The 1889 Paris World's Fair

bluepencil

bluepencil

that's why it's trash can, not trash cannot
#1
#1
I require links, resources, pictures, accounts, written works on or about the time period... anything and everything! Please, in the name of a writer's common troubles, help me!

I don't need links to where else might ask for help or books I should buy; no. I need pointers to the threads, the actual data that can be downloaded, or the information in usable form.

This is very important to me. I must have it. The research phase is taking too long, I don't know where to look and it's too freaking frustrating to have the scenes in my mind just stop short of the page simply because of a lack of concrete information. Is it accurate? Will this work? Would a lady really say that? I DON'T KNOW!

Raage.

So I throw away whatever meager pride and beg for help. Here, because you understand most what it feels like to have to write even from incomplete backgrounds; of having to fill in the gaps through the unseen.

Who was there?

What did they do?

When did these things happen?

I need to know. All of it. I don't know what may be useful, so whatever tidbits there are, I'll take. I'd be very grateful for any help. The Internet is not the all-knowing cyberspace yet. Can't jack in, can't roam the electron flows. Wetware's got to serve.

::sigh::

Please.
 
L

Lord of Daemons

Member
#3
#3
This is what I got so far:
The main symbol of the Fair was the Eiffel Tower which had just been completed and served as the entrance arch to the fair
a map of the fair:

Among the exhibits were Buffalo Bill and Annie Oakley wild west show,A "Negro village" (village nÞgre) where 400 native peoples were displayed,Claude Debussy first heard Javanese gamelan music, performed by an ensemble from Java and it's influence on him helped to begin ambient music, the OpÚra Comique premiered on May 14, 1889, a work especially composed for that event: Jules Massenet's Esclarmonde (debuting American soprano Sybil Sanderson, attracting and entertain crowd of visitors for more that 50 evenings while the Exposition lasted.
An equally significant building constructed for the fair was the Galerie des machines, designed by architect Ferdinand Dutert (1845-1906) and engineer Victor Contamin (1840-1893), which was reused at the exposition of 1900 and then destroyed in 1910. At 111 meters, the Galerie (or "Machinery Hall") spanned the longest interior space in the world at the time, using a system of hinged arches (like a series of bridge spans placed not end-to-end but parallel) made of steel or iron. The choice of construction material is controversial; the building was designed to be built with steel but was actually constructed in iron.
Volume 10 of Studies in the History of Civil Engineering: Structural Iron and Steel 1850-1900 (published by Ashgate Publishing Limited and edited by Robert Thorne in 2000), includes an article by John W. Stamper, The Galerie des Machines of the 1889 Paris worldÆs fair. In it, Stamper claims that

The principal material of the buildingÆs structure was to have been steel, but the decision was made at the last minute to use iron instead. There is considerable confusion about this on the part of architectural historians, most of whom assume it was built of steel since that is what is mentioned by contemporary journalists before the opening of the fair. William Watson, an American engineer who wrote a thorough report on the fair after it closed states that the idea of using steel was abandoned ôon the two-fold ground of expense and the necessity of hastening the execution of work. ô The price of iron was about two-thirds that of steel in 1889à.
There is an extensive and elaborate description of the Exposition's two famous buildings in the British journal Engineering (May 3, 1889 issue) with illustrations. A follow-up report appears in the June 14th issue of Engineering with this summation:

... the exhibition will be famous for four distinctive features. In the first place, for its buildings, especially the Eiffel tower and the Machinery Hall; in the second place, for its Colonial Exhibition, which for the first time brings vividly to the appreciation of the Frenchmen that they are masters of lands beyond the sea; thirdly, it will be remembered for its great collection of war material, the most absorbing subject now-a-days, unfortunately, to governments if not to individuals; and fourthly, it will be remembered, and with good cause by many, for the extraordinary manner in which South American countries are represented. (p. 677)

The June 28th issue of Engineering also mentions a remarkable "Great Model of the Earth" created by Theodore Villard and Charles Cotard. There were unseasonal thunderstorms in Paris during that summer of 1889, causing some distress to the canopies and decoration of the exposition, as reported by the Engineering issues at that time.

