The Original Ferris Wheel At the Columbia Expositi Postcard

Out of the many firsts unvieled at Chicago’s 1893 Columbia Exposition the biggest of them all saved the fair from financial ruin. That was George Washington Gale Ferris Jr.”s massive wheel that bore his name. The Ferris Wheel stood 264 feet high and could hold more than TWO THOUSAND people at one time. The price was fifty cents a ride which was twice what it cost to enter the fair itself. It turned out to be extremely popular saving the fairs financial bacon. Then going on to have a ten year run as an attraction on Chicago’s north side before ending up in St. Louis for the 1904 world’s fair. This is part of our ChiTownViews series of postcards featuring people, places and events from Chicago’s history. On our ChiTownView YouTube station we have a video slideshow of the fair as well as links to maps of the exposition. http://youtu.be/tJROOVf85Fc