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Daniel Burnham, the Chicago architect, had been given the task of coordinating the building of The World's Columbian Exhibition, the first modern world's fair, which opened in 1893. He gathered a group of the most famous architects in the United States, including Charles McKim of the New York firm of McKim, Meade and White, Frederick Law Olmstead, the foremost landscape architect of his day, and August Saint-Gaudens, the sculptor, to oversee the construction in the swamp known as Jackson Park. Time was at a premium, so it was decreed that the general appearance of the major buildings would be similar...60 feet high based on classical themes. And, all would be painted the same shade of white. Although the buildings looked substantial and appeared to be made of stone, there was no time to build them of steel and marble, so they were fakes, made of a framework covered with plaster and then painted. While the fair was being conceived and built, a handsome young doctor was killing women, always refining his technique. He actually built an hotel and during the fair rented rooms to young women, many of whom went in but never came out. He even had a gas chamber, a dissection room, and a crematorium in his "World's Fair Hotel" near to the fairgrounds. He used the pseudonym, H.H. Holmes, and probably killed more women than did Jack the Ripper a few years earlier. The 1893 Exposition was a fascinating place. It gave birth to Cracker Jack, Shredded Wheat, Juicy Fruit Gum, and set the design for all future fairs, with its Midway and Ferris Wheel, and perhaps even had an influence on Disneyland. But gallons of white paint couldn't hide the corruption and death that lay without the 630 acres of the fair. The abridged audio version, expertly read by actor Tony Goldwyn, dwells mainly on the fair and it's problems and construction, but gives the necessary details about the man calling himself HH Holmes, and, of the fate of both the fairground and the serial killer. I would have preferred an unabridged audio of this fascinating tale. As soon as I have a chance, I plan to read the book to see what I have missed. However, this version is definitely worth listening to.
Reviewed by Barbara Franchi, May 2003
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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