A reborn San Francisco

#TBT: The Panama-Pacific Expo, When We Had a San Francisco Day

02 November 2017

V. Alexandra de F. Szoenyi

On November 2, 1915, San Francisco threw open its gates to a glorious world's fair.

A reborn fog city hit the spotlight when the Panama-Pacific Exposition celebrated San Francisco Day. At around 348,472 attendees, the occasion brought in 70% of the city's population. As one of the largest events in SF history, the exposition was organized to commemorate the construction of the Panama Canal, as well as the city bouncing back after the 1906 earthquake. Attend this fantastical affair through vintage photos, drawings, and memorabilia.

San Francisco was thrilled to invite the world to see the city. After all, we were able to rise like a phoenix from the ashes of the 1906 earthquake and fire. Several beautifully detailed postcards, sheet music, souvenir books, and other paper ephemera were printed to commemorate the event.
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This 1915 shot of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition shows just how magnificent the entire project was. Over 600 acres of land was used to house numerous exposition palaces, foreign pavilions, state buildings, and a carnival-type area known as The Joy Zone.
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Over 250,000 people arrived at the Festival Hall to see the opening of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition, on February 20, 1915. This photo shows the turning on of the Fountain of Energy as part of the celebration.
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This map of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition shows all the buildings that were created for this grand event. Hydraulic pumps were used to fill the swampland in what is now The Marina. The only remaining structure from the PPIE that still stands today is the Palace of Fine Arts, which was reconstructed in the 1960s.
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This ticket is for San Francisco Day, held on Tuesday, November 2, 1915. You can see the Palace of Fine Arts here, which was built for the expo.
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Here's an image of the Festival Hall, created for PPIE in 1915.
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Lemare put on 121 concerts at PPIE, which brought in $5,000 more than his $10,000 fee for the event's organizers.
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The buildings at the PPIE spared no detail, including the Watch Palace which was located on The Zone. The Zone is said to have been named after the Panama Canal Zone.
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Levi Strauss and Co. was a big donor for the PPIE. Within the Palace of Manufactures and Varied Industries, the company set up a working sewing line, where sewers made Koveralls for children, which were then sent to retailers.
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There were a seemingly endless amount of souvenirs made for the Panama-Pacific International Exposition. This Gramophone record is a momento of the time that Margaret Woodrow Wilson, daughter of President Woodrow Wilson, sang "The Star Spangled Banner" at the expo. Proceeds from the sale of the record benefitted the Red Cross.
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All good things come to an end, and the PPIE was no different. The expo closed on Saturday, December 4, 1915, and of course, souvenirs were made to commemorate the end of a huge undertaking in San Francisco history.
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The Arch of the Rising Sun was a temporary building created for the PPIE. It was demolished after the end of the event, along with the other buildings, displays, concessions, and more, with exception of The Palace of Fine Arts.
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On April 7, 1915, Ohio Day was celebrated at the PPIE. The Ohio Building was a copy of the Ohio State Capitol building in Columbus, without the dome, and had a first floor dedicated to entertainment, a rotunda, an assembly room, and twin reception rooms. The second floor had a suite for the governor, with a dining room and kitchen. There were also six bedrooms, another kitchen, and dining room for staff. This photo shows the great feat of moving the structure to San Carlos in August of 1916, after it was sold at auction for $1000. The Chroniclecommented that it was "one of the strangest spectacles ever witnessed on San Francisco bay."
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