitors to the World’s Fair in Chicago could encounter various displays of “the biggest”—a golden colossus, a mammoth squash, a gigantic cactus, a huge walk-in flour barrel, massive chocolate statues, and an immense rotating wheel … to name but a few.

A rather pedestrian object on the Midway Plaisance led to a funny scene that likely would have amused Mr. Barnum. This unintentional reincarnation of one of his most famous tricks managed to catch at least one unwitting couple in its trap. Teresa Dean recounts the story in her collection White City Chips (Warren Publishing Co., 1895):

A woman and her husband, or a man and his wife, just as you like, started out with a lot of money yesterday to “do” Midway Plaisance. They crossed from side to side for a while, until the woman proposed that they save some walking by going down one side and up the other. The man said all right. They “took in” everything, as they expressed it, until they came to an “Exit Here.” And they added that to their list, and found themselves on the outside of the grounds, and the gateman would not allow them to return without their paying for another admission to the Fair.

I ran onto them in the heat of the argument. They explained to him that they did not know that the “exit’’ took them outside of the grounds instead of into another “show,” but he was inexorable. He said he could not let them through the gates because it would register an admission with no ticket to show for it, and he would be accused of dishonesty, or some one else would. His argument was good, and theirs was better. He felt sorry for them and they felt sorry for him.

Finally he said, if they could squeeze by the ends of the stile-arms so that the gate would not have to be turned clear around he would let them pass through. The man went through very easily. The woman was fleshy and the gates have not been built with the fore-thought that people were going to make the mistake of taking in the exits with the other sideshows. She crowded and tugged, caught her lace on the iron and tore herself up generally about twice fifty cents’ worth, and was once more ready to go down one side and up the other of Midway Plaisance.

Barnum’s American Museum in New York admitted thousands of visitors each day during the mid-1800s. For twenty-five cents, inquisitive guests could inspect exhibits ranging from the educational (an aquarium with a white whale) to the fantastic (a mermaid) to the unusual (a “bearded lady”). It was the Midway Plaisance of its day.

Concerned that some visitors were lingering too long among the exhibits, Barnum posted signs announcing “This Way to the Egress.” Not knowing the meaning of “egress,” curious patrons walked through the doors to find themselves standing in the street outside the Museum. They had to pay a second admission fee if they wanted to return. Teresa Dean never revealed if she knew about Barnum’s humbuggery when she recounted such a similar story from the 1893 fairgrounds.

Although the legendary circus showman died two years before the World’s Fair opened in Chicago in May of 1893, Barnum recorded his thoughts on America’s upcoming big show in an essay titled “What the Fair Should Be.”