Skip to main content

Link to Smithsonian homepage

Smithsonian Music

Main menu

  • Calendar
  • Listen
  • Learn
    • Ask Smithsonian
    • Collections Spotlights
    • Music Stories
  • Watch
  • Blog

1900 Exposition Universelle Souvenir Pocket Watch

Object Details

Description
Souvenir pocket watch commemorating the 1900 Paris World's Fair.
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
maker
Ingersoll Watch Company
Date made
1900
Credit Line
The Larry Zim World's Fair Collection
Physical Description
metal (overall material)
glass (overall material)
paper (face material)
ink (face material)
Measurements
overall: 2 3/4 in x 2 in; 6.985 cm x 5.08 cm
Object Name
Pocket Watch
Souvenir pocket watch from the Exposition Universelle in Paris, 1900
There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page .
International media Interoperability Framework
IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and media viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. Visit the IIIF page to learn more.
View manifest View in Mirador Viewer

Link to Smithsonian homepage

  • About
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy
  • YouTube
  • Twitter
Back to Top