Fiction (and Film) Set at World's Fairs and Expositions
- 1876 PHILADELPHIA Exposition
- 1889 PARIS International Exposition (L'Exposition Universelle de 1889)
- 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in CHICAGO
- 1898 Trans-Mississippi International Exposition in OMAHA
- 1901 BUFFALO Pan-American Exposition
- 1904 Louisiana Purchase International Exposition in ST. LOUIS
- 1909 Alaska–Yukon–Pacific Exposition in SEATTLE
- 1933-1934 A Century of Progress International Exposition in CHICAGO
- 1939 NEW YORK World's Fair
- 1940 Golden Gate International Exposition in SAN FRANCISCO
- 1962 Century 21 Exposition in SEATTLE
- 1967 MONTREAL Expo 67: Man and His World
- Fictitious Fairs
This booklist of mostly fiction titles -- for children, young adults, and adults -- and a few films, all with World's Fair settings, was developed in 2008 with help from Fiction-L list members. It's arranged chronologically by Fair, then by date of publication. Some additions have been made since then, and additions and corrections are always welcomed.
A list of many nonfiction titles related to World's Fairs from 1851-1951 is available online at 'International Exhibitions, Expositions Universelles and World's Fairs, 1851-1951: A Bibliography,' by Alexander C.T. Geppert, Jean Coffey and Tammy Lau. (Also available here in pdf.)
1876 PHILADELPHIA Exposition
Fiction
- Light From Arcturus (1935) by Mildred Walker: Novel about a bored and restless Nebraska woman who 'stepped beyond sacrifice and duty, impressed herself on a larger scene, fed her spirit, and grew in dignity. Grounded in memorable events, this novel illustrates the significance of the period's great world's fairs to the early settlers. The milestones in Julia's progress are trips to the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition in 1876 and to the Chicago World's Fair in 1893 and in 1933.'
- What Happened to Emily Goode After the Great Exhibition (1978) by Raylyn Moore: Time displacement fantasy set at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. 188 pp.
- Twice Upon A Time: A Novel (1988) by Allen Appel: In the Alex Balfour series. Alex, an historian, is transported back in time to the Philadelphia Exposition of 1876, where he becomes involved with a group converging at Little Big Horn.
- Dazzled (1994) by Catherine Hart: Romance. In 1876, as Philadelphia hosts its Centennial Exposition, the companion to a wealthy matron resorts to thievery in an effort to ransom her nephew from his vile father.
- The Black Maria (Mystery of Old Philadelphia) (2000) by Mark Graham: As the whole world is celebrating a glorious future at the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, city detective Wilton McCleary comes across the butchered body of a girl in the nearby labyrinth of festering streets called Shantyville, with its opium dens, criminals, and freak shows.
Young Adult Fiction
- The Philadelphia Adventure (1990) by Lloyd Alexander: In 1876, on the eve of the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, twenty-year-old Vesper Holly and her friends clash yet again with the archfiend Dr. Helvitius, whose evil schemes plunge them into danger in the wild Pennsylvania countryside.
Film
- Centennial Summer (1946): Directed by Otto Preminger. In 1876 Philadelphia, two sisters vie for the affections of a Frenchman in town to prepare the French pavilion for the Centennial Exposition. Starred Jeanne Crain, Linda Darnell, Cornel Wilde, Walter Brennan.
1889 PARIS International Exposition (L'Exposition Universelle de 1889)
Fiction
- So Long at the Fair (1947) by Anthony Thorne: On which the film was based.
- Murder on the Eiffel Tower (2008) by Claude Izner: Crime fiction set in Paris in 1889, with the Paris Exposition as the scene. The Eiffel Tower is new, and people flock to see this technological wonder. While on such a visit, a young woman collapses and dies, apparently as the result of a bee sting, and bookseller Victor Legris becomes involved in the investigation of her murder.
- The Paris Enigma (2008) by Pablo de Santis: Crime fiction, winner of the first Casa de las Americas prize for best Latin American novel. The '12 Detectives' meet for the first time in Paris, at the 1889 World's Fair, and soon have their own mystery to detect when Paris detective Louis Darbon falls to his death from the Eiffel Tower shortly before the fair's opening.
- The Alchemy of Murder (2010) by Carol McCleary. A Nellie Bly Mystery, #1. The world s most famous reporter, the intrepid Nellie Bly, teams up with science fiction genius Jules Verne, the notorious wit and outrageous rogue Oscar Wilde, and the greatest microbe-hunter in history, Louis Pasteur. Together, they must solve the crime of the century. They are all in Paris the capital of Europe and center of world culture for the 1889 World's Fair. A spectacular extravaganza dedicated to new industries, scientific discoveries, and global exploration, its gateway is the soaring Eiffel Tower. But an enigmatic killer stalks the streets and a virulent plague is striking down Parisians by the thousands. Convinced that the killings are connected to the pandemic, Nellie is determined to stop them both. no matter what the risks.
