Some planners of the World's Columbian Exposition envisioned the Midway portion of the Fair as a lesson in ethnography and human development. The villages created in the Midway were supposed to provide visitors with glimpses of "primitive" cultures, in contrast with "civilization" as presented in the White City. Most visitors, however, went to the Midway not for its alleged anthropological insights, but for entertainment and shopping, enticed by the Ferris Wheel and other attractions and concessions.

Creator: W. B. Conkey Company, World's Columbian Exposition
Source: Chicago Historical Society (ICHi-38000)