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The World's Fair (in a Nutshell)

August 18, 2025

By C.W. Madrid, registration intern

A knick-knack
shoved in the pocket of a long coat: 

In this seed 
are the facades of skyscrapers
and gold hair ornaments
sprung from the roots
where endless rows 
of concrete and metal
decorate the fertilized
park
with an orchard of aluminum
and of bark 

May the negatives
spring 
from the seed flaps
and recapture 
the essence 
of color and of creation 

The rainbow metropolis
curves
the rays of progression
massive and technological
through the camera
into inklings
of its original image,
and through the lens
transform the dull recollection
of black and of white

Into
a seance
those futuristic visions
hide behind
and exclaim!
they recreate the cabins
and the forest
of the past
and of repeating the past

The souvenir
with its size
insurmountable
to the indomitable spirit 
of communication
and of pride

A strength,
like hard roots
with ridges
climbs between
the wings and the pillars
passing by terraces
overlooking the concrete garden
and on the pillars
is the ego of
— “I WILL”— 
the statement of progress
and of devolution 

A desire
of an entire world
in my linens
a memorial
that was lived through
the sanguinity
of trinkets
and of novelties
Celebrates the Centennial
of aluminum
and of bark.

a long folded and shaped piece of paper with images and text emerging from a walnut shell
Souvenir (detail), The World's Fair in a Nutshell, c. 1933. Dennison Manufacturing Co., manufacturer. The Wolfsonian–FIU, The Mitchell Wolfson, Jr. Collection, XX1995.103.

About the Poem

Modernist poetry often breaks from traditional structure, favoring free verse, disjointed rhythm or meter, and abstract imagery. Inspired by this approach, I wrote a modernist-style poem centered on the 1933 Chicago World's Fair and a souvenir walnut shell that holds miniature images of the fair's buildings.

A partial, close-up view of a walnut shell containing a folded paper booklet printed with the words "Spirit of Chicago / 'I WILL' / MFG COPYRIGHTED / Gale Specialty Co. / Chicago, IL, USA"
A detail from the nutshell's folded booklet.


My poem explores the fair's many dualities—between utopia and dystopia, nature and technology, past and future. Above the first image inside the walnut shell are the words "I WILL," a city motto adopted from an 1892 newspaper competition. The phrase reflects Chicago's restless energy and spirit but can also be read as a declaration of ego. The fair celebrated innovation in health, science, and technology, but these ideals were also intertwined with exclusionary and harmful ideologies. For instance, the commissioners accepted a Roman pillar as a gift from fascist Italy, whose regime co-opted the Futurist movement to support its political agenda. My poem reflects on how pride in progress can both uplift and oppress.

Souvenir booklet panels showing printed images of a log cabin labeled 'Replica of Lincoln’s Birthplace' and a futuristic attraction labeled 'Sky Ride' from the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair" with short descriptions for each
Details from the nutshell's folded booklet.


The fair's contradictions were reflected in its structures. Its purpose was to celebrate progress and futurism, but it heavily focused on the past. Alongside the futurist exhibits were reproductions of log cabins and colonial forts, symbols of an idealized past. The nutshell souvenir itself represents this contrast: a natural object enclosing manmade marvels.

These tensions were present in 1933 and they remain with us today. My poem attempts to hold these opposites together.

 

View more world's fairs souvenirs and so much more in our exhibition World's Fairs: Visions of Tomorrow, on view May 30, 2025 through February 22, 2026.