Suffering For A Cause: The New York Metropolitan Fair of 1864
Something foreign to modern American culture is this idea of an exposition, or cultural fair. Sure, modern Americans can enjoy the small county fairs that undoubtedly feature tractor pulls and food that kills you, but the idea of an exposition, or a large-scale fair, covering subjects like technology, food, science, geography and culture, all seem foreign to us in 2022. Who needs that anyway? We have the internet, right?
The World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893 was one of the most successful World’s Fair events in history. Chicago, the site of the expo, rose to prominence as an American metropolis thanks to the massive turnout of the fair.
Large-scale expositions were once a cultural norm, not only in America, but all throughout the world. Starting in 1851, with England’s Great Exposition, the World’s Fair, or World’s Expo, became a normal part of human life for the next 150-years. World’s Fairs are still happening, but they are hardly the anticipated thing they used to be, especially in the United States. To understand what a World’s Exposition was like, think of Disney World’s EPCOT, a park that Walt Disney anticipated to be like a permanent world’s fair. By thinking of that you get an idea of what these fairs would feature. They would feature exhibits showcasing different cultures around the world, exhibitions of new groundbreaking technology, new architecture and the like.
These events were extremely popular in the United States. During the 19th century, America started to grow as a culture, rather than staying a social phenomenon. Americans started to enjoy new forms of entertainment like the circus, the county fair, professional sports and eventually things like movies. Large expositions were not only popular means of entertainment, but a substantial way to make money, lots of money.
Between 1861-1865, as Civil War raged in America, several grassroots special interest groups rose up in society. As America was on the cusp of the Progressive Era, this was understandable. These groups, often called relief organizations, took the US government to task over several aspects of the Civil War. One of the more popular groups, to have a profound impact, was the United States Sanitary Commission. This large group, whose membership largely consisted of women, ran through the duration of the war and funding became one of their largest issues. They had to come up with creative ways to pay the bills and the exposition, or fair, became a valuable tool.
In July of 1861, the first large-scale battle of the Civil War kicked off, now known as the First Battle of Bull Run, or First Manassas. Prior to the Civil War the US Army medical department was very small, and consisted of roughly 1000 Army surgeons. The Civil War brought an influx of volunteer units, each outfitted with their own medical outfit and none of these new surgeons had been approved by the US Army. This represented just one issue for the medical treatment of soldiers during the war. The department was headed by Thomas Lawson, a man who first saw action in the War of 1812. Needless to say, Lawson stuck to the old-school rules and barely tried to innovate his medical department. This led to multiple issues.
That first battle in Manassas, as the Union lines broke and the soldiers ran, the ambulance corps did little to help wounded soldiers. Most ambulances were just used as a faster way to retreat back into Washington D.C., leaving wounded men in the field for days. Hospitals were poorly organized. Some hospitals were overwhelmed with patients, while some saw no patients at all. Wounded men would pile up outside of unsanitary field hospitals, often left to bake in the sun for hours before receiving treatment.
Wounded pile up outside of Savage Station, Virginia on June 29, 1862. Early field hospitals shared this theme of congested lines of triaged patients. The United States Sanitary Commission played a central role in changing the field hospital into a modern operation. With Surgeon General Wiliam Hammond at the head of the US Army medical branch, he created a multiple hospital system. Surgeries later took place far behind the lines, at Federal Army hospitals, unless surgery was needed urgently.
Combat wasn’t the only killer of men. Disease was far more deadly as it ravaged the ranks of newly arrived recruits. Men from isolated communities were now in camp with complete strangers. Disease passed from man to man with little done to quarantine sick soldiers. Soldiers often set up latrines nearby the water sources they drank out of. Food was lacking in nutrition. Each man was supposed to get a ration of meat and bread every day, but of utmost importance was the ration of vegetables. These vegetables were often desiccated, and devoid of most nutrients. Malnutrition became a threat, alongside disease, poor hygiene and enemy fire.
Disease was the greatest killer of all during the Civil War. Men never exposed to certain regions of America were now opened up to diseases not endemic to their regions.
Concerned mothers, wives, widows, daughters and neighbors caught wind of these horrific conditions. Stories of wounded soldiers, with festering, seeping wounds, stuck out in the July heat for days, haunted them. Some visited the field hospitals, and the Army hospitals in Washington that were packed with wounded and sick soldiers. The hospitals were poorly ventilated and understaffed. This group of concerned citizens came together to form a group known as the United States Sanitary Commission.
The idea was borrowed from the British, who employed a similar commission during the Crimean War. The US commission found friends in politics, causing enough of an uproar that the Surgeon General as replaces. While Lawson died in 1861, his replacement Clement Finley was hardly the right choice. Finley, unable to modernize, was replaced by William Hammond in April of 1862. Hammond, working with the Commission, started to reform the health standards of the United States Army.
The United States Sanitary Commission needed funding and in 1863, a fair held in Chicago, netted the group $60,000 of funding, the equivalent of $2,089,000 today. This large sum of money, for good reason, was inspiration that a fair would work as a fundraiser elsewhere. The fair was followed by several more, but much smaller, events. Hoping to start 1864 off with a bang, the commission planned for the biggest possible fair they could, in New York City.
