Ephemera

 

On my dusty shelves I have a wooden box containing tickets and pamphlets from the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair.  These are special to me because my Dad remembers going to the Fair with his family.  He was quite young at the time and living in Chicago with extended family.  While looking at these items recently, I realized the Fair was 80 years ago!  I feel very lucky to be able to talk to someone who actually remembers being there! 

My Dad recalls taking the street car from his home on Belmont to the Fair.  He was able to ride for free.  Even though he was six or seven at the time, he looked younger, so he rode for free.  His sisters had to pay 3 cents each and his parents paid a whole 7 cents each.  His family would go on free days and bring a picnic lunch.  The only extra money spent would be maybe one ride each time they visited the Fair.

Children remember funny things.  My Dad remembers asking his Father if they could go to a certain exhibit.  To get into it, they would have to go down into a little tunnel.  His Father told him they wouldn’t go into that exhibit because it was too deep for him.  My Dad remembers looking down into the tunnel and wondering how deep it went.  Later, he found out that his Father had another meaning of “deep” in mind, and that the exhibit would actually be too hard for him to understand. 

If I had a time machine, I’d love to travel back and ride that street car with my Dad.  To hear the sounds and see the sights of the Fair would be so interesting.  Since I can’t do that, I’ll have to use my imagination while I listen to him tell his stories.