Fair of the Future—Chicago’s International Exposition, A.D. 2000: First Prize “Chicago’s World’s Fair, A.D. 2000” by Percival Owen Continued from: Introduction The exposition was held on Lake Michigan. It was at first proposed to stand Lake Michigan on end, as was done with Lake Cayuga at the Ithaca fair of 1992.[1] The sail to Mackinaw would then have been a feature, as Hudson’s Bay and the Rocky Mountains would have been in sight; but space for buildings would then [...]

America’s favorite futurist fustigated the Fair. “The underlying motive of the whole exhibition, under a sham pretense of patriotism is business, advertising with a view to individual money-making,” wrote Edward Bellamy (March 26, 1850 – May 22, 1898) about the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. Bellamy’s 1888 novel Looking Backward: 2000–1887 was among the most popular and influential writings of the Gilded Age. His protagonist Julian West falls asleep in 1887 and awakens in 2000, when the United States has [...]