- The Paris Labyrinth: A Novel (2021) by Gilles Legardinier. Ingenious illusionist Vincent embarks on a thrilling adventure in turn-of-the-twentieth century France to unlock the mysteries of the past in a quest for lost treasure. Along the way, he battles against dark forces as he tries to discern who he can trust in a race against the clock. As Paris celebrates the 1889 World's Fair, the city fills with visitors who come to see the controversial new Eiffel Tower with its gravity-defying escalators, to tout their latest inventions, or to scout for prospective investment opportunities. Vincent takes on an urgent mission so secret he doesn't tell anyone about it. Suddenly, he and his team become the target of assassination attempts. In a race against time, as death licks at their heels, they puzzle over who could be behind the violence. Is it one of their clients trying to erase the secrets they had been hired to conceal? Has their work somehow provoked the dark forces of the occult? 440 pp.
Children's Books
- Rosemary in Paris (2001) by Barbara Robertson: Rosemary Rita's magical hourglass takes her to the Paris Exposition of 1889, where she meets her great-great-grandmother Gracie, also aged ten, and together with a friend they set out to catch the boy who steals Gracie's locket.
- Night of the New Magicians (2006) by Mary Pope Osborne: In the Magic Treehouse series. Jack and Annie visit the Paris World's Fair of 1889 in an effort to protect four scientific pioneers from an evil sorcerer.
Film
- So Long at the Fair (1950): Thriller. Vicky Barton and her brother, Johnny, take a trip to the 1889 Paris Exhibition. They sleep in separate rooms in a hotel. When Vicky wakes up, she finds that her brother and his room have disappeared and no one will even acknowledge that he was ever there. Starring Jean Simmons, Dirk Bogarde, Cathleen Nesbitt, Honor Blackman and David Tomlinson.
1893 World's Columbian Exposition in CHICAGO
More info on this fair at World Columbian Expedition: Idea, Experience, Aftermath.
Non-Fiction
- The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America (2003) by Erik Larson: Set around 1893 Chicago World's Fair, the stories of two men, one the architect responsible for the fair's construction, the other a serial killer masquerading as a doctor.
Fiction
- Samantha at the World's Fair (1893) by Marietta Holley: Account of the Chicago fair written in a fictional style with black-and-white illustrations. 475 pp.
- The Adventures of Uncle Jeremiah and Family at the Great Fair (1893) by Quondam (pseud.): Fictional account of the World's Columbian Exposition. with 4 photos. 237 pp.
- Sweet Clover: A Romance of the White City (1894) by Clara Louise Burnham: The novel features teenager Clover Bryant, who, with an invalid mother, two younger sisters, and a brother to support, decides on a marriage of convenience to the elderly and rich Mr. Van Tassel. Mr. Van Tassel's son Jack, who loves Clover himself, departs for Europe, returning only after his father's death. These events enable the author to write what is considered to be one of the most accurate and complete accounts of the Columbian Exposition ever written in novel form.
- Light From Arcturus (1935) by Mildred Walker: Novel about a bored and restless Nebraska woman who 'stepped beyond sacrifice and duty, impressed herself on a larger scene, fed her spirit, and grew in dignity. Grounded in memorable events, this novel illustrates the significance of the period's great world's fairs to the early settlers. The milestones in Julia's progress are trips to the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition in 1876 and to the Chicago World's Fair in 1893 and in 1933.'
- American Gothic (1974) by Robert Bloch: Thriller based on the murderous career of Henry H. Holmes, a young doctor who stalked Chicago victims during the World's Fair of 1893.
- Chicago Girls (1985) by Edith Freund: A novel of Chicago in the time of the Columbian Exposition.
- The Scarlet Mansion (1985) by Allan W. Eckert: Based on the life of Herman Mudgett, alias Dr. Henry Holmes, the notorious serial killer.
- Fairground Fiction: Detective Stories of the World's Columbian Exposition (1992) by Donald K. Hartman. Contains reprints of Emma Murdoch Van Deventer's 'Against Odds' and John Harvey Whitson's 'Chicago Charlie, the Columbian detective.' 450 pp.
- Coming Up Roses (2002) by Alice Duncan: Set at the Chicago World's Fair, featuring Rose Ellen Gilhooley and the Buffalo Bill Wild West Show. First in the Meet Me at the Fair series.
