Bravo, St. Louis!
Subject(s): Exhibition buildings, Exhibitions, Louisiana Purchase Exposition, Missouri, Missouri--Saint Louis, Theater curtains
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A woman labeled “St. Louis” bows at the final curtain for the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, with exhibition buildings visible in the background.
Comments and Context
The 1904 “World’s Fair” was formally called the Louisiana Purchase Exposition. It marked the United States’ arrangement with France which doubled the country’s land mass and had uncountable other implications. President Roosevelt opened the fair by telegraph on April 30, and only attended during the few weeks between his re-election and the fair’s closure; he did not want his attendance to be perceived as a campaign event.
Puck largely ignored the fair, concentrating instead on presidential politics in 1904. A dozen years earlier, the magazine had an entirely different attitude toward the legendary Chicago World’s Fair (again, a nickname for the Columbian Exposition, which marked 500 years since Columbus’s discovery of America). For the 1892 Chicago Fair, Puck had its own pavilion, designed by the noted architect Stanford White. Visitors could walk through and see Puck‘s artists and writers at work; and a printing press produced a 26-week run of a compact World’s Fair Puck Magazine.
In 1904, this handsome farewell cartoon by Grant Hamilton virtually was the magazine’s sole mention. The rest of the world noticed, however: the magnificent and successful fair introduced the first wireless telephone (of Alexander Graham Bell), hosted Thomas Edison with his latest inventions, showcased 140 different automobiles powered by gasoline, electricity, and steam, and introduced foods like Puffed Wheat and Dr. Pepper soda (and, possibly, ice-cream cones).
Collection
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
Creation Date
1904-11-30
Creator(s)
Period
U.S. President – 1st Term (September 1901-February 1905)
Repository
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division
Page Count
1
Record Type
Image
Resource Type
Rights
These images are presented through a cooperative effort between the Library of Congress and Dickinson State University. No known restrictions on publication.
Citation
Cite this Record
Chicago:
Bravo, St. Louis!. [November 30, 1904]. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs.
https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o278053. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
MLA:
Hamilton, Grant E.. Bravo, St. Louis!. [30 Nov. 1904]. Image.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. April 16, 2026. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o278053.
APA:
Hamilton, Grant E.., [1904, November 30]. Bravo, St. Louis!.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o278053.
Cite this Collection
Chicago:
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/collection/library-of-congress-prints-and-photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
MLA:
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. April 16, 2026. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/collection/library-of-congress-prints-and-photographs.
APA:
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/collection/library-of-congress-prints-and-photographs.
