You can talk all you want about naval power and the Spanish-American War and imperialism,

but the moment when the United States of America truly took its place on the world stage

was the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair.

Other nations have navies and colonies, but what country do you think of when you think of

hamburgers and hot dogs, of marching bands and ragtime, of Jack Daniels and ice tea?

The 1904 World's Fair was big and brash, cutting edge and crass, awe-inspiring and over-the-top, international, multicultural, sports crazy, and more than a little bit racist.

It was America's coming-out party. Welcome to the history of the 20th century.

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. Episode 26, America's Coming Out Party

The story of the 1904 Exposition begins with the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago.

The Colombian Exposition was organized to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's discovery of the New World in 1492.

And yeah, they were a year late, but you know it takes time to get these things organized. The Colombian exposition was regarded as a huge success.

It was the first exposition of its kind to host pavilions representing each of the many different nations of the world, as would afterward

become the norm at these kind of events.

And it also did a lot to raise America's stature in the world.

Yeah, everyone thought that the Colombian exposition was a great success, except for the city

fathers of that other great American city of the Midwest, St. Louis,

who were left wondering how anyone ever thought that the hog butcher for the world

would be the place to host an international exposition when St. Louis is right there just down

the rail line.

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