- Just North of Bliss (2002) by Alice Duncan: Historical romance. Causing scandal by accepting a position as a nanny, Belle Monroe contemplates further ruin by allowing a dashing stranger at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago to take her portrait, which leads to unexpected love and passion between the proper Southern beauty and the bold photographer from the North. Second in the Meet Me at the Fair series.
- A Bicycle Built for Two (2002) by Alice Duncan: Historical romance. Kate Finney, a savvy fortune teller and hootchy-kootchy dancer at the Chicago World's Fair who doesn't believe in love, finds her life forever changed by Alex English, a dashing city slicker who will stop at nothing to win her heart - forever. Third in the Meet Me at the Fair series.
- The White City (2004) by Alec Michod: In 1893, as the glitter and glamour of the World's Fair commences in Chicago, 'The White City' is terrorized by a gruesome killer dubbed The Husker, a fear that escalates when the son of prominent architect William Rockland is abducted.
- City for Ransom (2005) by Robert W. Walker: First in Inspector Alastair Ransom mysteries. As thousands flock to Chicago for the Great Exposition of 1893, a maniacal killer sets out to turn the streets into his own personal hunting ground, and it is up to Inspector Alastair Ransom to find the bloodthirsty murderer amid the glitter and turmoil of the World's Fair, before he becomes the next victim.
- 'A Fair to Remember' series by Carol Cox: Ticket to Tomorrow (2006), Fair Game (2007), and A Bride So Fair (2008): Slightly suspenseful Christian romances, all set at the 1893 Fair.
- A Proper Pursuit (2007) by Lynn Austin: Christian fiction. Violet Hayes ventures to Chicago during the World's Fair in search of her mother, who has been missing from her life since she was nine.
- Dark Hearts of Chicago (2007) by William Horwood & Helen Rappaport. A dark and exciting historical novel. When young, inexperienced but very ambitious female reporter, Emily Strauss, blags her way into newspaper magnate Joseph Pulitzer s office, she comes away with a treacherous assignment: to discover what happened to Anna Zemeckis, one of many women who have disappeared during the 1893 World s Fair. With the support of a young man who is just venturing into the burgeoning trade of news photography, Emily soon finds herself in a race against time to save Anna s life and to bring her story back to New York before Pulitzer s tough deadline expires.
- Trapped on the Wheel (2009) by John Glavin: Coming-of-age novel. Alessandra turns 18 on the eve of the Fair, eager to be the perfect daughter, sister, and girlfriend. Her journey parallels the Fair, sharing both its triumphs and tragedies, until she must face the question of who she truly wants to be.
- It Happened at the Fair: A Novel (2013) by Deeanne Gist. Historical romance. A transporting historical novel about a promising young inventor, his struggle with loss, and the attractive teacher who changes his life, all set against the razzle-dazzle of the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair.
- Fair Play: A Novel (2014) by Deeanne Gist. A historical love story about a lady doctor and a Texas Ranger who meet at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair.
- What the Lady Wants: A Novel of Marshall Field and the Gilded Age (2014) by Renée Rosen. In late-nineteenth-century Chicago, visionary retail tycoon Marshall Field made his fortune wooing women customers with his famous motto: "Give the lady what she wants." His legendary charm also won the heart of socialite Delia Spencer and led to an infamous love affair. But behind the opulence, their private lives are riddled with scandal and heartbreak, yet they will stand together despite disgrace and ostracism, through an age of devastation and opportunity, when an adolescent Chicago is transformed into the gleaming White City of the Chicago's World's Fair of 1893. 448 pp.
- Chicago World's Fair Mystery Collection (2014, 2015) by Shelley Gray: Christian romance/mystery series set during the Gilded Age with the Chicago World's Fair as the backdrop. #1 - Secrets of Sloane House (2014): Rosalind Perry has left her family's rural farm in Wisconsin to work as a housemaid at Sloane House, one of the most elegant mansions in Gilded Age Chicago. However, Rosalind is not there just to earn a living and support her family-she's at Sloane House determined to discover the truth about her sister's mysterious disappearance. #2 - Deception on Sable Hill (2015): The World’s Fair is nearing its end, but the danger in Chicago lingers. It's mid-September of 1893 and Eloisa Carstairs is the reigning beauty of Gilded Age Chicago society. To outsiders she appears to have it all. But Eloisa is living with a dark secret. Several months ago, she endured a horrible assault at the hands of Douglass Sloane, heir to one of Chicago's wealthiest families. Fearing the loss of her reputation, Eloisa confided in only one friend. That is, until she meets Detective Sean Ryan at a high-society ball. #3 - Whispers in the Reading Room (2015): Lydia’s job at the library is her world—until a mysterious patron catches her eye . . . and perhaps her heart. Just months after the closure of the Chicago World’s Fair, librarian Lydia Bancroft finds herself fascinated by a mysterious dark-haired and dark-eyed patron. He has never given her his name; he actually never speaks to a single person. All she knows about him is that he loves books as much as she does. Only when he rescues her in the lobby of the Hartman Hotel does she discover that his name is Sebastian Marks. She also discovers that he lives at the top of the prestigious hotel and that most everyone in Chicago is intrigued by him. Lydia and Sebastian form a fragile friendship, but when she discovers that Mr. Marks isn’t merely a very wealthy gentleman, but also the proprietor of an infamous saloon and gambling club, she is shocked.
