California Midwinter International Exposition of 1894
The California Midwinter International Exposition of 1894, commonly referred to as the "Midwinter Exposition" or the "Midwinter Fair", was a World's Fair that officially operated from January 27 to July 5 in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park.
In 1892, U.S. President Benjamin Harrison appointed Michael H. de Young as a national commissioner to the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition held in Chicago. During the exposition in Chicago, de Young recognized an opportunity to stimulate California's economy in its time of depression. In the summer of 1893, de Young announced his plans for the California Midwinter International Exposition to be held in Golden Gate Park. One of the draws, according to de Young, was California's weather, which would allow for a fair in the middle of winter. Golden Gate Park Superintendent John McLaren fought against holding the exposition in the park claiming,"the damage to the natural setting would take decades to reverse."
In August 1893, the U.S. Congress approved for the fair to be held in Golden Gate Park. Prior to the Midwinter Fair's opening day, in 1893, Isaiah West Taber won the concession to be the official photographer of the fair. Taber documented the fair from when the grading of the land began, and continued photographing the fair throughout its entirety. He sold his photos in a striking, multi-story pavilion during the exposition, on the fair grounds. At the end of the fair, he compiled about 130 of his original photographs into a souvenir book entitled Souvenir of the California Midwinter International Exposition. Much of what is known about the fair, especially visually, comes from Taber's photographs.
The fair encompassed 200 acres centered on the park's current Music Concourse. 120 structures were constructed for the exposition, and more than 2 million people visited. The fair was to feature four major buildings. These buildings included the Fine Arts Building, the Agriculture and Horticulture Building, the Mechanical Arts Building, and the Manufacturers and Liberal Arts building. The Fine Arts building has become the M.H. de Young Memorial Museum.
Other major attractions include the park's famed Japanese Tea Garden, Bonet's Tower, the amusement attractions, and the many cultural exhibits. The Overland Monthly issue April 1894 covered the Architectural Effects, Education, the Wild and Woolly, Congresses, Breadwinners, Lighting, the Benefits, Agriculture and Horticulture, Art Displays, Minerals, and Russia at the Fair.
Background
In 1893, M. H. de Young, a San Francisco local who attended the Chicago World Fair, realized that California could reap major benefits from hosting its own world fair. De Young envisioned a world fair in the middle of winter, where people from the frigid East coast and all over the world could enjoy the nice crisp weather of California, along with its bountiful opportunities. Furthermore, de Young sought to boost California's economy, which was faltering and weakening. During this time period, California and the rest of the country was struggling during one of the 19th century's worst depressions. De Young and other leaders believed that a world fair in San Francisco would create jobs and stimulate the local economy. However, their grander vision was to promote California as a land of endless opportunities, with good weather and arable lands.Support for de Young's plan came immediately. De Young held a series of meetings in Chicago, and declared that he had raised $41,500 in just two weeks since announcing his intentions. In a short amount of time, 4,400 exhibitors committed to move from Chicago to San Francisco in support of the fair. Mayor Levi Richard Ellert of San Francisco and Governor Henry Markham of California both expressed support for the plan. The public also showed their support by donating various amounts. Mayor Ellert established a Finance Committee, which was charged with raising and maintaining the necessary funds. This committee's main strategy was to collect donations from the public. As a result, the fair was financed entirely by donations, and it did not receive any federal, state, or local bonds, loans, grants, or subsidies. In the end, the fair raised $344, 319.59. The fair then began and ended without any debt.
Grand Court buildings
Administration Building
The Administration Building was built at the western end of the Grand Court, where the current Spreckels Temple of Music is today. The main purpose of the building was for offices of the fairs department chiefs and other general administrators of the fair. The architecture of the Administration Building was decided by Arthur Page Brown. His design featured Arabic, Byzantine, Gothic and Islamic styles. It featured a 135-foot-tall dome with figures in relief. The building was three stories and was illuminated almost entirely by natural light. During the night, the building could be seen from miles away because it was lit up entirely by incandescent lamps.Agriculture and Horticulture Building
The Agriculture and Horticulture Building was located just west of the Fine Arts building, and is part of where the DeYoung Museum stands today. It was designed by Samuel Newsom. It cost $58,000, and was designed in a California Mission style with Romanesque influence. It featured three domes to let in light for the plants. Inside, there were plants and flowers, California foliage, and statues. Fruit from the south, grain and livestock from the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys, and strawberries and artichokes from the Salinas Valley, as well as California's winter crops were featured.Bonet Tower
The Bonet Tower was a large steel tower set in the center of the Grand Court of Honor that harnessed the recent discovery of electrical lighting, designed by French architect Leopold Bonet. Standing at 266-feet, the Bonet Tower was approximately a third the size of the Eiffel Tower, after which it was modeled. The tower was adorned with 3,200 multicolored lights. The top level of the tower housed a spotlight which was used to illuminate popular locations in the park, as well as the nearby Lone Mountain. The tower proved to be the largest source of income for the fair, as elevator rides to the top cost $0.25, and rides to the first level cost $0.10. Bonet's Tower remained standing for 2 years until John McLaren called for it to be destroyed with high-powered explosives.Fine Arts Building
The Fine Arts Building, now the de Young Museum, was built in Golden Gate Park to hold the pieces of art that were commissioned for the Midwinter Exposition. The building was designed in a "pseudo–Egyptian Revival style and decoratively adorned with images of Hathor, the Egyptian cow goddess." The building itself was a brick structure built 50 feet high with a skylit roof supported by iron trusses. After the Midwinter Exposition ended, the Fine Arts Building was made into a free and public museum, having most of the art from the Expo donated by the artists. The Fine Arts Building lasted for 11 years before an earthquake in 1906 ruined the integrity of the original building, which led to a year and a half closure for repairs. In 1929, four years after de Young's death, the original Fine Arts building was finally torn down.The Fine Arts Building featured the artwork of sixty-eight artists, twenty-eight of whom were female. Many of these female artists received their education at the California School of Design, which eventually became today's San Francisco Art Institute. At the time, the California School of Design accepted women as students, and hired females as instructors. Many of the women showcased at the Midwinter Fair came to San Francisco after showing in exhibits at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago. For example, Evelyn McCormick and Clara McChesney had work featured in both expositions. Some of the other female artists featured in the Fine Arts Building included Alice Brown Chittenden, Helen Hyde, Matilda Lotz, Dora Norton Williams, Eva Almond Withrow, and several more. The artwork produced by these women consisted of various oil paintings, many focusing on California. "At a time when camera film could make only black and white images, their colorful paintings of famous early California subjects are visual memories of important local history."