Defunctland: The Fair That Changed America
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In this episode, Kevin travels back to the tail end of the Roaring Twenties to look at the development of the Century of Progress fair in Chicago and how the World’s Exposition changed the United States and its view of progress
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@calebquinn-l7h
April 5, 2026 at 4:29 pm
4:20 Anyone else think that the man in the upper middle picture looks kinda like Andrew Ryan from Bioshock?? I know it's a coincidence, but the fact that Art Deco started here makes it even funnier too!! ππ
@BroughtBack
April 5, 2026 at 4:29 pm
bro im at work stop making me react
@nucg5040
April 5, 2026 at 4:29 pm
every time you mention it takes place in 1933 i cringe a little harder
@moo.adriana3208
April 5, 2026 at 4:29 pm
0:09
@sarahndipity_7
April 5, 2026 at 4:29 pm
22:15 is that thee meow wolf??
@amandahugankiss4110
April 5, 2026 at 4:29 pm
hahaha
woman and blacks didn't earn representation.
they still haven't..
@Yesington2000
April 5, 2026 at 4:29 pm
17:01 what's dunkey doing here
@camerongambrel6478
April 5, 2026 at 4:29 pm
that intro was π₯π₯
@CarlyndraTM
April 5, 2026 at 4:29 pm
0:45
My goodness, this line got me so good and I'm not even a minute into the video
@AidanPatko
April 5, 2026 at 4:29 pm
21:17 I just put together that Looney Tunes is a play on Silly Symphonies omfg
@jimlight5137
April 5, 2026 at 4:29 pm
15:27 wait⦠that airplane thing is REAL? I remember watching a Donald Duck cartoon where he got into a plane mounted just like that at a fair of some kind. I had no idea it was based on a real thing. That looks absolutely terrifying!
@chr4049
April 5, 2026 at 4:29 pm
I was delightfully surprised at the lack of human zoos but thenβ¦..
@ImMcLovinYourMom
April 5, 2026 at 4:29 pm
15:56 βto scaleβ killed meππ
@TheodoreDiodorus
April 5, 2026 at 4:29 pm
crazy that when the afromericans were allowed in they did a big riot
@stevebradley8862
April 5, 2026 at 4:29 pm
We would be better going back to back breaking work in an agrarian society rather than pursuing the deceptive βindustryβ and the evil βscienceβ that entices people w longer life spans, better health and nutrition and other deceptive benefits.
@stevebradley8862
April 5, 2026 at 4:29 pm
Why are companies or βindustryβ at fault for citizens trying to get rich quick in the stock market? Couldnβt their own greed be part or central to irrational market behavior? Companies put their stock shares on the stock market but donβt control the price of those shares after IPO.
@mndlessdrwer
April 5, 2026 at 4:29 pm
It's really funny that the oil company had animatronic dinosaurs, but it's also unfortunately inaccurate. Oil is primarily from the deposited dead algae from massive algae blooms in the prehistoric oceans. The algae bloom, suck up all the oxygen from the water in the process, die, then get deposited onto the ocean floor to be covered up with sediment and compressed over time as more and more sediment piles on top. Eventually the crushing pressure and time convert them into oil and natural gas.
@tdpay9015
April 5, 2026 at 4:29 pm
Every horrible style and idea was on display at the 1933 fair.
@monochromedevdle5697
April 5, 2026 at 4:29 pm
π
@lukasbeck4421
April 5, 2026 at 4:29 pm
Probably difficult to understand, but the world's fair always gives me a weird creepy feeling thanks to that one episode of Kim Possible with their ancestors at the world's fairπ
@thomasrosebrough9062
April 5, 2026 at 4:29 pm
8:20 "industry loved this" lolol.
For those keeping score: the solution was in fact FDR's "Civilian Conservation Corp": a center-left tactic of hiring millions of unskilled and uneducated Americans at disproportionate wages, and having them construct parks, roads, buildings, utilities, and various other public projects. The stimulus to low-income people led to economic boon, and the high federal cost quickly paid for itself as GDP shot back up (along with property values, the international value of a dollar, and general moral in the states). The US govt actually never even officially ended this program, but folded into the military during WW2, which is why we have such generous military compensation relative to the requirements of acceptance. The result is a huge proportion of our budget spent on military, but unlike the public projects and infrastructure made by the CCC, the citizens don't get to see too much of the benefit of this program.
(And if you're still keeping score from before: Herbert Hoover is largely blamed for causing the Great Depression in no small part due to his extreme TARIFFS )
@Yakkymania
April 5, 2026 at 4:29 pm
Never expected RMS Olympic to be mentioned in a Defunctland video, but Iβm so happy that this one mentions her.
@deathstinger13
April 5, 2026 at 4:29 pm
this one thinks we should bring back attempts at the raw optimism and technological progressivism like the worlds fairs
@DanielJacobs-t8q
April 5, 2026 at 4:29 pm
Thank you! I deal in WF postcards and souvenirs. I love this world fair. it's one of my favorites. I was at the 1964-65 NYWF!
@fostermartinez4667
April 5, 2026 at 4:29 pm
Honestly I really do relate to Great Depression America, I also donβt want to look at ads from big companies that are ruining our lives but itβs eVERYWHERE
@Statusinator
April 5, 2026 at 4:29 pm
"What is my purpose?"
"You smoke darts."
"Oh golly gee…"
@TheLambdaTeam
April 5, 2026 at 4:29 pm
*industrial overproduction caused The Great Depression*
The Fair: "Industry is gonna save mankind!!!"
… πππππππππππππππππππ
@curseddeity6379
April 5, 2026 at 4:29 pm
you guys find it suspicious that they made these majestic roman buildings out of waste material? could we even do this with the technology we have today?
@Jacob-ru3cc
April 5, 2026 at 4:29 pm
Is there anything that I could do to stop thinking about killing my self?