Devil in the White City : Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America by Erik Larson.
A very well told narrative of the Columbian Exposition a/k/a world’s fair of 1893 in Chicago. America’s greatest architects collaborated to create a stunning venue which, for some reason, has been largely forgotten, but had a tremendous affect of subsequent American life.
The world’s fair immediately prior was in Paris and featured the debut of the Eiffel Tower. This fair had to out Eiffel Eiffel. To that end, the organizers eventually agreed to have Ferris build his wheel, an enormous moving structure that could hold 2000 people.
The story of how these men (there were all men, but one token woman) came together and built this thing is fascinating reading, particularly realizing how little things have changed with regards to political dynamics. The funders couldn’t decide on a location until it was almost too late. In fact, it was too late, and the fairgrounds weren’t entirely finished until the fair was half over. This was a known fact, and kept attendance low since no one wanted to go to a half finished fair and that, in turn, sparked a financial crisis. At the same time, the US was falling into a financial crisis of its own which further exacerbated the problem. In spite of that, however, 25% of the US population traveled to Chicago to see the fair.
In spite of it all, though, the fair did come off, and was a spectacular success. The closing ceremony was marred by the murder of the mayor which cast a pall on the whole thing.
At the same time, it’s the story of H.H. Holmes, one of the earliest known mass murderers in American history. I’ve read about Holmes before. This adds some interesting details about his time in Chicago and the “castle” he built just down the street from the fair entrance. But so much of Holmes story takes place outside of Chicago, that it’s not entirely clear to me why the story is here (other than the obvious: to boost sales). The Holmes story could easily be eliminated and not harm the book at all. That said, it doesn’t harm the book by being here either, so it’s all good.
It’s hard to criticize a book that’s so well done, but if I could say anything, I think I might have explore, more generally, crime at the fair, rather than fixating on Holmes. Certainly he was part of the fair, and the trial was a sensation, but his apprehension was not in Chicago (Boston), his trial was not in Chicago (Philadelphia), and the most sensational of his murders was not in Chicago (Indianapolis and Detroit).
Still it’s a fascinating read.
Some things that came out of the 1893 world’s fair:
- Shredded Wheat
- Ferris Wheel
- Electric Light (large scale proof of concept, helping Tesla to win that argument)
- Pabst won their blue ribbon
- The first fair “midway”
- Aunt Jemima syrup
- Juicy Fruit gum
- Hamburgers
