Here we have a silk scarf, a souvenir of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition held in Chicago. Closer examination (yes, I know that I take terrible photographs, but if you click on the image it’ll give you a larger version) shows the image of the Machinery Hall in the silk, with the words “Souvenir Woven at the World’s Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 1893” (plus “Machinery Hall” in case you were in doubt) waving in a banner overhead. In the lower corner the name Miss Florence Warters was machine-embroidered in red thread, probably on the spot in the Machinery Hall.
I suspect that the machine operator made an error, and that Miss Florence Waters (not Warters) of Montgomery County was somewhat disappointed in her personalized souvenir. Florence Waters was born in Darnestown in 1873, and married Oliver Baker in 1896; at the time of her death, in 1951, she lived in Rockville, about a block away from the home of the scarf’s donors, the Hancock family. Unfortunately we can only speculate on what Florence thought of her misspelled scarf: was it a funny joke, or did she pack it away and forget about it? Did she get another one, this time spelled correctly? All we know is that she kept it, and over 100 years later it is still here to remind us of her trip to Chicago to see the sights.
Today’s artifact choice was inspired by my visit this past weekend to the Missouri History Museum’s fabulous exhibit on the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition. I love World’s Fairs – not that I’ve ever been to one – and if I had a time machine, well first I would go and rescue the 1890 census but then I would spend some time at as many Fairs as I can find before the time machine inevitably goes wrong and I have to fight off giant dinosaurs or something…. uh, but enough about me. Our collections contain artifacts from a variety of Fairs, ranging from a pair of salt & pepper shakers from the 1962 Seattle Fair to an extremely elaborate embalming pump exhibited at the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. Souvenirs remind us of places we’ve been, and the people we were at the time; the souvenirs of those who came before us, however trivial they may be in terms of materials or value, remind us that the human urge to remember and commemorate (and spend money) is much older than we are.
A Fine Collection 
May 12, 2010 at 9:09 am
Allow me to be a pedantic reader for just a moment. Henry Adams wrote that the 1893 Exposition was a pivotal moment in America’s social development. He said that “Chicago asked in 1893 for the first time the question whether the American people knew where they were driving.” With that came, what he said was the “first ex-pression of American thought as a unity.” He went on:
“For a hundred years, between 1793 and 1893, the American people had hesitated, vacillated, swayed forward and back, between two forces, one simply industrial, the other capitalistic, centralizing, and mechanical. In 1893, the issue came on the single gold standard, and the majority at last declared itself, once and for all, in favor of the capitalistic system with all its necessary machinery. All one’s friends, all one’s best citizens, reformers, churches, colleges, educated classes, had joined the ranks to force submission to capitalism; a submission long foreseen mere law of mass.”
So your scarf represents progress–from the old to the new, and its on-the-spot machine production or customization represents the arrival of the modern, industrial era, whether or not poor Miss Florence’s last name was spelled correctly.
May 12, 2010 at 9:16 am
You’re right, of course – and I welcome pedantic readers! The various World’s Fairs are much more than the sum of the tchotchkes and postcards purchased there. In this instance (or at least this morning) I was more interested in the meaning of souvenirs than in the meaning of the Fair itself, so today’s post may have seemed to reduce the visitor’s experience of the fair to one transaction. This blog is often specific to the individual, but I do try to place individuals in their broader context in our exhibits.
October 19, 2010 at 6:05 pm
I have asimilar scarf from the 1893 worlds fair but without the name sewn in. Where can I find the worth of this item thanks
October 20, 2010 at 2:32 pm
One way to get a sense of the collectible values of items like this is to check ebay, or other online auction sites. Be sure to look at the completed sales as well as the asking prices. Hope that helps you!