The E-Sylum:  Volume 11, Number 13, March 30, 2008, Article 17

CENTURY OF PROGRESS EXPOSITION CHICAGO 1933-34

Rich Mantia writes: "The 'Public Enemy #1' articles are
interesting and timely. The filming of the movie has made
the local news here in Chicago in 'snippets' because of the
celebrities involved and the location sites. Chicago is prime
for film locations when it comes to gangsters and vintage
period architecture.

"The unheralded connection to Chicago, beyond the many bank
robbery sites of the Midwest is that this year is the 75th
anniversary of the Century of Progress exposition held here
in the city from 1933 thru 1934, which is the exact same time
period with which the film centers. John Dillinger was the
recipient of the moniker of "Public Enemy #1" and he was shot
and killed while exiting the Biograph Theater here in Chicago
on July 22nd, 1934, but his death wasn't the only event of
the year!

"The Century of Progress expo opened on May 27, 1933 and closed
on October 31st, 1934 during the height of the Great Depression
and it made a profit! It was only scheduled to run for the year
1933, but because it was making unexpected profits it was kept
around for 1934. With violent crime being in the news, Chicagoans
came out in droves to spend their few dollars and cents on the
lakefront and the result is a plethora of numismatic material
and ephemera for us today.

"Century of Progress tokens, medals, exonumia, and ephemera
are catalogued in many books and sources, but the most common
ones known to numismatists are Martin and Dow 'Yesterday's
Elongateds' and Hibler and Kappen's 'So-Called Dollars'. Both
of these are the standard reference books for their specific
topics and cover the majority of the most easily collected
items. They are the first source for getting started, with a
long awaited new updated edition to the Hibler and Kappen book
available now. This book is a MUST HAVE for even the occasional
collector.

"There are other sources for ephemera that are little known.
The best source is the archives of the Century of Progress Expo
held at the University of Chicago which is fully catalogued and
digitized and the holdings at the Chicago Museum of Science and
Industry. Both collections come from archived material collected
during the Exposition itself. The Museum of Science and Industry
is unique and remarkable in that it is also the only temporary
building from the Columbian Expo of 1893, then called The Palace
of Fine Arts, that was made permanent and reopened and expanded
for The Century of Progress Exposition of 1933! Chicago is
truly a numismatic GEM of a city!

"The 75th anniversary World's Fair show is going to take place
on March 30th in Elk Grove Village here in Chicago. 1933, the
year Roosevelt took us off the gold standard, the 1933 St.
Gaudens became legend, and the Century of Progress opened.
John Dillinger and company are just a footnote, for our
entertainment."

To visit the University of Chicago's Century of Progress site, see:
University of Chicago's Century of Progress

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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