- Tiffany Girl: A Novel (2015) by Deeanne Gist. A compelling historical novel about a progressive "New Woman"--the girl behind Tiffany's chapel--and the love that threatens it all. As preparations for the 1893 World's Fair set Chicago and the nation on fire, Louis Tiffany seizes the opportunity to unveil his state-of-the-art, stained glass, mosaic chapel, the likes of which the world has never seen. But when Louis's dream is threatened by a glassworkers' strike months before the Fair opens, he turns to an unforeseen source for help: the female students at the Art Students League of New York. Eager for adventure, the young women move to boarding houses and assume new identities as the "Tiffany Girls." Impetuous Flossie Jayne is one of these girls, a beautiful, budding artist who is handpicked by Louis to help complete the Tiffany chapel. Though excited to live in a boarding house when most women stayed home, she quickly finds the world is less welcoming than anticipated. From a Casanova male, to an unconventional married couple, and a condescending singing master, she takes on a colorful cast of characters to transform the boarding house into a home while racing to complete the Tiffany chapel and make a name for herself in the art world. 544 pp.
- The Ringmaster's Wife (2016) by Kristy Cambron. Christian fiction. In turn-of-the-century America, a young girl dreams of a world that stretches beyond the confines of a quiet life on the family farm. With little more than her wit and a cigar box of treasures, Mable steps away from all she knows, seeking the limitless marvels of the Chicago World's Fair. There, a chance encounter triggers her destiny-a life with a famed showman by the name of John Ringling. A quarter of a century later, Lady Rosamund Easling boards a ship to America as a last adventure before her arranged marriage.The Jazz Age has arrived, and with it, the golden era of the American circus, whose queen is none other than the enigmatic Mable Ringling. When Rosamund's path crosses Mable's and the Ringlings' glittering world, she makes the life-altering decision to leave behind a comfortable future of estates and propriety, choosing instead the nomadic life of a trick rider in the Ringling Brothers' circus.
- The Girl on the Midway Stage: A Novel of Love, Ambition and Scandal at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair (2016) by DeAnna Cameron. Dora Chambers is the newest Lady Manager at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, tasked with overseeing the Egyptian dancers on the dusty Midway Plaisance, whose shimmies and scant costumes are stirring up a scandal. Fueled by the Fair's progressive spirit and heady enthusiasm, Dora determines to fulfill her duty and aid her husband's social ambition, and as her eyes open to the world beyond her own and unlikely friendships are forged, she finds the courage to face long-buried secrets that change everything. 399 pp.
- "Murder at the Century of Progress" in Love & Other Crimes: Stories (2020) by Sara Paretsky. In this story, a hardboiled New York detective and elderly British aristocrat team up to reveal a murderer in Chicago during the World's Fair.
- The City Beautiful (2021) by Aden Polydoros. Haunting standalone historical fantasy that follows a young, queer Jewish immigrant who is possessed by the evil spirit of his murdered best friend and is catapulted into a deadly hunt for a serial killer terrorizing Chicago during the World's Fair of 1893. 480 pp.
Young Adult Fiction
- Out of Place, Out of Time: How a Teen Takes an Unexpected Trip Back to the Chicago World's Fair of 1893 (2021) by Amy Willer and Anton Galang. a suspenseful and historically rich young adult novel told from the perspectives of two teenagers, both from Chicago, but 126 years apart. Alex is a modern-day high schooler who is mysteriously whisked to 1893, just as the city is preparing to host the World's Columbian Exposition. There she meets Patrick, a hard-working teen employed at the fairgrounds to support a family struggling with daily expenses, only dreaming of attending the World's Fair themselves. Together they experience a once-in-two-lifetimes event, providing readers with an insider's view of the eye-opening Fair and its many inventions that previewed the century to come. Also featured throughout the book are original photographs from the Chicago World's Fair of 1893.
