Chapter 16

Author: Nicholas Westbrook

Title: Chocolate at World's Fairs, 1851-1964

This essay examines the ways in which chocolate was presented at ten World's Fairs between the first World's Fair (Crystal Palace, London, 1851) and the New York World's Fair in 1964. Beginning during the self-conscious globalization of production, manufacturing, and marketing in the mid-19th century, world fairs provided an exciting new medium for public education and for product marketing. They introduced visitors to food production processes and to new ways of enjoying familiar foods (1851 London; 1904 St. Louis; 1939 New York). They provided a dramatic platform for corporate marketing. Appreciating the molding and casting potential of the liquid product on a mega-scale, corporate and national exhibits created chocolate sculptures (1876 Philadelphia: "Capture of Fort Ticonderoga"; 1889 Paris: full-size model of Venus de Milo; 1893 Chicago: 3000-pound solid chocolate rendition of the Niederwald Germania). They offered a forum for launching new products to international audiences (1939 New York). They celebrated corporate history (1904 St. Louis; 1907 Jamestown; 1964 New York) and product quality (1900 Paris; 1904 St. Louis). World Fairs also introduced new technologies that changed corporate history: Impressed by German chocolate-making machinery displayed at the 1893 Columbian Exposition, Milton Hershey acquired the exhibit's complete equipment, abandoned caramel manufacture, and redirected his corporate focus.

Previous | Next
Back to Chapter Overview page