This is a model of the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair that is at the center of a very nice exhibit at the Missouri Historical Society Museum at what was formerly called the Jefferson Memorial in Forest Park. The fair, which was open for several months coveted about half of Forest Park and extended north for several blocks and west where its administrative building, now called Brookings Hall, serves as an administrative center on the Washington University campus. And, yes, if you have ever wondered, the Brookings of Brookings Hall is the same Brookings as the Brookings of the Brookings Institution in Washington DC. And, yes, if you are now wondering, this may be the first-time that the word Brookings has been used five times in the same sentence.

I have always been interested in the St. Louis World’s Fair, and I have a collection of over 125 souvenir and other items from the Fair. But that is not for today’s post.  I am also not going to describe the Fair. Google it if you want.

But there are a few very interesting things I learned at the Museum, and one thing I didn’t learn. What I didn’t learn is how many people went to the Fair on its opening day, April 30 (a sunny 70 degree day, by the way). If you read a narrative description of the opening day at the exhibit, you will learn that it was 237,000. But if you look up on the wall about 4 feet higher, you see that there were 197,000 in attendance. I asked Chat GPT to resolve the difference. It told me the correct(ish) number was 187,000. Then I asked Perplexity, and was told incase about 200,000. We’ll, so much for government work.

Some things I learned were shocking.

Can you read this? There was an exhibit displaying scientific progress through the new invention of baby incubators, to help premature babies survive. The premature babies, of course, needed proper nutrition and care, something they did not get at the Fair. The exhibit kept operating and turned a profit, but 39 babies (out of 43) died. Say, what?

On the other hand, the Ferris Wheel was a big success. 80 couples married on this Wheel. Each compartment could hold the entire wedding party.

This is Otto Benga. He was apparently “purchased” in the Congo, and brought to be displayed at the Fair. After the Fair ended, Benga was sent to the Bronx Zoo where he was displayed in a monkey cage. Several years after that, Benga committed suicide.

So everything was not peaches and cream. And why can you learn of these unfortunate events in this exhibit? The answer is simple

Because Donald Trump and his MAGA minions, who are purging federal museums, are not in charge.

After the museum, we drove around with friends looking at big houses and tornado damage, had a very nice dinner at Westwood Country Club, and visited with some more classmates.

Today? Drove two friends to the airport and wrote a blog post. Later? Visiting cousins, dinner with two classmates. And more? Maybe. We shall see.