You may be asking: what are these fairs like? They weren’t fairs with pie-eating contests and death-trap carnival rides. These events almost always featured a large bizarre in which vendors from all over the region could sell their wares, while giving a cut to the commission. Various exhibits were set up showcasing anthropological displays, often exhibiting lifestyles from around the world, or indigenous people. Some exhibitions, like the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, the expo that put Chicago on the map, consisted of ornate architecture, showing innovative styles. They would feature attractions, sometimes in the forms of rides, shows, new means of transportation and technology.
A layout of the main floor of the Metropolitan Fair, digitized by Harvard University.
The Sanitary Commission were excited by their financial haul from smaller fairs. The group met in November of 1863, to plan their largest event to date. After selecting a board of 25 women to organize the upcoming fair, a smaller group was sent to decide on a location and they picked New York City. The design was for a massive exposition, one that required a large swath of land. The group scouted locations and after proposing the use of military property, the United States Army approved the use of their 22nd Regiment Arsenal on Broadway. This was hardly enough coverage so a deal was worked out for several more plots to serve as foundation for fair buildings. Some new, temporary construction had to be built to accommodate this imaginative plot.
Union Square layout. The children’s entertainment, which was an unusual focus for fair planning in 1864, largely took place in the Union Square building.
The group pulled off the planning. While they originally wanted to have the fair in February of 1864, the date was pushed back to April, beginning on April 4th, just days before the war’s 3rd anniversary. The final product is a perfect sample of 1860’s culture. The photos, mostly taken by famed photographer Mathew Brady, highlight a gaudy, but fascinating look into the era.
A picture of the 22nd Regiment Armory in the 1930’s. This building stood as the main building for the fair.
The main building of the fair. The entrance was added onto the building, including a large platform for the opening band ceremony on April 4th. Note the double photo. This is a stereoscopic photograph. Using a special viewer, using the same technology as a View-Master, the photos would appear 3-dimensional.
The Metropolitan Fair, or the Sanitary Fair, featured:
A hall of portraits and paintings
A museum of arms and trophies
A fine art gallery
A department store showroom
Curiosities shop
A Machinery Department
Restaurants
An exhibit showing Washington Irving's summer house.
Lingerie stores
stationery stores
Sewing Machine seller
Countless other departments, stores and exhibits
Rare for the 19th century, the fair was designed mainly with women in mind. Even more strange for that time period, children were a targeted group among exhibits. A new building was built in Union Square, at a cost of $17,000, featuring activities for children, including an indoor ice-skating rink.
The photos above show the portrait and art gallery of the main building. April 1864. All photos were taken by Mathew Brady and were made available by the National Archives of the United States.
John Adams Dix, a popular former senator from New York, was given a new purpose with the Metropolitan Fair rolling to town. Dix, 66 years old in 1864, was a veteran of the US Army, dating back to 1813. Too long in the tooth to serve in any combat role, by 1864 standards 66 was pretty ancient, Dix was given control of the Department of the East. This was a command that oversaw New York, New Jersey and New England, not exactly a hotbed of action. With 8,000 men at his disposal though, he used his detachment to put on a show.
The Washington Irving Cabin exhibit
The opening of the fair went off with a boom. At 3pm, April 4th, Dix marched his men down Broadway. A crowd of 500,000 had gathered to watch the procession. The soldiers marched and a military band played alongside. The crowd followed the line of soldiers to City Hall where speeches were made from the hall’s steps. That evening the fair building opened to the public. The military band that marched alongside Dix’ men, opened the fair with the “Star Spangled Banner.” Dix, the old politician, made a speech that ended with:
One of the most popular exhibits, the Arms and Trophies Exhibit. Here the weapons and taxpayer funded armaments were put on display. Note the double photo. This is a stereoscopic photograph. Using a special viewer, using the same technology as a View-Master, the photos would appear 3-dimensional.
“And you may rest assured that the sources of consolation and comfort which you are opening for others, will be poured out in kindred currents of gratitude to you, to bless you with the highest and purest of all gratifications, that of alleviating the condition of those who are suffering for a cause involving in its issue every element of civilization and of social order.”
The Metropolitan Fair ran from April 4-23. As was typical for fairs and expositions of the era, the whole ordeal was a smashing success. The fair cost the organizers $163,378.37 to build and manage. Overall, the exposition brought in $1,340,050.37 for a profit of $1,176,671.90. In 2022 dollars that equated to $21,667,909.31 in profit alone. The money was for a good cause as the commission, run mainly by caring women, committed most of their funds to continuing reform.
The history of the Metropolitan Fair was chronicled in an official history of the event. Published in 1867, the book shared the receipts, maps and photographs from the event. Oddly enough, with war raging for years before the fair, the second most successful exhibit was the arms and trophies museum, selling $65, 792.00 worth of tickets. Taking first place was the Union Square Department, aimed at the entertainment of children, taking in $95, 722.55.
Studying culture is something that fascinates me to no end. It’s highly entertaining to research the endless topics pertaining to American popular culture. The 1800’s was an era that gave rise to American culture. By 1900, the technology and culture of the era would give Americans professional sports, Hollywood, popular media and fashion.