Philadelphia Exposition of 1876
In the nation’s centennial year of 1876 a family vacation most likely included a visit to Philadelphia, where the United States officially celebrated its birthday with a six-month exposition dedicated to its past, present and future. The site included more than 200 buildings erected for the purpose, and eventually more than 10 million visitors toured its grounds.
Agricultural, horticulture, and machinery all had huge halls built to demonstrate American superiority and ingenuity in those fields. The Machinery Hall housed among its exhibits a giant Corliss Steam Engine which provided power to the rest of the machinery in the building as well as other exhibits around the site.
The Exposition presented new American products to its visitors, some of them for the first time. Heinz Ketchup and the Remington Typewriter made their debuts at the Exposition, as did Alexander Graham Bell’s new telephone, for which most people thought there was little use beyond entertainment. Hires Root Beer refreshed its consumers for the first time there, washing down another innovation, a new snack called popcorn.
A gift from France, or at least its right arm and torch, was displayed among the exhibits, since there was not yet a permanent home for the Statue of Liberty. Visitors were allowed to climb inside the arm and view the rest of the grounds from the windows in the torch.
The influx of tourists would have swamped Philadelphia’s Hotels, so the planners built temporary lodging near the site which eased the congestion. The Pennsylvania Railroad, and the Philadelphia and Erie added special trains throughout the Exposition and the Philadelphia Streetcar System designated special cars for its visitors. It was not the first great exposition held in the United States but it was to its time the best run, and it provided a vacation destination for the summer of 1876 that was unrivaled for decades.