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Join this channel to get access to perks: Want to learn more about Periscope Film and get access to exclusive swag? Join us on Patreon. Visit Visit our website A Century of Progress was a non-profit corporation organized in January 1928 to plan and host the Chicago World’s Fair in 1933-1934 in Chicago, Illinois to celebrate the city’s centennial. The theme of the fair was ‘technological innovation’ with the motto “Science Finds, Industry Applies, Man Adapts”. This rarely-seen long-length silent film by Burton Holmes shows the World’s Fair with its many exhibits, performances, buildings, and parks, all to portray the progress of the century. The film’s footage represents an assemblage of Burton Holmes’ separate monographs about the Chicago World’s Fair, which were released in 1933. “The Century of Progress Exposition” title banner (00:08). Birds-eye views of the city of Chicago (00:15). The Avenue of Flags (00:33). The Illinois Host Building (00:48). The Italian Pavilion (00:52). The Hall of Science, a science museum (00:56). The General Exhibits Building (02:10). The Hall of Religion (02:47) Various performances of the world fair (03:08). The Horticultural Exhibit, a flower and garden exhibit (03:33). The Enchanted Island, an amusement park with performers, rides, and zoo-animals (04:45). The Electrical Group building (07:38) and views of exhibited historical models (08:27), a diorama of municipal electric sources (08:38), Penstocks and Pelton wheel generator (08:48), a steam turbogenerator (09:25), and a robot able to communicate with humans (09:38). The Social Science building (10:00). The Sky Ride, a cable-car ride across cloud hung cables (10:27). The Federal Building and the Court of States (10:59). The Foods and Agricultural Building (11:23). “Aunt Jemima’s” pancake stand (11:36). The “Morton Salt Company” functional model exhibit (11:57). The “Jack Frost Sugars” stand (12:13). A miniature bakery (12:26). The “Kraft Mayonnaise Kitchen” stand (13:00). Animated food advertisements (13:19). “The evolution of our kitchen” exhibit presented by Heinz Co. (13:59) beginning with the Acadian Kitchen (14:02), followed by the Colonial Kitchen (14:31), and The 1869 Kitchen (15:08). The Midway carnival with rides, animal-shows, and rollercoasters (16:34). The superb Fountain (17:22). The Lagoons (17:40). The Firestone exhibit building (17:55). “Unusual homes of today and tomorrow” exhibit (18:22). The Travel and Transport Building with its cable suspended dome (18:51). The Dairy Building and its mechanical cow (19:18). Views of the Chicago World’s Fair from above (19:43). The tube-shaped Foods and Agricultural Building from above (19:56). Additional footage of the World’s Fair from above (20:13). The shadow of a flying blimp (20:35). The Travel and Transport Building and the Motor Car Exhibits (20:37). The Villages exhibit from above (21:02). One Fair-entrance and Byrd’s South Pole Ship seen from above (21:14). Birds-eye views of The General Exhibits Building (21:29), The Hall of Science (21:39) and The Electrical Group building on the Northerly Island (22:03). Villages and performances in The Old World exhibit (22:22). The Black Forest Village in the Old World exhibit with small shops, open-air dancing, and ice-skating performances (27:37). The Belgium-village (30:31). The story of the progress from wagon to wings in the Ford Building exhibit (33:38). The Chrysler Motors building (33:53). The General Motors building (33:57). A performance about the early settlers of 1700-1800 (34:17). A performance about the Inland navigation in 1830-1840 (36:26), the gold rush of 1849 (36:43), the Union Pacific Railroad spanning the continent in 1869 (37:40), the horseless carriage in 1905-1925 (38:43), and the ‘Wings of A Century” in 1934 (39:05). Scenes from the many lights of Chicago World’s Fair during nighttime (39:27). Fireworks (44:11). “Finis” written on screen (44:53). A Century of Progress International Exposition, aka the Chicago World's Fair, was a world's fair held in the city of Chicago, Illinois, United States, from 1933 to 1934. The fair, registered under the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), celebrated the city's centennial. The theme of the fair was technological innovation, and its motto was “Science Finds, Industry Applies, Man Adapts“, trumpeting the message that science and American life were wedded. Its architectural symbol was the Sky Ride, a transporter bridge perpendicular to the shore on which one could ride from one side of the fair to the other. This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit
