Celebrating One Hundred Years Ago
We’ve made it through America 250, which seemed rather pervasive compared with the bicentennial 50 years ago. But back in 1976, there was no cable TV, no internet, no social media—so if it seemed to you like America 250 was everywhere, it was. It was everywhere with the bicentennial, too, but then everywhere was three or four TV channels, the local newspaper, and your favorite radio station.
The folks at newspapers.com sent an advisory about coverage even further back…the 150th anniversary, a century ago in 1926. Radio was in its infancy, and newspapers dominated the field later known as mass media.
It was our sesquicentennial, which papers shortened to “sesqui”. Those in Philadelphia, the nation’s birthplace, published a map to help visitors find their way and promoting the fact that a whopping 75 percent of the roads to the “Sesqui-Centennial International Exposition” were actually paved.
We did things big back then, too…with an 80-foot-tall replica of the Liberty Bell on Broad Street, illuminated by 26,000 lightbulbs brightening the night sky around it.
Apparel was patriotic, too…for women, a hat shaped like the Liberty Bell—complete with the crack, designed to be worn in the front.
The 150th was officially a World’s Fair, so it was a global affair that ran for six months—from Memorial Day through Thanksgiving. But Independence Day in 1926 fell on a Sunday, and when organizers said they planned to have the fair open that day, a huge controversy erupted over religious Sabbath laws. Despite threats of lawsuits and fines for workers…the fair was open, even on Sunday.
And to show that history repeats itself, it was a wet summer in Philadelphia, with torrential downpours and fierce storms that flooded exhibits and sent attendees seeking cover.
And this twist…the last surviving son of a Revolutionary War soldier died during the final month of the Expo. Lewis Phillips died in November 1926 at age 95. His father, John Phillips, fought for America’s independence and was 72 years of age when Lewis was born…so there was a unique two-generation bridge, father to son, spanning the 150 years from 1776 to 1926.
