The fair, covering 60 acres of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, was a sequel to Chicago’s World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893. Promoted by two California businessmen, Michael H. de Young and James Phelan, the Midwinter fair was organized and put up in a mere six months. The Columbian Exposition had whetted the public appetite for such extravagant diversions, and the Midwinter Fair offered another venue for many of the same exhibitors. It also gave California, still a relatively unvisited state, an opportunity to promote itself and stimulate tourism.The Fair’s main pavilions were dedicated to agriculture and horticulture, manufactured goods, mechanics, and liberal and fine arts. In the center was an “electric tower.” Several of the attractions, including a Japanese tea garden and the fine arts museum (eventually transformed into the de Young Museum) remain popular features of Golden Gate Park.
—Martha Davidson
