* The Fair’s ice plant produced 300 tons of ice a day.
* A total of 100 sculptors sculpted more than 1,000 figures for the Fair at a cost of $500,000.
* The first successful trial run of a dirigible airship was at the Fair.
* Some 20 million plants were used to landscape the Fairgrounds.
* The Fairgrounds covered an area 13 times the size of Wla Disney World's `Magic Kingdom.'
* St. Louis added 450 new streetcars to the transportation system to take people to the Fair.
* It took 12,000 railroad cars to deliver the Fair’s exhibits.
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Two masked bandits held up the World's Fair miniature train just outside the entrance to the Boer
Two masked bandits held up the World's Fair miniature train just outside the entrance to the Boer War at 8:30 p.m. on Nov. 12, 1904
* 14,265 prunes made up the 10 foot tall prune bear in the Palace of Horticulture.
* The Inside Inn was so large, that some of its rooms were almost a mile away from its front desk.
* The average attendance at the Fair was 85,197.
* A California grower displayed a 2.5 pound 18" wide orange.
* During the Fair, it was the first time that fairgoers ate hot dogs and ice cream as they walked along the midway, thus coining these two foods as the world’s first “fast foods”.
* There was a low-temperature exhibit in the Palace of Liberal Arts, which obtained a temperature of minus 259 degrees Fahrenheit.
* Mary Franke guessed the opening day attendance, (187,793), and the contest awarded her a gold watch.
* The sewer system and some of the roads installed on the fairgrounds are still used today.
* This was the second World's fair to showcase an automobile (Buffalo being the first).
* 90,000,000 feet of pine was used in constructing the framework for buildings.
* The Liberty Bell was displayed in the Pennsylvania Building. It was the only time the Liberty Bell was ever loaned out.
* 36,000 people could be seated and dine at once at the Fair.
* 40 percent of fair-goers were local residents.
* Forest Park was a 40 minute carriage ride from downtown St. Louis.
* The Fair threatened with arrest anyone who was smoking on October 7- Anti-cigarette Day,
* The Fair prohibited the use of tripod cameras and any camera larger than 4 by 5 inches.
* The World’s Fair had its own flag. It featured in a blue field with a fleur-de-lis surrounded by stars on the left and broad stripes of red, white and yellow on the right.
* Upon hearing that hords of Fairgoers would soon invade their city, some of the “high brows” of St. Louis society left town altogether for destinations like Bar Harbor. In turn, they rented out their homes to visiting dignitaries.
* The principle of sending electrical signals along wire was brand new at the Fair, and its discovery
amazed people. Some thought it was witchcraft or black magic* Over 1,600 bottles of Champagne were consumed at a private affair given by the German Government.
* An 800-year-old tree from North Carolina was displayed.
* The average exhibit palace required 18 rail cars of lumber, 500 rail cars of plaster and sand, 18 rail cars of roofing, four rail cars of nails and 700 men working for seven months.
* “An apple a day keeps the doctor away”, proclaimed J.T. Stinson in an address to the 1904 St. Louis Exposition. This speech initiated the popular phrase.* The Exposition refused to refer visitors to hotels and private homes that increased their rates during the Fair.
* British troops performed a ceremony called “trooping the colors.” It was the first time British troops drilled on American soil since the Revolutionary War.* The Fair got rid of nuisance sparrows by having Negritos (from the Philippine Exhibit) shoot them with bows and arrows. * On the fairgrounds was seven churches, all of which were replicas of famous places of worship.
* The automatic turnstile was introduced for the first time.
George Coleman Poage was the first African American to run in an Olympic Games.
* Over 1,679,000 shrubs and vines were planted on the fairgrounds.
* There were 142 miles of exhibits in the eight main palaces for visitors to explore.
* A statisticum, a device from Sweden which mechanized statistics and was possibly a very early form of a
* The St. Louis World’s Fair was the first world’s fair to have a Lost Children’s Bureau.dsx
* The federal government issued 200,000 gold dollars called “World’s Fair Dollars” during the Fair, and U. S. postage stamps commemorating the Fair were also issued.
The Campbell Soup baby-faced kids premiered at the Fair.
* The curious were charged a 25-cent admission fee to watch the demolition of the Fair.