Children's Books
- Summer of Dreams: The Story of a Worlds Fair Girl (1993) by Dorothy Hoobler, Thomas Hoobler, Carey Greenberg: (Grades 3-6). Set in 1893, the story follows preteen Cristina Ricci and her adventures at the Chicago Columbian Exposition, where she works as a guide to children visiting from other countries.
- Chicago World's Fair (1998) by JoAnn A. Grote: In the American adventure series, #29. Christian fiction. 144 pp.
- Fair Weather (2001) by Richard Peck: In 1893, thirteen-year-old Rosie and members of her family travel from their Illinois farm to Chicago to visit Aunt Euterpe and attend the World's Columbian Exposition which, along with an encounter with Buffalo Bill and Lillian Russell, turns out to be a life-changing experience for everyone.
- Exploring the Chicago World's Fair, 1893 (2002) by Laurie Lawlor: In the American Sisters series. Dora Pomeroy must keep watch over her sisters against the dazzling backdrop of the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago.
- The Great Wheel (2004) by Robert Lawson: Conn Kilroy leaves his Irish village for work in America, first with a contracting company in New York and then to Chicago, where he and his uncle join a crew building what some called Ferris's Folly - the first Ferris wheel and the showpiece of Chicago's 1893 World's Columbian Exposition.
- Magician in the Trunk (2007) by Candice F. Ransom: In the Time Spies series. When Mattie, Sophie, and Alex travel back in time to the Chicago World's Fair of 1893, they decide to help Harry Houdini's failing magic show, but they find themselves in need of help when they are accused of stealing a priceless diamond.
1898 Trans-Mississippi International Exposition in OMAHA
Fiction
- The Swan Gondola: A Novel (2014) by Timothy Shaffert. Romance. A lush and thrilling romantic fable about two lovers set against the scandalous burlesques, midnight séances, and aerial ballets of the 1898 Omaha World’s Fair. On the eve of the 1898 Omaha World’s Fair, Ferret Skerritt, ventriloquist by trade, con man by birth, isn’t quite sure how it will change him or his city. Omaha still has the marks of a filthy Wild West town, even as it attempts to achieve the grandeur and respectability of nearby Chicago. But when he crosses paths with the beautiful and enigmatic Cecily, his whole purpose shifts and the fair becomes the backdrop to their love affair.
1901 BUFFALO Pan-American Exposition
Fiction
- City of Light (1999) by Lauren Belfer: Historical mystery set in Buffalo and Niagara Falls at the start of the 20th century, where hydroelectric power and the Pan-American Exposition promise new possibilities.
- The Temple of Music: A Novel (2004) by Jonathan Lowy: Leon Czolgosz, an alienated factory worker and an ardent admirer of Emma Goldman, plots to assassinate President McKinley at the 1901 Buffalo World's Fair.
1904 Louisiana Purchase International Exposition in ST. LOUIS
Fiction
- Meet Me in St. Louis (1942) by Sally Benson: On which the film of the same name was based. Originally serialized in the Saturday Evening Post. Tells the story of four sisters living in St. Louis at the time of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition World's Fair in 1904.
- Uncle Bob and Aunt Becky's Strange Adventures at the World's Great Exposition: Trip from Skowhegan through Many Cities to the Goal of Their Ambition, the Marvelous Event of the Century (1904) by Herschel Williams. I'm not sure whether this is fiction or not, but it reads like fiction (Google Book). The story of a middle-aged couple's trip from Maine to St. Louis to see the Fair.
- 1904 (2004) by Marcelo Vital and David Montgomery: Graphic novel celebrating the centennial of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, also known as the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair. Combines adventure and historical fiction in a lavishly illustrated tale about a delivery boy who single-handedly saves the 1904 World's Fair.
- 30 Days in May: A Murder Mystery (2008) by Wayne Hancock. The setting is St. Louis in 1904 as the city welcomes the greatest World's Fair ever. The sight of all the newest technology is described through the eyes of two girls who have come from their rural Missouri homes to broaden their horizons. And they are about to experience far more than they ever dreamed. What unfolds is a wonderful tale of union bosses, police corruption, businessmen, bankers and high society. 'The book tells a story that will keep readers turning the pages until the final exciting and satisfying conclusion - when a murder is solved and justice triumphs."
Children's Books
- The World's Fair: The Days of Laura Ingalls Wilder (Book Five) (1992) by Thomas L. Tedrow: Given the assignment to cover the St. Louis World's Fair, Laura and Manly decide to make a second honeymoon of it. Disgusted at what some people have made of the Games, Laura speaks up for some contestants who are being treated as side-show freaks, teaming up with Alice Roosevelt to stop the inhuman Anthropological Games. In the Thomas Nelson series, Days of Laura Ingalls Wilder. 223pp.
- The Song of the Molimo (1998) by Jane Cutler: When twelve-year-old Harry comes from Kansas to visit the St. Louis World's Fair in 1904, he befriends an African pygmy, Ota Benga, who is part of an anthropology exhibit, works for the first female news photographer, and becomes involved in a burgeoning scientific controversy.
- The Minstrel's Melody (2001) by Eleanora Tate: In the American Girl history mysteries series. In 1904, twelve-year-old Orphelia follows her dream by running away from home to join an all-black minstrel show headed for the Saint Louis World's Fair, and learns about her family's troubled past in the process.
- Fairy Floss: The Sweet Story of Cotton Candy (2017) by Ann Ingalls; The 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis, Missouri, was an exhibition like none other. It had huge buildings for displaying all sorts of inventions and machines, exhibits from all around the world, and vendors selling new foods, including something called Fairy Floss, which we now call cotton candy. In this book, a young girl named Lily and her Aunt Mae are told all about Fairy Floss by John Wharton, one of the inventors.
Film
- Meet Me in St. Louis (1944): Directed by Vincente Minnelli, starring Judy Garland, Margaret O'Brien, Mary Astor, Leon Ames, June Lockhart and Marjorie Main.
1909 Alaska–Yukon–Pacific Exposition
Fiction
- Love and Other Consolation Prizes: A Novel (2018) by Jamie Ford. Inspired by a true story about a boy whose life is transformed at Seattle’s epic 1909 World’s Fair. At the 1909 World's Fair in Seattle, half-Chinese Ernest is raffled off as a prize. Working in the Red Light District, he falls in love with Maisie, the daughter of a madam, and Fahn, a Japanese maid. At the World's Fair in 1962, again in Seattle, Ernest looks back on the memories he made with his wife as his daughter begins to unravel their tragic past.
- The Wistful Scent of Lilac (2019) by Bobbi Miles. Eldri Holm feels taken in by Ole Larsen, whom she trusted, and in her humiliation at being nothing but an ignorant Norwegian immigrant, she chooses to leave her life in the Skagit Valley and go to live with her sister in Seattle. As Eldri seeks to regain control of her life, her fate becomes intertwined with events at Seattle’s first world’s fair, the Alaska Yukon Pacific Exposition of 1909.
Young Adult Fiction
- Before We Disappear (2021) by Shaun David Hutchinson. YA historical queer romance/fantasy. Jack Nevin's clever trickery and moral flexibility make him the perfect assistant to the Enchantress, one of the most well-known stage magicians in turn-of-the-nineteenth-century Europe. But when Jack's thievery catches up to them, they're forced to flee to America to find their fortune. Luckily, the Enchantress is able to arrange a set of sold-out shows at Seattle's Alaska-Yukon-Pacific World's Fair Exposition. She's convinced they're going to rich and famous until a new magician arrives on the scene. Performing tricks that defy the imagination, Laszlo's show overshadows the Enchantress, leaving Jack no choice but to hunt for the secrets to his otherworldly illusions. But what Jack uncovers isn't at all what he expected. Behind Laszlo's tricks is Wilhelm--a boy that can seemingly perform real magic. Jack and Wilhelm have an instant connection, and as the rivalry between the Enchantress and Laszlo grows, so too does Jack and Wilhelm's affection.
1933-1934 A Century of Progress International Exposition in CHICAGO
Fiction
- Light From Arcturus (1935) by Mildred Walker: Novel about a bored and restless Nebraska woman who 'stepped beyond sacrifice and duty, impressed herself on a larger scene, fed her spirit, and grew in dignity. Grounded in memorable events, this novel illustrates the significance of the period's great world's fairs to the early settlers. The milestones in Julia's progress are trips to the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition in 1876 and to the Chicago World's Fair in 1893 and in 1933.' 343 pp.
- Going to Chicago (1997) by Rob Levandoski: Bittersweet debut about a quixotic 1934 road trip to the Chicago World's Fair, recalled by a curmudgeonly retiree. 207 pp.
- The Hatbox Baby (2002) by Carrie Brown: Set at 1933 Chicago World's Fair. 'A Chicago woman goes into premature labor and delivers a tiny baby, barely alive. The father takes it to the fair (in a hatbox) to be cared for by a physician who has an exhibition of tiny preemies in primitive incubators. When the father is killed in a road accident, the baby becomes the focal point of a fan dancer; her brother, a dwarf; the doctor and his nurse; and the baby's aunt.' (from Library Journal) 352 pp.
- True Detective (2003) by Max Allan Collins: In the Frank Nitti Trilogy. Nate Heller is a cop trying to stay straight in one of the most corrupt places imaginable: Prohibition-era Chicago. Reviewers mention that the World's Fair 'comes alive' in this novel.
Young Adult Fiction
- Beverly Gray at the World's Fair (1935) by Clair Blank: In the Beverly Gray College Mystery series. Beverly and her friends have graduated from college and are working in New York. Disappointed that she was not going to Paris to study with friends, Beverly and her remaining friends plan a month vacation at the Century of Progress Exposition in Chicago where they witness a murder when a diver is killed by an air gun at the fair. 250 pp. Very rare book because it was omitted when the AL Burt series was reprinted by Grosset (it was thought that the world's fair setting dated it).
1939 NEW YORK World's Fair
Fiction
- Murder At The New York World's Fair (1938) by Phoebe Atwood Taylor. Written by Taylor under the pseudonym Freeman Dana, at the request of Bennett Cerf. 265 pp.
- World's Fair Goblin (1969) by Kenneth Robeson: Doc Savage series #39. An eight-foot monster is haunting the 1939 New York World's Fair. What is the bizarre secret of Maximus, the 'World's Fair Goblin'? Republished 2008 with Czar of Fear in Doc Savage Reprint #17.
- World's Fair (1985) by E.L. Doctorow: Fiction and reality meet within the 1930s Bronx childhood of Edgar, growing up through the intensity of the Depression and the hope of the New York World's Fair. 288 pp.
- The Nick of Time (1985) by George Alec Effinger. Mind-spinning time travel novel sends Frank Mihalik from 1996 back to the 1939 NY World's Fair, where he gets stuck and must relive the same day over and over. His girlfriend arrives to help, and the two are soon off on a wild temporal roller coaster. 256 pp.
- 1939: The Lost World of the Fair (1996) by David Gelernter: Historical fiction, romance, anti-modern political jeremiad. 418 pp.
- Dream of Venus (or Living Pictures) (2000) by Miles Beller. The New York World's Fair of 1939 was conceived as an efflorescence of modernist style, hitched to a utopian vision of the future. Beller's novel alternates between the adventures of an ahead-of-his-time Greenwich Village artist named Zeke Lichtenquist, who is an official fair caricaturist, and sequences involving Grover Whalen, who was the real-life president of the exposition. The novel challenges the distinction between fiction and fact by including a carefully researched catalogue of exhibits, in which phantasmagoric scenarios mingle with historic discoveries: a group of tourists are baffled by Dali's sculptures in the Dream of Venus exhibit, and Zeke encounters such new inventions as television and Viewmaster. Futurama's World of 1960 and Tomorrow Village offer humorous futuristic glimpses, while a mob of "fun seekers" reverts to beastly behavior, gang-raping and mutilating a woman (PW review). Surreal. 298 pp.
- Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay (2000) by Michael Chabon: Includes descriptive scenes on the grounds of a New York World's Fair.
- Tomorrow at the Fair (2005) by Bob Madison: Sci-fi? John Kenner, 12 years old, dreams of the future as seen in science fiction comics. When the 1939 World's Fair promises to create the World of Tomorrow, he and his grandfather run away from home and travel to New York, only to learn that anarchists plan to blow up the Trylon and Perisphere! 300 pp.
- We Came Here to Shine: A Novel (2020) by Susie Orman Schnall. Set at the iconic 1939 New York World's Fair, the novel is historical fiction featuring two bold and ambitious women who navigate a world of possibility and find out what they're truly made of during a glorious summer of spectacle and potential. 384 pp.
Children's Books
- All Aboard! (1995) by James Stevenson: Hubie and his family take the Broadway Blazer to the 1939 World's Fair, but Hubie has a series of adventures by himself on the way there.
- Benny (1977) by Barbara Cohen. A German refugee's unhappiness affords Benny Rifkind a chance to show his family that he has concerns other than baseball and the 1939 World's Fair. 154 pp.
1939-1940 Golden Gate International Exposition in SAN FRANCISCO
Fiction
- Swing: a novel (2005) by Rupert Holmes: Jazz musician Ray Sherwood, playing in a big band at the 1940 World Fair, is asked by a Berkeley college student to help her orchestrate her original composition, which is slated to debut at the newly created Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay; this small request quickly entangles him in a web of mystery with sinister implications.