The Exhibition included a building by the Paris architect Pierre-Henri Picq. This was an elaborate iron and glass structure decorated with ceramic tiles in a Byzantine-Egyptian-Romanesque style. After the Exposition the building was shipped to Fort de France and reassembled there, the work being completed by 1893. Known as the Schoelcher Library, initially it contained the 10,000 books that Victor Schoelcher had donated to the island. Today it houses over 250,000 books and an ethnographic museum, and stands as a tribute to the man it is named after who led the movement to abolish slavery in Martinique.
* Expenses: 41,500,000 Francs
* Receipts: 49,500,000 Francs
* Visitors: 28,000,000
* Exhibitors: over 61,722, of which 55% were French
Is this enough info?
 
bluepencil

bluepencil

that's why it's trash can, not trash cannot
#4
#4
You doods are awesome. ^_^ Much thanks. I regret however, that I can only say MOAR! There can be no such thing as too extensive source material.



Besides, this might be useful for us and others later; if we ever feel like steampunks.

More context! More! MORE! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

::choke::

::gasp::

::wheeze::
 
C

Cornuthaum

Well-Known Member
#5
#5
translation of the german text on the image:

Maschinenhalle <-> Machine Hall

Sch÷ne K³nste <-> "Beautiful" art (v. contextual - especially with art - so I'm not exactly sure if "Beautiful" is the right word... but maybe.)

Freie K³nste <-> "Free" Art (see above)
 
bluepencil

bluepencil

that's why it's trash can, not trash cannot
#6
#6
Any personal accounts or documents regarding it? I'd even settle for a close contemporary of the event.
 
bluepencil

bluepencil

that's why it's trash can, not trash cannot
#8
#8
Huh, that IS odd, but eminently useful. Ahh, juicy history. Also for the first link. I love it.

Life and reality IS Interesting, we just need to look at it properly. The world abounds with fantastic coincidences and strange exploits. Too bad we can't be assured of a happy ending, which might be the only real reason to escape into fiction. ^_~
 
bluepencil

bluepencil

that's why it's trash can, not trash cannot
#9
#9
Any more? Great map, but... I also need street names, and perhaps the location of hotels around the place.
 
S

Shikaze

Well-Known Member
#10
#10
Well, here's the french version of the wikipedia article, with pics that may be of use to you : http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exposition_un...e_Paris_de_1889

Some more pics here : http://lartnouveau.com/belle_epoque/paris_expo_1889.htm

Here's a plan from the 1900's Exposition Universelle, with streeet names, and it didn't change much between the two : http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/comm...an_Pratique.jpg

For hotels, though, good luck. And NO, the Hotel des Invalides is NOT an Hotel in the strictest sense of the term. It's more of a retirement home for military, and nowaday is also used as a museum and military cemetery.

Hope it helps.
 
S

Shikaze

Well-Known Member
#11
#11
Also, thing that happened at the time :

-The Eiffel Tower was built for this event.
-Bufallo Bill did his Wild West Show.
-The "Galerie des Machines" : An entire building dedicated to industrial machines.
-the "Dome Central" : One of the first building, maybe even the first, to use electricity on a large scale. Also had a fountain in front of it with electric lights changing colors to the tunes of a military band nearby.
-Two montgolfiÞres (Hot air ballon :p ) that et the participants see the Exposition from the sky.

Once again, hope this helps.
 
bluepencil

bluepencil

that's why it's trash can, not trash cannot
#13
#13
Whoa, serious help there, guys. Thanks to you all. You're awesome. ^_^

::gets to writing::
 
bluepencil

bluepencil

that's why it's trash can, not trash cannot
#14
#14
Sorry to bother you again, guys... but the definition of American diplomatic efforts at the time, were they called the Foreign Office? I know the British called their department that, but... the US Department of State doesn't quite roll off the tongue. So I'm wondering about the more colloquial references.
 
Prince Charon

Prince Charon

Well-Known Member
#15
#15
bluepencil said:
Sorry to bother you again, guys... but the definition of American diplomatic efforts at the time, were they called the Foreign Office? I know the British called their department that, but... the US Department of State doesn't quite roll off the tongue. So I'm wondering about the more colloquial references.
Click to expand...
Pretty sure it was called the State Department. It was the Department of Foreign Affairs from January 10th, 1780 to September of 1789, when it became the Department of State. Not sure when the colloquialism 'State Department' started, but I think it was in use by 1889.
 
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