Object Details
- Description
- Souvenir handkerchief commemorating the 1900 Paris World's Fair. The textile features an aerial view of the exposition grounds.
- France ushered in the 20th century with their largest World’s Fair to date, 1900’s Exposition Universelle. Held between April and November, Paris’s sixth international exposition featured tens of thousands of exhibitors and attracted over 50 million visitors. Surrounded by a moving electric walkway and centered by a yellow-painted Eiffel Tower, guests encountered thematic buildings, national and colonial pavilions, an aquarium, an observatory, and amusements such as the “Grande Roue de Paris” Ferris Wheel and large-scale historical reenactments. Highlighting technological innovations like the electric car, celebrating the arts, (including the modern Art Nouveau style) and asserting France’s role as a colonial power using racist and dehumanizing displays of living peoples, the Fair also served as the site of the 1900 Olympic Games. Major architectural features built for the Exposition remain today, including the Grand Palais, the Gar d’Orsay, and the first section of the Paris Metro.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
- Date made
- 1900
- associated dates
- 1900 04 15 / 1900 04 15, 1900 11 12 / 1900 11 12
- Credit Line
- The Larry Zim World's Fair Collection
- Physical Description
- silk (overall material)
- red (overall color)
- beige (overall color)
- green (overall color)
- blue (overall color)
- Measurements
- average spatial: 16 1/2 in x 16 3/4 in; 41.91 cm x 42.545 cm
- Object Name
- Handkerchief
- Other Terms
- Handkerchief; Commemorative
