In 1893, the World's Fair drew millions of visitors to the South Side of Chicago. Now, the Field Museum offers a rare look back at that historic Columbian Exposition.
In a behind the scenes vault at the Field Museum, that fair from 120 years ago is coming back to life. On October 25, the Field Museum will open a new exhibit featuring artifacts from long ago.
"Some of the objects that were displayed at the World's Fair actually became right after the fair closed became the first objects in the Field Columbian Museum collection," said Paola Buccioli, the field museum exhibit's manager.
Approximately 50,000 items were left behind after the fair became the beginning of today's Field Museum. Marshall Field donated $1 million to fund his dream. The new show will feature about 150 different pieces, most of which, have not been on display since 1893.
"The majority of them have never been seen on the museum premises. They were seen last at the fair," said Bucciol.
The Field Museum is also producing videos featuring live actors and action that will be inserted into historic old photographs by computer.
"It's a chance for us to take these old historic photos that we have and bring the fair to life," said Emily Ward, the exhibitions media producer.
"About 25 million people attended the world's fair during the six months it was open. On Oct. 9, 1893, 700,000 attended the fair in just one day. That's at least double the amount of people who visit Lollapalooza," said Bucciol.
The exhibit runs through September 2014.
