Midway (“Midway Plaisance”)
The World’s Fair was planned as a high-style cultural experience, but Fair officials were savvy enough to understand the popularity of more ‘pedestrian’ entertainment. They learned this from the success of the Paris World’s Fair in 1889. To this end, they included a mile-long “pleasure drive” (aka Plaisance) but placed it away from the more highbrow cultural exhibitions. This was a new idea at a Worlds Fair, which typically mixed amusements in with the displays and educational centers. It had the Ferris Wheel, food stands, games, and entertainment similar to today’s Midway areas. To give it the air of culture, it included a shockingly racist (by today’s standards) educational component, featuring diverse cultures in their own pavilions and exhibits, but placing them from “most evolved” to “least evolved” along the Midway. The Midway Plaisance is considered the basis of today’s Midways despite its problematic exhibits.