Museum speaker gives watch and postcard history from World’s Fairs

By Kyle Mooty

LPR Editor

In her quest to find watches emblematic of the World’s Fairs and Exhibitions, Pat Holloway also discovered a fondness of collecting postcards from the events.

Holloway, of Pflugerville, spoke at the Southwest Museum of Clocks & Watches Saturday with many of her finds dating back well over a century ago.

“I was interested in these watches and started reading about Ingersoll watches,” Holloway said. “Their slogan was ‘It’s the watch that made the dollar famous.’ Then I discovered the first U.S. picture postcards were made for the 1893 exhibition.”

Holloway also gave details on some events at World’s Fairs, such as the 1893 event in Chicago when Ingersoll decided it would benefit the company to get a spot at the fair.

“Spots were at a premium,” Holloway said. “People were turned away right and left. Ingersoll was able to find a kiosk by the Singer Sewing Machine company. You could not sell watches on the fairgrounds unless you were an approved vendor. Ingersoll awarded people vouchers they could take to the Ingersoll office and trade it for a watch. 

“Somebody with the fair committee saw someone with Ingersoll and they thought they were selling a watch, so they told them to shut down. They basically shut down the entire fair until they got things settled down. It turned out they were doing nothing wrong, and a newspaper at the time came out and said all advertising is good advertising.”

Paris had built the Eiffel Tower in 1887, so the U.S. was determined to have a “draw” of its own, shipping the newly invented Ferris Wheel, which was basically train cars between two large wheels. Holloway said the Ferris Wheel could hold 40 people seated or 60 standing up.

Ingersoll Watches were made, at the time, by the Waterbury Watch Company. Holloway found a watch with President Grover Cleveland (1985-89 and 1993-97) and his wife, Frances, pictured.

The 1901 fair was in Buffalo, New York, and it celebrated the ‘Unities Between the Americas.’ Employees from Waterbury lined up to show people how the watches were made.

The 1904 fair in St. Louis had the Otis Elevator Company give rides on its invention to the top of a hotel looking over the fairgrounds for 25 cents each.

“A 1904 postcard caught my eye,” Holloway said. “It’s a birds-eye view of the fairgrounds. This postcard actually has glitter applied to it. The Postal Service was not pleased with that.”

The 1905 fair was in Portland, Oregon, featuring the Lewis and Clark trail and was deemed the Centennial Celebration.

Holloway said, “It was more of a ‘Look at us, look at what we’ve done. Don’t you want to move here? Look at all of our natural resources.’ One of the natural resources. They had a lot of wood.”

The 1907 Norfolk, Virginia fair featured a male and female American Indian watching settlers arrive.

Following fairs and/or exhibitions included 1909 at Seattle, Washington; 1915 at San Francisco; 1926 at Philadelphia (celebrating the Sesquicentennial of the U.S.); 1928 at Long Beach, California; 1933 back at Chicago (celebrating a Century of Progress), and where Ingersoll introduced Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse on a watch; and 1939 at Flushing Meadows, New York.

Later World’s Fair and Exhibitions included the 1968 event at San Antonio.

The Southwest Museum of Clocks & Watches is located on the north side of the Lockhart square at 109 E. San Antonio St.