Name: Centennial Exhibition of American Independence
Venue: Philadelphia, USA
Duration:1876 May 10 to1876110/0.
Participating countries: 35
Visitors:100000
Theme: transportation and communication
History of the Philadelphia World Expo 1876
1876, The Story of Philadelphia1873 On July 3, President Grant solemnly announced the opening date of the World Expo, and at the same time sent invitations to the embassies of various countries. 1874, various exhibition halls began to be built. Until April 1876, most of the pavilions were ready. Despite the rain, 200,000 tourists attended the opening ceremony. Present at the opening ceremony were all members of the US Congress, officials from 37 participating countries and their entourage, King Pedro II of Brazil, and German composer Richard Wagner who was specially invited for an appearance fee of $5,000. In the afternoon, US President Grant and Brazilian King Pedro II pulled the switch and started the 600-ton Coriolis steam engine as the main power source, which was the most powerful at that time. As a result, thousands of machines and pumps roared in unison, the exhibition hall trembled slightly in the rumble, and people cheered and threw their hats into the air. 1876, the "American Show" was staged. Generally speaking, 1876 Philadelphia World Expo did not deliberately plan the international balance of exhibits. The whole Expo Park is an American product and exhibition hall, and it is a veritable "American show". First of all, it can be proved from the proportion of exhibits in the United States and participating countries that American exhibits occupy most of the exhibition area. Among the five theme pavilions, the share of American exhibits is as follows: the main pavilion: American exhibits account for half; Mechanical Palace: American exhibits account for 3/4; Memorial Palace: There are few works by top European artists; Agricultural Palace: American exhibits account for 2/3; Garden Palace: basically all American exhibits; Regarding the exhibits of participating countries, the attitude of the United States is: after participating in the exhibition, if you want to sell exhibits in the United States, you must abide by high import tariffs; Otherwise, it can only be shipped back to China at cost. Looking at the specifications of pavilions in the United States and participating countries, it is not difficult to draw a conclusion that the United States government pavilion is the largest national pavilion for exhibitions. The National Pavilion includes large-scale exhibitions of the US Postal Service, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Patent Office, the National Museum, the Ministry of National Defense and the National Laboratory. Among them, the US Patent Office alone exhibited 60,000 pictures of inventions and more than 5,000 models of inventions, attracting a large number of tourists. It is worth mentioning that not all participating countries have independent national pavilions, and only 15 of the 35 participating countries have their own pavilions. For example, China is one of the participating countries, but there is no independent China Pavilion building, only the "Great Qing Dynasty" exhibition area of the main exhibition hall of the host country; There are independent Japanese pavilions in Japan, and there are also Japanese exhibition areas in theme pavilions. The main function of these 15 national pavilions is not to display exhibits. At that time, the National Pavilion was not in the tourists' visit plan at all, because all kinds of theme pavilions displayed the representative exhibits of participating countries. Then, what are the pavilions of the participating countries of the 1876 World Expo used for? According to the literature, the 15 national pavilion is mainly used as the residence of domestic exhibitors. Some national pavilions are responsible for contacting domestic tourists from afar. Some national pavilions are places where foreign diplomats hold receptions, while others are not open to the public at all. This is completely different from the exhibition halls of participating countries in the modern World Expo. In addition, all states in the United States have invested in the establishment of state pavilions, which, as local pavilions, are similar in specifications and functions to those of most participating countries. The national pavilion is mainly used as an exhibition office or reception room in each state. For example, some state administrators receive citizens in their own state pavilions, and some state pavilions provide postal services for their own tourists. In terms of quantity, the United States has built 24 national pavilions, while the total number of national pavilions in participating countries is only 15.
As early as 65438+1960s, the United States had plans to hold activities to celebrate the 0/00th anniversary of American independence/KLOC. H.E. John Bigelow, former American diplomat in France, General Charles B. Norton, former American exhibitor at the 1867 Paris World Expo, and J·l· Campbell, a university professor, wrote to the then mayor of Philadelphia, suggesting that the World Expo be held in Philadelphia as a centenary celebration. There was a long silence, until March 3rd, 187 1, Congress finally passed the bill of hosting 1876 Philadelphia World Expo, and established the centennial exhibition committee of American independence to take charge of the preparations. At the same time, the motion clearly stipulates that the United States government will not be responsible for any expenses (or for the same reason) for participating in such exhibitions.
This is the earliest and clearest attitude we have ever seen from the US government on the issue of Expo funding.
In fact, the decision of the US Congress 187 1 fundamentally determines the hosting mode of the US World Expo. Compared with the previous European World Expo government funding, it takes more courage and wisdom to prepare for the 1876 Philadelphia World Expo. However, after all, the preparations for the World Expo cannot be without dollars. So, where did the funds for the Philadelphia World Expo come from? On June 1872, Congress decided to set up the Centennial Finance Committee and authorized it to sell stocks and medals.
From 1872, 165438+2 1 year 10, the finance department began to issue bonds with a total value of no more than100000 USD, and each issue was sold for three months, and finally the fund was 2.5 million USD. On June1874-June 16, the finance department sold American centennial medals and small gifts. , the face value ranged from 1 to 1 1, and finally got $500,000. It is worth mentioning that, although the federal government is only willing to lend money, Pennsylvania and Philadelphia allocated US$ 65,438+0,000 and US$ 65,438+0,500,000 respectively for the Expo, and Philadelphia also invested US$ 2.5 million to build a bridge over the Shu Jokiel River as a preparation for the Expo site.