Louisiana Purchase Exposition Souvenir Spoon. U.S. Government Building, Festival Hall and Cascades/ Palace of Liberal Arts /
date: label: Date made
content: 1904
notes: label: Description
content: Souvenir spoon commemorating the Louisiana Purchase Exposition held in St. Louis, Missouri in 1904. Handle has a depiction of a winged figure holding a torch aloft and the St. Louis seal at side; inscribed "WORLD'S FAIR [/] ST.LOUIS [/] 1904" with an equestrian portrait of Saint Louis. "MUSIC" inscribed on stem with a depiction of a female nude with raised arms standing on a globe. Bowl has depictions of the "U.S.GOVERNMENT BUILDING ", "FESTIVAL HALL AND CASCADES, " and "PALACE OF LIBERAL ARTS".
label: Description
content: In 1904 a World’s Fair was held in St. Louis, Missouri to commemorate the 100th anniversary of “The Louisiana Purchase”, a land deal with the French that greatly expanded the boundaries of the United States. Between April and December, over 19.5 million visitors attended the Fair, hosted on a 1,270-acre site constructed at the city’s Forest Park as well as the Washington University campus. While the Exposition presented advances in technology and the arts and sciences, it is remembered today for its racist and dehumanizing displays of living foreign peoples. The Exposition also served as the site of the 1904 Olympic Games, the first ever held in the United States.
label: Description
content: The U.S. Government Building, built to resemble the ancient Pantheon, highlighted the work of various Federal Departments, including natural history exhibits, displays of guns and examples of artifacts from the Smithsonian Instiuttuion.
label: Description
content: The “world’s largest" pipe organ played to daily crowds of up 4,500 people at “Festival Hall,” the Exposition's signature architectural landmark. The Hall was fronted by “The Cascades,” an impressive water feature that flowed from the building into a “Grand Basin". The Hall also featured a “Wooden Colonnade of States”.The Palace of Liberal Arts was home to a variety of exhibitions related to the manufacture of goods from natural resources.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Missouri, St. Louis
label: Associated Place
content: United States: Missouri, Saint Louis
topic: label: Subject
content: Expositions and Fairs
label: related event
content: Louisiana Purchase Exposition
setName: label: See more items in
content: Culture and the Arts: Entertainment
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: The Larry Zim World's Fair Collection
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1989.0438.1094
label: catalog number
content: 1989.0438.1094
label: accession number
content: 1989.0438
label: catalog number
content: 1904SP17
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Teaspoon
label: Object Name
content: spoon
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: overall: 1 3/8 in x 6 in x 3/4 in; 3.4925 cm x 15.24 cm x 1.905 cm