- China Dolls: A Novel (2015 by Lisa See. The Golden Gate International Exposition is one backdrop to this novel, set from 1938 into the 1940s. In 1938, Ruby, Helen and Grace, three girls from very different backgrounds, find themselves competing at the same audition for showgirl roles at San Francisco's exclusive "Oriental" nightclub, the Forbidden City. Grace, an American-born Chinese girl has fled the Midwest and an abusive father. Helen is from a Chinese family who have deep roots in San Francisco's Chinatown. And, as both her friends know, Ruby is Japanese passing as Chinese. At times their differences are pronounced, but the girls grow to depend on one another in order to fulfill their individual dreams. Then, everything changes in a heartbeat with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. 416 pp.
- Beautiful Illusion: A Novel (2018) by Christie Nelson. As the march of boots echoes from overseas, all nations that border the Pacific and beyond are invited to build pavilions on Treasure Island at the Golden Gate International Exposition, an event dedicated to the pursuit of world peace and brotherhood. Meanwhile, Lily Nordby, smart, strong-willed, and feisty, lands a job at the Examiner and is given a once-in-a-lifetime assignment covering the Exposition. There she meets Tokido Okamura, the host of the Japanese Pavilion; and despite being highly suspicious of his true purpose on the island, she’s swept up in a whirlwind of powerful emotions that lead her into unknown territory. Brilliant and enigmatic Woodrow Packard, a Mayan art scholar at the Expo, prefers remaining aloof and alone. But his infatuation and deepening relationship with Lily thrusts him into the limelight. He asks himself, could someone as smart and beautiful as she return the love of a man who is a dwarf? Romance with a dash of noir. 304 pp.
1962 Century 21 Exposition in SEATTLE
Fiction
- Truth Like the Sun (2013) by Jim Lynch. A classic and entertaining political novel, the cat-and-mouse story of urban intrigue in Seattle both in 1962, when Seattle hosted the World's Fair, and in 2001, after its transformation in the Microsoft gold rush. Larger than life, Roger Morgan was the mastermind behind the fair that made the city famous and is still a backstage power forty years later, when at the age of seventy he runs for mayor in hopes of restoring all of Seattle's former glory. Helen Gulanos, a reporter every bit as eager to make her mark, sees her assignment to investigate the events of 1962 become front-page news with Morgan's candidacy, and resolves to find out who he really is and where his power comes from: in 1962, a brash and excitable young promoter, greeting everyone from Elvis Presley to Lyndon Johnson, smooth-talking himself out of difficult situations, dipping in and out of secret card games; now, a beloved public figure with, it turns out, still-plentiful secrets. Wonderfully interwoven into this tale of the city of dreams are backroom deals, idealism and pragmatism, the best and worst ambitions, and all the aspirations that shape our communities and our lives. 272 pp.
Film
- It Happened at the World's Fair (1963): Musical adventure film starring Elvis Presley. Two cropdusters, trying to earn money, hitchhike to the World's Fair in Seattle. While one tries to earn money playing poker, the other takes care of a small girl, Sue-Lin, whose father has disappeared.
MONTREAL Expo 67: Man and His World
Fiction
- Tanner's Tiger (1968) by Lawrence Block. The fifth novel in Block's 1960s humorous mystery-adventure series featuring Evan Tanner, the New York City thief who couldn't sleep. He travels to the World's Fair in Montreal to investigate whether the Cubans are getting ready to covertly sabotage the U.S. When his adopted daughter is kidnapped and he is chased by the Canadian Mounties, Tanner takes refuge with a group of revolutionaries crusading for an independent Quebec, thereby becoming entangled in a plot to bomb the Queen of England.
- Crying for the Moon (2017) by Mary Walsh. "In this brilliantly funny and poignant debut, Canadian actor, comedian and social activist Mary Walsh tells the unforgettable story of a young woman coming of age in 1960s Newfoundland. On a trip to sing at Expo 67, Maureen and her best friend manage to escape the vigilant eye of Sister Imobilis. Basking in the glow of the brash and fiery metropolis, Maureen tries to create a new life for herself. However, this new life takes a darker turn, and will follow her back home to Newfoundland and play out in dangerous ways."
Fictitious Fairs
Young Adult Fiction
- World's Fair 1992 (1970) by Robert Silverberg: 1992 World's Fair in a satellite above Earth. Science fiction. The 1992 World's Fair was to be an orbital extravaganza, set in a gigantic satellite 50 000 miles above the Earth, and the young xenobiology student thought it would be a dream come true. 248 pp.